# Acrobat Reader vs PDF Editor

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PDF Editor at 100% against Acrobat Reader's 49%. PDF Editor also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.3). Acrobat Reader's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (654K vs 3). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Acrobat Reader sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and PDF Editor sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

PDF Editor holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Acrobat Reader has 654K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of Acrobat Reader's written reviews are positive against 100% of PDF Editor's.

Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, PDF Editor every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and August 4, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Acrobat Reader | PDF Editor |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (654K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/acrobat-reader-pdf-editor/id469337564/reviews) | **[5.0 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-editor-text-to-speech/id1587745820/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **654K** | 3 |
| Positive reviews | 49.1% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 9 days** | Every 4 weeks |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#2** | — |
| Size | 522 MB | 100 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.3 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Adobe Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/331646274) | [MD AZIZUR RAHMAN](https://appshunter.io/developer/1502439064) |

## What reviewers say

### Acrobat Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/acrobat-reader-pdf-editor/id469337564)

**Currently charting:** #2 Top Grossing · Business, #14 Top Free · Business, #93 Top Grossing (US App Store)

This app is a powerful PDF tool for viewing, editing, annotating, and signing documents. It offers AI-powered features for summarizing and interacting with PDFs, along with robust conversion and security options. Collaborate on files and access your documents from anywhere.

**Highlights:** View, edit, and annotate PDFs, Sign and fill PDF forms, Convert files to and from PDF, AI-powered document summarization, Collaborate in PDF Spaces, Compress and secure PDFs, Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

**Features:** iMessage stickers, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (16)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Acrobat Premium - Monthly | $3.99 | per month |
| Adobe Acrobat Premium | $4.99 | per month |
| AI Assistant for Acrobat | $6.99 | per month |
| Acrobat Premium | $7.49 | per 7 days |
| Acrobat Premium - Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| Acrobat Premium - Weekly | $9.99 | per 7 days |
| PDF Pack - Doc Creator | $9.99 | per month |
| Premium - Edit & Create PDF | $9.99 | per month |
| PDF Edit and Convert Monthly | $12.99 | per month |
| Acrobat Premium - Monthly | $12.99 | per month |
| Acrobat Premium - Monthly | $14.99 | per month |
| Acrobat Reader Plus - Yearly | $19.99 | per year |
| Adobe ExportPDF | $23.99 | per year |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro | $24.99 | per month |
| Acrobat Premium - Yearly | $48.99 | per year |
| Acrobat Premium - Yearly | $69.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and efficient
- 🔒 Secure document storage
- 👍 Convenient for reading and annotating PDFs
- 👍 Useful for students and professionals

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable
- 🔒 Overly intrusive login requirements
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 👎 Counterintuitive user interface changes
- 🔍 Poor search and organization features

**Reported bugs**

- Frequent crashes and freezes
- Inconsistent behavior when editing PDFs
- Inability to open or save certain file types
- Sync issues between mobile and desktop versions

**Requested features**

- Add erase tool for annotations
- Improve palm rejection for Apple Pencil
- Allow direct text editing in PDFs
- Provide better cloud integration and sync
- Offer more customization options


### PDF Editor

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-editor-text-to-speech/id1587745820)

Transform paper documents into digital PDFs with this mobile scanner. Convert PDFs to audio, merge files, sign documents, and extract text using OCR. Enhance image quality and manage your scanned documents efficiently.

**Highlights:** PDF to Audio conversion, Document scanning and OCR, Merge and sign PDFs, Image processing for quality, Multipage scanning, Text addition to PDFs

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Yearly | $39.99 | per year |
| Lifetime | $39.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime Offer | $69.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Acrobat Reader free?

Acrobat Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is PDF Editor free?

PDF Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Acrobat Reader or PDF Editor?

PDF Editor is rated higher. Acrobat Reader averages 4.6 out of 5 from 654K ratings, while PDF Editor averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.

### Do Acrobat Reader or PDF Editor have ads?

PDF Editor shows ads; Acrobat Reader does not.

### Which is updated more often, Acrobat Reader or PDF Editor?

Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, and PDF Editor every 4 weeks. Most recently, Acrobat Reader was updated on September 26, 2026 and PDF Editor on August 4, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*