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 allows users to open, read, fill, sign, and comment on PDF documents. It offers advanced features like PDF creation, editing, conversion to other formats, and AI-powered assistance for a fee.

Highlights
  • Open and read PDFs
  • Fill and sign forms
  • Add comments and highlights
  • Create PDFs from photos/files
  • Convert PDFs to Word/Excel/PowerPoint
  • AI Assistant for summaries and Q&A
Features
Read full description

Adobe Acrobat Reader is the free PDF reader for opening, reading, filling in, signing and commenting on PDFs on your iPhone or iPad. It’s the world’s most trusted PDF reader, PDF editor and PDF maker, with more than 635 million installs and an App Store Editors’ Choice award. You also don’t need a subscription to read, fill in or sign PDFs. Need to do more? With Acrobat Premium, you can create PDFs from photos and files, edit text, convert PDFs to Word, Excel or PowerPoint, combine PDFs into one file and reorder pages. Free in Acrobat Reader: PDF viewer and PDF signer • Open and read any PDF, and use Liquid Mode to fit the text to your screen • Highlight text and add comments and sticky notes to your PDF • Fill in PDF forms and sign them with your finger using Fill & Sign • Share PDFs straight from the app • Open files and PDFs from your iPhone, email, Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox • Store and manage files, and star important docs for quick access • Open scans from the free Adobe Scan app to fill in, sign and share • Listen to PDFs read aloud with free voices With Acrobat Premium: PDF editor and PDF converter Start with a 7-day free trial. • Create a PDF from photos, Microsoft Office files, Google Docs or web pages • Edit text and images, fix typos and add paragraphs • Convert PDFs to Word, Excel, PowerPoint or image files, keeping fonts and formatting • Merge or combine PDFs into one file, like a resume and cover letter for a job application • Make a PDF smaller so it fits an email or upload limit • Insert, reorder, rotate, delete, extract or crop pages, or split a PDF into several files • Turn scanned docs into searchable, editable text with OCR • Password-protect PDFs • Edit, compress and export files and PDFs from Google Drive • Listen with higher-quality read-aloud voices Who Acrobat Reader is made for: • Students: merge notes into one file, highlight and comment on PDFs, listen to notes, and chat with AI Assistant • Mobile pros: open contracts and forms from email, fill and sign them, and send them back • Small businesses: create PDF invoices, sign contracts, convert PDFs to Word files, create PDF Spaces for projects • iPhone and iPad users: open PDFs from Files, Mail or your browser, set Acrobat Reader as your default PDF app, and go beyond viewing with comments and more • Get PDFs read aloud through Apple CarPlay for hands-free listening on the road Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant: Paid feature*, free for a limited time. • 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 and have answers read aloud • Ask questions and get cited answers about info in your PDF docs, including charts, graphs and tables • Use Hands-free to keep the conversation flowing with voice only • Instantly generate summaries from your PDFs • Get content for emails, text, study notes, blogs and more What’s new in Acrobat Reader: Collaborate and share your files in PDF Spaces, and turn your document summaries into podcast-style audio in Acrobat Studio. Frequently asked questions: Is Acrobat Reader free? Yes. You can open, read, fill in and sign PDFs for free. Do I need an Adobe account? No. You can read PDFs without one. Sign in with a free Adobe account to store files in Adobe Document Cloud storage, access them across devices and use more tools. Can I turn off AI features? Yes. AI Assistant features are optional, and you can turn them off in Preferences. The Acrobat Reader mobile app is designed to work with EMM enabled. *An Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant add-on plan is available to Acrobat Individual customers. iOS 18.316 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 free with in-app purchases against PDF Converter's subscription. Acrobat Reader also leads on ratings volume (665K vs 6K) and rating (4.6 vs 4.4). PDF Converter's advantage is review sentiment (67% vs 49%) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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 9 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and PDF Converter sells 10 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 665K 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 10 days, PDF Converter fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Acrobat Reader versus PDF Converter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAcrobat ReaderPDF Converter
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (665K ratings) — better4.4 (6K ratings)
Positive reviews49.1% of reviews67.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings665K — better6K
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#2 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.315.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size556 MB468 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperAdobe Inc.Techgear Inc

Customer experience

Acrobat Reader

All ratings663,810 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral2.4%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews3,318 reviews
Positive49.1%
Neutral4.3%
Negative46.6%

PDF Converter

All ratings6,011 ratings
Positive84.1%
Neutral3.5%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews1,420 reviews
Positive67.4%
Neutral4.9%
Negative27.7%

User reviews

Acrobat Reader

From 665K 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

9 purchases

Acrobat Reader

Subscriptions9
  • AI Assistant for Acrobat$6.991 Month
  • Acrobat Premium - Weekly$9.997 Days
  • PDF Pack - Doc Creator$9.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • 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 Premium - Yearly7 Days trial$48.991 Year
  • Acrobat Premium - Yearly7 Days trial2 variants$69.991 Year
10 purchases

PDF Converter

Subscriptions4
  • PDF Converter Pro with Editor3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • PDF Converter, Monthly Subscription$9.991 Month
  • PDF Converter Documents To PDF3 Days trial$29.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • PDF Converter - Convert to PDF Pro3 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time6
  • Unlock-Clipboard-text-editing$0.99
  • Unlock-UnLimted Web To PDF$0.99
  • Dropbox,Box,Drive,SkyDrive and Evernote$0.99
Show 3 more
  • 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 665K 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 10 days, and PDF Converter fortnightly. Most recently, Acrobat Reader was updated on November 5, 2026 and PDF Converter on November 5, 2026.

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