Comparison

Acrobat Reader vs PDF Converter

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 Converter

This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing, editing, and converting PDF files. It allows users to merge, split, compress, and annotate documents, as well as fill forms and add digital signatures. Convert various file types to PDF and vice versa with ease.

Highlights
  • Merge, split, compress, rotate, unlock, watermark PDFs
  • Edit PDFs with text, shapes, comments, highlights
  • Annotate documents with drawing, text boxes, sticky notes
  • Convert JPG, Word, PPT, Excel, HTML to PDF
  • Convert PDF to JPG, Word, PPT, Excel
  • Fill PDF forms and add digital signatures
  • Password protection and encryption
Features
Read full description

PDF Converter & Editor: Your Complete PDF Toolkit File Management: Every tool you need to use PDFs, at your fingertips. Merge, split, compress, convert, rotate, unlock, and watermark PDFs with ease. Import files from cloud services like Drive, Box, and OneDrive. PDF Editor: Edit PDFs by adding text, shapes, comments, and highlights. A secure and simple tool for all your PDF editing needs. Enhance your PDF experience with our comprehensive PDF Annotation and Reader app. Whether you need to annotate documents for work, study, or personal use, or simply read PDFs with ease, our app has you covered. Key Features: * Annotation Tools: Highlight important text, add comments, draw shapes, and underline or strike through text to mark up your PDFs effectively. * Reader Mode: Switch to Reader Mode for a distraction-free reading experience. Adjust settings such as font size, background color, and brightness to suit your preferences. * Advanced Annotation: Use advanced tools like text box, sticky notes, and freehand drawing to customise your annotations and make your PDFs more interactive. * Document Management: Organise your PDF library with ease. Create folders, rename files, and move documents between folders for efficient file management. * Search and Navigation: Find specific content within your PDFs quickly using the search feature. Navigate through documents easily with page thumbnails and bookmarks. Additional Features: * PDF Form Filling: Fill out PDF forms directly within the app, saving time and paper. * Digital Signatures: Sign documents electronically with ease. Add, edit, or remove digital signatures as needed. * File Protection: Keep your PDFs secure with password protection and encryption. Key Features: Merge PDF: Combine multiple PDF files into one. Split PDF: Divide PDFs into smaller files. Compress PDF: Reduce PDF file size for easy sharing. CONVERT TO PDF JPG to PDF WORD to PDF POWERPOINT to PDF EXCEL to PDF HTML to PDF Additional Features: Invoice maker CV Maker AI PDF Summary CONVERT FROM PDF PDF to JPG PDF to WORD PDF to POWERPOINT PDF to EXCEL Experience the convenience of managing and editing PDFs with our comprehensive PDF Converter and Editor app. Easily merge, split, compress, and convert PDF files, and edit them with our intuitive PDF editor. Download now and unlock the full potential of your PDF files! Subscription Terms & Details Enjoy unlimited access to all features for $29.99/year, with a 3-day free trial. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account once the purchase is confirmed. Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and disable auto-renewal at any time via your Account Settings. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period. If you start a free trial and decide to subscribe, any remaining trial time will be forfeited. Privacy Policy: https://thepdfedit.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://thepdfedit.com/terms-and-conditions

Screenshots

Acrobat Reader4 screens
PDF Converter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Acrobat Reader at freemium against PDF Converter's subscription. Acrobat Reader also leads on ratings volume (654K vs 6K) and chart position (#2 vs unranked). PDF Converter's advantage is review sentiment (67% vs 49%) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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 Converter sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 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 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Acrobat Reader has 654K ratings behind it against 6K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 49% of Acrobat Reader's written reviews are positive against 67% of PDF Converter's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, PDF Converter fortnightly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Acrobat Reader versus PDF Converter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAcrobat ReaderPDF Converter
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (654K ratings) — better4.4 (6K ratings)
Positive reviews49.2% of reviews67.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings654K — better6K
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#2 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.315.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size522 MB385 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperAdobe Inc.Techgear Inc

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 Converter

All ratings5,969 ratings
Positive84.0%
Neutral3.5%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews1,396 reviews
Positive67.3%
Neutral4.9%
Negative27.8%

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

PDF Converter

From 6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and efficient
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 📤 Convenient file sharing
  • 🔒 Secure document handling
  • 💡 Helpful features

Room to improve

  • 🔐 Paywall for full functionality
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 💸 Expensive subscription
  • 🔍 Confusing navigation
  • 📤 Issues with file exports

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 Converter

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Conversion quality issues
  • Orientation problems with PDFs
  • Unreliable file saving
  • Compatibility problems with older devices
  • Frequent crashes and freezes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved file management options
  • Seamless integration with cloud storage
  • Enhanced PDF editing capabilities
  • Customizable user interface
  • Better customer support

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
13 purchases

PDF Converter

Subscriptions6
  • PDF Converter Pro with Editor3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Image to PDF Converter - PDF PRO$6.997 Days
  • PDF Converter, Monthly Subscription$9.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • PDF Converter Documents To PDF3 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • PDF Converter Pro3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • PDF Converter - Convert to PDF Pro3 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time7
  • Unlock-Clipboard-text-editing$0.99
  • Fonts$0.99
  • Unlock-UnLimted Web To PDF$0.99
Show 4 more
  • Dropbox,Box,Drive,SkyDrive and Evernote$0.99
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • PDF Annotation$0.99
  • Unlockall$19.99

Questions

Is Acrobat Reader free?
Acrobat Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Converter free?
PDF Converter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Acrobat Reader or PDF Converter?
Acrobat Reader is rated higher. Acrobat Reader averages 4.6 out of 5 from 654K ratings, while PDF Converter averages 4.4 from 6K ratings.
Do Acrobat Reader or PDF Converter have ads?
Neither Acrobat Reader nor PDF Converter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Acrobat Reader or PDF Converter?
Acrobat Reader ships an update every 9 days, and PDF Converter fortnightly. Most recently, Acrobat Reader was updated on September 24, 2026 and PDF Converter on September 24, 2026.

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