Which to Choose Adobe Acrobat Standard Vs. Pro in 2024

 

Which to Choose Adobe Acrobat Standard Vs. Pro in 2024

Adobe Acrobat Free Version: What to Expect

Adobe Acrobat provides the power to work with PDFs wherever you are. With an Adobe Acrobat free account, you can utilize Acrobat online tools, including:

• Enabling the free Google Chrome extension to highlight, edit, and comment on PDFs.
• Annotating and editing PDFs in Google Drive directly.
• Accessing Acrobat app for free.
• Working with Excel, Word, and PowerPoint files in Acrobat online.
• Utilizing the Adobe Scan app for iOS or Android to scan documents easily.
• Accessing the Adobe Reader App on your desktop to view, highlight, and comment on all types of PDFs.
• Accessing several PDF and e-signing online tools to enhance productivity and collaboration.

A Quick Tour of Adobe Acrobat Online Tool Features

• Convert Word to PDF and JPG to PDF.
• Compress PDFs.
• Sign PDFs and forms digitally.

What Is Adobe Acrobat Standard?

If you want a step up from the Adobe Acrobat free account but are not ready for Pro, Adobe Acrobat Standard is suitable for personal use and offers standard core functionalities. It allows you to:

• Collaborate on PDFs from anywhere, anytime.
• Review, edit, and track PDFs across any device.
• Unlock advanced PDF editing and managing capabilities.
• Integrate with desktop, mobile, and online access.
• Compatible with Microsoft Windows 7, 8, and 10 or Mac OS X v10.9 and v10.0.

What Is Adobe Acrobat Pro?

Familiar as the "complete PDF solution," Adobe Acrobat Pro is designed for professionals, businesses, and enterprises. In addition to the features of Acrobat Standard, Adobe Acrobat Pro offers advanced functionalities like:

• Creating PDFs and designing new pages using preset templates.
• Converting scanned documents into editable PDFs.
• Redacting PDFs to remove sensitive information.
• Comparing differences between multiple versions of PDFs.
• Creating web forms instantly and adding brand logos to agreements.
• Measuring the distance and perimeter of objects in PDFs.
• Converting scanned paper documents to PDFs with matching font.
• Enabling one-click creation of rich PDFs.
• Creating, converting, and validating PDFs that comply with ISO standards.
• Guided instructions to prepare PDFs and add interactive objects.
• Adding Bates numbering to legal PDFs and agreements.

Acrobat Free vs. Standard vs. Acrobat Pro

Here's a comparison of advanced features between Acrobat Pro, Standard, and Free:

Feature	Acrobat Pro	Acrobat Standard	Acrobat Free
Managing PDFs across all devices	Yes	Yes	Online only
Measuring the distance & perimeter of objects within PDFs	Yes	No	No
Create PDFs that match the compliance standards of ISO	Yes	No	No
Track activity on PDFs and web forms across devices	Yes	Yes	No
Create and export PDFs on mobile	Yes	Yes	No
Create technical PDFs using Visio and one-click rich PDFs and using templates	Yes	No	No
Create PDFs that match accessibility standards	Yes	No	No
Automatically optimize PDFs and reduce file size	Yes	No	No
Protect PDFs with passwords and prevent others from copying	Yes	Yes	No
Redacting PDFs and removing sensitive information	Yes	No	No
Add Bates numbering for legal compliance within PDFs	Yes	No	No
Convert Adobe Photoshop (PSD), Illustrator (AI), or InDesign (INDD) files into PDFs from any device	Yes	Yes	No
Convert paper documents into PDFs from mobile or desktop	Yes	No	No
Create PDFs using video, interactive objects, or audio to PDFs and use JavaScript	Yes	No	No
Send in bulk for e-signing to multiple people at once	Yes	No	No
Create reusable templates, add e-signing branding and custom URL to agreements	Yes	No	No

Acrobat Free vs. Standard vs. Pro Explained

We have segregated 5 main areas of differences to help you get a detailed overview of features between Acrobat Free, Standard & Pro:

1. Managing PDFs

• Acrobat Free: Basic features available on Acrobat online and Google Drive.
• Acrobat Standard: View, manage, rotate, reorder, split, and organize PDFs from any device.
• Acrobat Pro: Additional features like redacting PDFs, creating technical PDFs, and converting various file types.

2. Editing PDFs

• Acrobat Free: Edit PDFs and forms in the Acrobat desktop browser.
• Acrobat Standard: Convert PDFs, organize PDFs, and track activity across devices.
• Acrobat Pro: Advanced features like combining webpages, converting paper documents, and adding interactive objects.

3. Digitally Signing Forms

• Acrobat Free: Basic e-signing capacities using Acrobat online tools.
• Acrobat Standard: Digitally sign documents, collect signatures, and verify PDFs.
• Acrobat Pro: Collect group feedback, use autofill, mark PDFs, ask for bulk e-signatures, and create reusable templates.

4. Accessibility, Security & Compliance

• Acrobat Free: Basic security features using online Acrobat tools.
• Acrobat Standard: Security in Adobe Cloud, compliant with e-signature industry standards.
• Acrobat Pro: Advanced security with Bates numbering, compliance with ISO standards, and accessibility standards.

5. Accessibility & Integration

• Acrobat Free: Basic features of Acrobat online, excluding advanced features and Adobe Cloud services.
• Acrobat Standard: Share, manage, and store files across all devices with access to Adobe Cloud services.
• Acrobat Pro: Real-time tracking of PDF and document activity across devices, enhanced efficiency with Windows touch-enabled devices, and advanced features.

Pricing & Plans

Two types of subscriptions are available for Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro: individuals and teams. Pricing plans include monthly, prepaid, and annual subscriptions for individuals and businesses.

Adobe Acrobat Standard

• Individuals: $12.99/month
• Businesses: $14.99/month/license

Adobe Acrobat Pro

• Individuals: $19.99/month
• Businesses: $22.19/month/license
• Enterprises: Custom plan

For enterprise-level Pro plans, contact Adobe for custom pricing based on team size and requirements. Student and teacher plans are also available.

Acrobat Standard Vs. Pro: Our Pick

While both Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro have fantastic capabilities, Acrobat Pro stands out as the recommended choice. With minimal pricing difference and superior capabilities, Acrobat Pro offers advanced features like comparing multiple PDF versions, adding interactive elements via JavaScript, and creating multimedia-rich PDFs from mobile devices.

Acrobat Pro is the clear winner for professionals and enterprises seeking top-tier collaboration, creation, and automation capabilities.

Discover the differences between Adobe Acrobat Standard and Pro in 2024. Explore features, pricing, and choose the right version for your PDF editing needs. Acrobat Pro emerges as the superior choice for professionals and enterprises.