# Alternatives to Adobe Acrobat The PDF standard-bearer. Adobe Acrobat ranks #6 of 13 in PDF tools, with an Alt Score of 82. It is proprietary, sold by subscription from $12.99/month and available on Windows, macOS, Web, iOS and Android. 9 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/adobe-acrobat/ Category: PDF tools ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Office workers, legal/admin staff, and anyone who regularly creates, reviews, or signs PDF documents. Used across businesses and by individuals who need to edit or convert PDFs beyond basic viewing. - **What you get**: A PDF editor for changing text, images, and page layout directly in a document. Tools to convert PDFs to/from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, plus merge, split, compress, and organize pages. Built-in e-signature (via Acrobat Sign) for requesting and adding legally binding signatures. Includes commenting, redaction, form creation/filling, and OCR for scanned documents. - **How it works**: Open or import a file (upload, scan, or drag-and-drop) in the desktop app, browser, or mobile app, then use the relevant tool panel to edit, convert, sign, or organize it. Changes save back to the PDF and can be shared or exported directly from the app, with edits syncing across devices via Adobe Document Cloud. ## Profile - **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-11) - **Pricing model**: Subscription (verified 2026-07-11) - **Starts at**: $12.99/month (verified 2026-07-11) - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [Foxit PDF Editor](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/foxit-pdf-editor.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Web, iOS | | 2 | [Nitro PDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nitro-pdf.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS | | 3 | [UPDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/updf.md) | 91 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | | 4 | [PDF-XChange](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pdf-xchange.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Windows | | 5 | [PDF Expert](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pdf-expert.md) | 82 | Proprietary | macOS, iOS | | 6 | [PDFgear](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pdfgear.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Web | | 7 | [Smallpdf](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/smallpdf.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, Windows, iOS, Android | | 8 | [iLovePDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ilovepdf.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | | 9 | [Stirling PDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/stirling-pdf.md) | 68 | MIT | Web | | 10 | [PDFsam](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pdfsam.md) | 60 | AGPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 11 | [Sumatra PDF](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/sumatra-pdf.md) | 37 | GPL-3.0 | Windows | | 12 | [Okular](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/okular.md) | 32 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | PDF tools checklist | Adobe Acrobat | Foxit PDF Editor | Nitro PDF | UPDF | PDF-XChange | PDF Expert | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | One-time | Subscription | | Starts at | $12.99/month | $129.99/year | ? | ? | EUR €56.00 one-time | €5.99/week | | License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | | Platforms | Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Windows | macOS, iOS | | Edit text & images | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Annotate & comment | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Fill & sign forms | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | OCR | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Merge / split / compress | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Redaction | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Batch processing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | | One-time purchase option | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Runs offline | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Self-hostable | ? | ? | No | No | No | ? | ## Sources Sources for Adobe Acrobat. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: Proprietary — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “© 2011-2026 Adobe. All rights reserved.” - **Pricing model**: Subscription — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Acrobat Premium - Monthly $12.99” - **Starts at**: $12.99/month — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Acrobat Premium - Monthly $12.99” - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “The user-interface is intuitive and fluid, providing consistent experiences across all surfaces—desktop, web, and mobile.” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Updated Jun 25” - **Edit text & images**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “With our PDF editor, edit text and images directly in your PDF (mobile only)” - **Annotate & comment**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Annotate PDFs • Add sticky notes, comments, and highlight text” - **Fill & sign forms**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “PDF signer: Fill & Sign Adobe Fill & Sign is free & available in Acrobat Reader.” - **OCR**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Recognize text with OCR” - **Merge / split / compress**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Split or combine multiple files into one PDF with PDF converter” - **Redaction**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Permanently removing sensitive content and hidden data is important so the information is not passed along when publishing your PDF.” - **Batch processing**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Learn how to use guided actions to run one or more commands across numerous documents with a single click—saving you time and keystrokes.” - **One-time purchase option**: No — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Acrobat Premium - Yearly $69.99” - **Runs offline**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-11) - Quote: “Adobe Acrobat Reader DC - Download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/