Adobe Acrobat vs. Wondershare PDFelement

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Acrobat
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Acrobat DC is the current version of the well-established document / PDF management solution, part of the Adobe Document Cloud (the other part being Adobe's eSign services based on technology acquired with EchoSign in 2011).
$19.99
per month
Wondershare PDFelement
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
PDFelement is a document management solution from Wondershare Software headquartered in China.
$79.99
per year per user
Pricing
Adobe AcrobatWondershare PDFelement
Editions & Modules
Acrobat Pro for Individuals
$19.99
per month
Acrobat Pro for Teams
$23.99
per month per user
Acrobat Studio for Individuals
$24.99
per month
PDFelement
79.99USD
per year per user
PDFelement
129.99USD
one-time fee per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe AcrobatWondershare PDFelement
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFor Individuals: Yearly Plan: $79.99/user; 2-Year Plan: $109.99/user Perpetual Plan(one-time): $129.99/user For Teams: Yearly plan starts at $109/year for 1 user For Education: Yearly Plan: $47.99/user; Perpetual Plan(one-time): $99.99/user
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe AcrobatWondershare PDFelement
Considered Both Products
Adobe Acrobat
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Both read documents through Adobe, which is better for security and because the service is more optimized.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is the gold standard and you pay for it. It is easy to use and works how you expect it to. The alternatives are cheaper, but don't offer as many features, and require retaining everyone to switch applications.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
In comparison to Smallpdf and iLovePDF, inevitably, Adobe Acrobat is the most popular and higher marketed software. Additionally, Smallpdf and iLovePDF are online conversion software, so your document needs to be uploaded to a cloud where it is converted and then you need to …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
This isn't really a good comparison, but Adobe Acrobat is more of a program that works among all of these, and I'll keep using it as long as it's a part of Adobe CC. Otherwise, I see DocuSign as suitable for secure/private documents, and Dropbox file previews allows a pretty …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
It offers functionality that the office suite just doesn't really seem to dabble in e.g. locking down documents or proper redaction abilities.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is light-years beyond GIMP. Not only is it a better way to view photos for documents, it is far easier to use at it is visually pleasing and easy to navigate. Adobe is more robust than Canva. Though Canva has more creative capabilities, Adobe has more …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe stacks up very well against Microsoft 365. In addition, it also integrates well with many of the tools offered through our Microsoft 365 subscription and in many cases increases the value and functionality of those tools and programs. Adobe Acrobat serves to fill out our …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
There's no comparison; Adobe does it better, faster and more reliable. It's interface is simpler, more intuitive and easier to use. Acrobat is an industry go to solution for business needs. We value its solid foundation, limited issues and dependability.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I don't use any of the aforementioned anymore, so that pretty much says it all. They don't stack up. I use Salesforce, but not for document saving. Only for it's other CRM features. Microsoft 365 Business I use, but there is always a needed add on when it comes to document …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
The team has been able to streamline patient management using Cerner’s practice management tools. As a result, scheduling, billing, and documentation have become more efficient, reducing administrative burden and improving overall patient care. The team has been able to enhance …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat stands out because its more powefull and feature rich as compared to these free tools. and it offers more compatibilty, security and many other editing options in a single software. which is much suitable for professional work rather than these cheap alternatives. …
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Not applicable. Acrobat is a legacy product for us.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
I have never used another product other than Adobe Acrobat and there is a reason for it. Adobe Acrobat is the best and it works with every system globally.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Experience Manager and Asset Data Manager
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat has more functions that a lot of the PDF converters and editors that are web based. It's also easier to use than the Microsoft one.
Chose Adobe Acrobat
Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator CC and Adobe InDesign
Chose Adobe Acrobat
It was provided as a tool by company so no evaluation was done personally by me
Wondershare PDFelement
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
PDFelement is more intuitive, and snapper, with more wow factors.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
PDFelement is the ideal solution for Adobe Acrobat because of its small size, clean interface, quick start, strong features, light system resource usage, and low pricing.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
They are doing quite aggressive marketing, therefore it is very present everywhere. Pricing is in the range for private users. If features are improved, I probably would buy it again, otherwise think next time would try the competition (e.g., Nitro).
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
I used Adobe Acrobat for around 15 years in different large scale companies. But it is too expensive for single users or small enterprises and Adobe offers only yearly subscription which I personally do not like.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
Both of the programs mentioned above have worked much better for my needs.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
We selected PDFelement because it did the job well and at the lowest cost of our options.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
I don't even remember the name of the products I tried, but none of them worked right. PDFelement does the job and does it well.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
We haven't used any other similar products, and don't feel any desire to stop using PDFelement.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
The experience is different. From a cost perspective, PDFelement is more cost effective and can get things done.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
Adobe PDF is the alternative for me but much more expensive. It has more features but I don’t need them. For a small business PDFelement's affordability makes it a cost effective option.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
I didn't try or buy other programs, but did a good bit of research on them. I went with PDFelement because of the lower pricing, and because of the rich features I learned it had.

I also appreciated the great customer service I received from reps in the community forums, which …
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
I have evaluated Acrobat but found it less user friendly than PDFelement and very expensive on a product to product comparison
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
PDFelement has among the several options available in the market, a productivity solution with relevant acquisition costs associated with the benefits offered. Among the functions available in the application, other companies have the same function with lower performance and …
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
The quality of the images was better (I need to print an A2 or A1 poster)
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
I have not used anything else other than Adobe Acrobat and PDFelement meets all my needs and is easier to use.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
Just as good, and just as clean; but easier to use. Just as many options and an easy to use format and layout.
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
I haven't used any other product besides PDFelement. I found a product that I love and I'm sticking with it. I will say that I went with PDFelement based on reviews and based on the features that this product supplies vs. the others. I trust the company behind PDFelement (been …
Chose Wondershare PDFelement
PDFelement is superior to PDFzilla and comparable in features to Adobe and a better price.
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User Ratings
Adobe AcrobatWondershare PDFelement
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.7
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.3
(0 ratings)
8.6
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.1
(0 ratings)
7.5
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.8
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.6
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.5
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(0 ratings)
7.5
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
4.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
5.5
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AcrobatWondershare PDFelement
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe Acrobat is well-suited for editing documents and combining them into a single document if you have such a need. It is super easy, and you can even rearrange the order in which you combine them by simply dragging the documents into the desired order. Adobe Acrobat is great for adding contact documents to your website that customers fill out and complete. Adobe sends it to your email and alerts you so you can then manage the contact from there.
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PDFelement Pro is well suited for all of our needs and our clients' needs. I bought the Windows version and liked it so much that I purchased the Mac version at the discount that I was offered at checkout. It performs well and is easy to learn and use. Companies could save so much money by using PDFelement instead of Adobe Acrobat Standard/Pro
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Pros
  • The edit PDF tool is a game changer for our business. There is no other tool that is as easy to use for small, quick PDF edits.
  • Adobe Acrobat makes adding, deleting, and combining PDFs very simple and seamless.
  • The comment tools, and the function to share for my comments with my colleagues, makes it easy to collaborate with my team on the same PDF document.
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  • It does a great job of turning paper forms into digital documents via the advanced OCR technology.
  • The price point of PDFelement is extremely competitive considering that it is feature rich.
  • The available support from documentation and videos make PDFelement a tool that is quick to implement.
Read full review
Cons
  • Maintain the layout when converting; sometimes, it loses the layout, and things are misaligned.
  • This makes it easier to write in custom text on a PDF, but sometimes I have to convert it from a PDF to a doc to achieve.
  • Menu could be easier to find things.
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  • I wish there was a lighter program for just reviewing a document and then to transition seamlessly to an editing mode. It takes a few seconds longer to load than Preview on my Mac, and based on that frustration, I use Preview to view documents.
  • A lower price for upgrades.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe Acrobat works seamlessly with the other Adobe products we use that are industry-standard. We will certainly continue to use Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, meaning it will always be convenient to work seamlessly with Adobe Acrobat for our organization. We are happy with the performance of Acrobat and it's meets our expectations.
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Excellent, easy to use product
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Usability
The features on the desktop version are all toolbar based, which makes it a little more cumbersome on a smaller device (and much simpler on a large screen). The web forms adjust well to different screen size so work well on mobile, tablet and computer
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I am a novice and I am using it like a pro because it is so easy to work with
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Reliability and Availability
We have not had availability issues with Adobe Acrobat, or at least none that I am personally aware of. Some may encounter crashes of the software during outages of electricity in their city or neighborhood, which no one can plan for, but with generators in our organization, we have been lucky not to have outages
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No issues. Works perfect
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Performance
One of the best features of Adobe Acrobat is its speed and stability. When dealing with massive multi-page files, having to reload a crashed program over and over again would slow down progress unnecessarily. And expanding on that, having the table of contents generated allows me to skip to different pages with ease, a necessary feature with exceptionally long files. word searches are even more helpful with text recognition.
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There is a lot of learning. Although some of the functions you can probably pick up relatively quickly, some of them, including compressing the size or using a different language, remains a myth to me.
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Support Rating
For a while, Acrobat DC crashed pretty frequently. I contacted Adobe Acrobat support about the problem. At first support was unable to provide a solution. After about a month Adobe's software engineers provided a fix. I just wish it had taken less than a month to solve the problem.
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Recently I have had a problem with introducing another laptop to the same license. I wrote an email to the Support Team of Wondershare Software and they successfully fixed the issue in less than 24 hours. Very unusual and impressive.
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Online Training
Easy to follow and understand
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
I was not involved with the implementation process, so I cannot answer this question. However, when it was installed on my computer system, they did so virtually. I just sat there while they took control of my computer over the network and watch them install it, lickety split
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Just pay, download, activate and start using it
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Alternatives Considered
In my opinion, both complement each other. Microsoft clearly has with Copilot the AI Edge. However, the visual dynamics of Adobe Creative are Outstanding and provide a balanced approach to creativity, utilizing both Excellent, user-friendly Tools.
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I haven't used any other product besides PDFelement. I found a product that I love and I'm sticking with it. I will say that I went with PDFelement based on reviews and based on the features that this product supplies vs. the others. I trust the company behind PDFelement (been using Wondershare Ultimate Video Converter for years), so I trusted the name
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Scalability
I find that many users aren't aware of many features of the software they use, nor may they be comfortable with learning multiple-step processes. For the simplest of PDF purposes (scanning, downloading, exporting), it gets a thumbs-up. For anything involving electronic signatures, meh--causes eyes to glaze over, or forgetting what all is involved.
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Super easy Word style layout and format.
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Return on Investment
  • Automation of contract offer generation enabled the HR team to reduce the time to process contracts by 97%.
  • The automated workflow is more accurate and decreased document errors by up to 90 percent.
  • The signature collecting process was cut from a minimum of 30 minutes to only 2 minutes.
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  • Positive impact. PDFelement is one of my principal tools for the visualization and editing of any kind of PDF documents.
  • Size optimization of documents is also a very good tool, it helps me to send presentations in an adequate size, especially for top customers.
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ScreenShots

Adobe Acrobat Screenshots

Screenshot of where to create, edit, convert, and share PDF files all from within Microsoft Teams – as part of Acrobat integrations with Microsoft 365 apps.Screenshot of Liquid Mode in Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app, where users can read PDFs on phones and tablets without having to pinch and zoom. Navigate lengthy documents with intelligent outline and search tools, while maximizing readability and comfort with font size and line spacing that are adjustable.Screenshot of where to fill and sign PDF forms from anywhere and on any device. Here, users can collect signatures, digitally track progress, and automatically archive the signed document.Screenshot of the Adobe Scan mobile app, used to capture and convert documents into high-quality, interactive PDF documents that can be filled out, signed, and shared. This eliminates the hassle of finding a printer, filling a form by hand, and scanning it again.

Wondershare PDFelement Screenshots

Screenshot of AI-powered support for chatting with PDFs/summaring/proofreading/rewriting/explaining/translating the PDF file content.Screenshot of file conversion to and from PDF format in high quality.Screenshot of PDF generation, which can be done from images, Word documents, and various formats, including batch create.Screenshot of certificate-based legal signatures, and documents can be sent to bulk signers, and signatures collected and tracked from anywhere, on any device.Screenshot of text recognition, from scanned PDFs and images.Screenshot of the PDF text editor, with images, forms, and pages.