Comparison

Acrobat Reader vs PDF Reader

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Acrobat Reader

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
Read full description

Major new updates: Collaborate and share your files in PDF Spaces, and turn your document summaries into podcast-style audio in Acrobat Studio. The world’s most trusted PDF reader, PDF editor, and PDF maker with more than 635 million installs. View, share, annotate, add comments, and sign documents - all in one app. You can store your files online and read documents anywhere. Get your 7-day free trial and try all the features of Acrobat Reader. Paid features: Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant • Work across multiple files in one place with PDF Spaces. Collaborate, store, and use AI Assistant across files • Use voice or text prompts with AI Assistant chatbot • Ask questions and get cited answers about details in your document, including charts, graphs, and tables with Figures Q&A • Easily share the responses you get • Try voice support to ask queries and have answers read aloud. • Use new Hands-free to keep the conversation flowing with voice only • Instantly generate summaries from your PDFs with Generative AI Summaries • Get content for emails, text, study notes, blogs, and more [Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant is a paid feature*, free for a limited time] Edit PDFs • With our PDF editor, edit text and images directly in your PDF (mobile only) • Fix typos or add paragraphs with the PDF editor • Easily add, delete, or rotate any image • Use this PDF signer and PDF viewer to get your docs just right Recognize text • Optical Character Recognition (OCR) turns scanned PDFs into searchable, editable text to use in other formats Merge & organize PDFs with PDF Converter • Split or combine multiple files into one PDF with PDF converter • Use the PDF editor to insert, delete, rotate, crop & reorder pages in your PDF file Create, convert & export PDFs • Easily convert to PDF from any file type including Microsoft, Google Docs, and images • Export and convert PDFs to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or various image files • Convert web pages to PDFs Compress & highly secure PDFs • Compress PDF files for easy saving and sharing • Password Protect PDF documents Have your PDF read aloud • Listen to your PDFs on the go, great for reading support • Choose free voices or upgrade for high-quality options Subscribe now to access all these features and use Acrobat across mobile and web platforms. Free-to-use features: PDF signer: Fill & Sign Adobe Fill & Sign is free & available in Acrobat Reader. A form filler and PDF signer that lets you fill, sign, and send Liquid mode in the optimal PDF viewer • Get the best PDF reading experience with this PDF viewer • Search, navigate & adjust font size or spacing to fit your screen Annotate PDFs • Add sticky notes, comments, and highlight text Store & manage files • Link online storage accounts like Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive • Star files to quickly open important documents Connect the PDF viewer and reader to Google Drive • A PDF creator that lets you edit, compress, and export Google Drive files with a subscription Work with scanned documents • Access scanned PDFs from Adobe Scan in Acrobat to fill, sign, and share The Acrobat Reader mobile app is designed to work with customers who have Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) enabled. *An Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant add-on plan is available to Acrobat Individual customers. iOS 16 or above required. Terms & Conditions: Your use of this application is governed by the Adobe General Terms of Use http://www.adobe.com/go/terms_linkfree_en and the Adobe Privacy Policy http://www.adobe.com/go/privacy_policy_linkfree_en Do not sell or share my personal information www.adobe.com/go/ca-rights-linkfree

About

PDF Reader

This app provides a comprehensive suite of tools for managing PDF documents. It allows users to view, edit text and images, fill and sign forms, convert images to PDF, and scan physical documents. The application aims to simplify all your PDF-related tasks.

Highlights
  • View and annotate PDFs
  • Edit text and images
  • Convert images to PDF
  • Fill and sign forms
  • Scan documents
  • Organize and manage files
Features
Read full description

PDF Reader - PDF Editor is an all-in-one tool for reading and editing PDFs. With PDF Reader, you can easily view, annotate, scan, fill, sign, and share PDF files. You can create forms, convert images to PDF, and add your signature to shared documents. It makes working with PDFs really simple. Key Features: View and Annotate PDFs: • Read PDFs with PDF Reader. • Add notes, highlight, underline, and cross out text. • Easily find text in your PDFs. • Bookmark pages for later reference. Convert PDFs: • PDF Converter that converts photos to PDF. • Turn images into new PDFs. Manage Files: • Organize, rename, copy, move, or delete PDFs. • Access files from your Drive. Edit Text and Images: • Directly edit text and images in PDFs. • Merge, split, reorder pages, and rotate images. • Draw on PDFs. Fill and Sign PDFs: • Easily complete, save, and send PDF forms. • Sign PDFs from anywhere. Scan Documents: • Quickly scan various documents. • Improve scan quality for clarity. Making PDF tasks even better is our goal, and your suggestions help us to achieve it. We value your input! If you have ideas to improve, please share your feedback with us. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.freeprivacypolicy.com/privacy/view/50c5621471755f1548917ebbe5e90160

Screenshots

Acrobat Reader4 screens
PDF Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Acrobat Reader at 4.6 against PDF Reader's 4.1. Acrobat Reader also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (654K vs 11). PDF Reader's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.3). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Acrobat Reader sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and PDF Reader sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Acrobat Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Acrobat Reader has 654K ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, PDF Reader monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Acrobat Reader versus PDF Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAcrobat ReaderPDF Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (654K ratings) — better4.1 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews49.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings654K — better11
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterMonthly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#2 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.314.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size522 MB142 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdobe Inc.Games Wing

Customer experience

Acrobat Reader

All ratings654,141 ratings
Positive91.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative6.2%
Written reviews3,096 reviews
Positive49.2%
Neutral4.4%
Negative46.4%

PDF Reader

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.2%

Bugs and requests

Acrobat Reader

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 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

5 requests
  • 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 Reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

16 purchases

Acrobat Reader

Subscriptions16
  • Acrobat Premium - Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Adobe Acrobat Premium$4.991 Month
  • AI Assistant for Acrobat$6.991 Month
Show 13 more
  • Acrobat Premium$7.497 Days
  • Acrobat Premium - Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Acrobat Premium - Weekly$9.997 Days
  • PDF Pack - Doc Creator$9.991 Month
  • Premium - Edit & Create PDF$9.991 Month
  • PDF Edit and Convert Monthly7 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Acrobat Premium - Monthly$12.991 Month
  • Acrobat Premium - Monthly$14.991 Month
  • Acrobat Reader Plus - Yearly$19.991 Year
  • Adobe ExportPDF$23.991 Year
  • Adobe Acrobat Pro$24.991 Month
  • Acrobat Premium - Yearly7 Days trial$48.991 Year
  • Acrobat Premium - Yearly7 Days trial2 variants$69.991 Year
6 purchases

PDF Reader

Subscriptions5
  • Partial Remove Ads -Weekly Sub$3.997 Days
  • Remove Ads Weekly Subscription3 Days trial$5.997 Days
  • Partial Remove Ads -Month Sub3 Days trial$6.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Remove Ads Monthly Sub3 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Partial Remove Ads -Annual Sub7 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Remove Ads$17.99

Questions

Is Acrobat Reader free?
Acrobat Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Reader free?
PDF Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Acrobat Reader or PDF Reader?
Acrobat Reader is rated higher. Acrobat Reader averages 4.6 out of 5 from 654K ratings, while PDF Reader averages 4.1 from 11 ratings.
Do Acrobat Reader or PDF Reader have ads?
PDF Reader shows ads; Acrobat Reader does not.
Which is updated more often, Acrobat Reader or PDF Reader?
Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, and PDF Reader monthly. Most recently, Acrobat Reader was updated on September 24, 2026 and PDF Reader on September 14, 2026.

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