Comparison

Acrobat Reader vs Adobe Acrobat Sign

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

Adobe Acrobat Sign

This app allows you to easily and securely get documents and forms signed electronically from anywhere. It enables you to sign documents yourself, send them to others for their signatures, track progress in real-time, and even scan paper documents into PDFs for signing.

Highlights
  • Sign documents on the go
  • Send documents for e-signature
  • Track agreement progress
  • Scan paper documents to PDF
  • Offline signing capability
  • In-person signing
  • Legally binding and secure
Features
Read full description

Get documents and forms signed. Easily. Securely. Anywhere. This app is a mobile companion for the Adobe Acrobat Sign e-signature service. With it, you’ll get an electronic signature solution you can trust, from the global leader in secure digital documents for over 25 years. Adobe Acrobat Sign is used by businesses of all sizes — including Fortune 1000 companies, healthcare organizations and financial institutions — to accelerate critical business processes in Sales, HR, Legal, and Operations. Adobe Acrobat Sign lets you e-sign documents and forms, send them to others for e-signature, track responses in real time and get signatures instantly with in-person signing. It even lets you work offline and syncs automatically when you’re back online. SIGN DOCUMENTS ON THE GO •Open and sign documents instantly. •Easily read documents before signing with Reading Mode. •Sign directly on the screen with your finger or stylus. •Sign or click to approve a document sent by others. •Delegate signing to another person or reject a signing request. •Save partially filled forms to complete at a more convenient time. •Sign documents offline. Adobe Acrobat Sign syncs automatically when you’re back online. GET SIGNATURES FROM OTHERS •Send documents for signature from your online document library, your device or email attachments. •Work with documents from Google Drive, Box, Dropbox or Adobe Document Cloud. •Use your iPad or iPhone to get signatures in person when meeting a client. •Choose a language for the signer’s experience. STORE AND MANAGE YOUR DOCUMENTS •Track progress and manage agreements with real-time status updates. •Send reminders to people who haven't signed yet. •View agreements stored in your online account. •All parties get a certified copy of the signed document automatically by email. LEGALLY BINDING AND SECURE •Adobe Acrobat Sign is compliant with e-signature laws around the world, including the U.S. ESIGN Act and the European Union eIDAS Regulation. •Signed documents are encrypted and saved as Certified PDFs. Recipients can validate document authenticity. •Each transaction includes a complete audit trail detailing events and actions. Signer geolocation information can also be added. •Adobe Acrobat Sign meets stringent security compliance standards and is certified compliant with ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, HIPAA and PCI DSS v3.0 used by the Payment Card Industry. •Adobe Acrobat Sign provides protection for both the sender and the signer during the signing process with identity verification options, an audit trail, a tamper-evident seal and more. SCAN DOCUMENTS • Turn any paper document into a PDF, then send for fast e-signing. • Scan multiple document pages into a single PDF and reorder them as desired. • Easily attach, send, and sign scanned PDFs. • Enhance your camera images with boundary detection, perspective correction, and text sharpness. Adobe Acrobat Sign for iPhone and iPad requires an active subscription with one of these Adobe offerings: •Adobe Acrobat Sign Solutions •Adobe PDF Pack •Adobe Acrobat DC •Adobe Creative Cloud Complete Terms & Conditions: Your use of this application is governed by the Adobe General Terms of Use (https://adobe.com/go/terms_linkfree_en) and the Adobe Privacy Policy (http://www.adobe.com/go/privacy_policy_linkfree_en). Do Not Sell My Personal Information: https://www.adobe.com/privacy/ca-rights-linkfree.html

Screenshots

Acrobat Reader4 screens
Adobe Acrobat Sign4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Acrobat Reader at 4.6 against Adobe Acrobat Sign's 2.2. Acrobat Reader also leads on review sentiment (49% vs 11%) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months). Adobe Acrobat Sign's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 18) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.3). On price, ads, 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. Adobe Acrobat Sign asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Acrobat Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Acrobat Reader has 654K ratings behind it against 645, 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 11% of Adobe Acrobat Sign's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, Adobe Acrobat Sign every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Acrobat Reader versus Adobe Acrobat Sign: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAcrobat ReaderAdobe Acrobat Sign
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (654K ratings) — better2.2 (645 ratings)
Positive reviews49.1% of reviews — better11.0% of reviews
Number of ratings654K — better645
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#2 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.315.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size522 MB140 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdobe Inc.Adobe Inc.

Customer experience

Acrobat Reader

All ratings654,141 ratings
Positive91.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative6.2%
Written reviews3,158 reviews
Positive49.1%
Neutral4.4%
Negative46.6%

Adobe Acrobat Sign

All ratings645 ratings
Positive27.8%
Neutral5.0%
Negative67.3%
Written reviews346 reviews
Positive11.0%
Neutral4.3%
Negative84.7%

User reviews

Acrobat Reader

From 654K App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

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

Adobe Acrobat Sign

From 645 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Convenient to use
  • 💡 Useful for business
  • 👍 Easy to navigate
  • 🚀 Saves time

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
  • 🔑 Difficult to login and stay signed in
  • 👎 Poor user interface
  • 🤔 Lacks key functionality
  • 💰 Overpriced for the features

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

Adobe Acrobat Sign

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Documents fail to load or send
  • App redirects to website instead of functioning in-app
  • Inconsistent behavior across iOS and Android
  • Signing process often does not work as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Integration with OneDrive and other cloud storage
  • Ability to resize signature/initial boxes
  • Offline signing capability
  • Streamlined login process
  • Improved notification system

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
None

Adobe Acrobat Sign

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Acrobat Reader free?
Acrobat Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Adobe Acrobat Sign free?
Adobe Acrobat Sign is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat Sign?
Acrobat Reader is rated higher. Acrobat Reader averages 4.6 out of 5 from 654K ratings, while Adobe Acrobat Sign averages 2.2 from 645 ratings.
Do Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat Sign have ads?
Neither Acrobat Reader nor Adobe Acrobat Sign shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat Sign?
Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, and Adobe Acrobat Sign every 2 months. Most recently, Acrobat Reader was updated on September 30, 2026 and Adobe Acrobat Sign on September 29, 2026.

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