Want to find out how to download Adobe Acrobat for free or with a Document Cloud subscription?
Adobe Acrobat is our top pick for best PDF editor out there - the company did invent the PDF filetype, after all. When we tested the software, we came away highly impressed with its advanced power-user features. In our 5-star review, we noted “sometimes, the best solution on the market has its reputation for a reason.”
The program, which runs on Windows and Mac, is loaded with everything from online collaboration tools to digitally signing documents. Elsewhere, the Adobe Acrobat Reader app offers one of the best free PDF reader experiences across desktop, Android, iOS
Whether you want a free download of Acrobat to try, or opt for a Document Cloud subscription out of the box, we explore the different ways to try and buy Acrobat.
- Best Adobe Acrobat alternatives: Top tools for editing PDFs
TODAY'S BEST ADOBE ACROBAT DEALS
How to download Adobe Acrobat
Can I download Adobe Acrobat DC for free?
You can download a free trial of Adobe Acrobat by clicking here.
After starting your free trial, you'll have seven days to try it out - you can upgrade or cancel at any time during this period. This is the full version of Acrobat, with all features and tools included, so you'll get a good idea whether or not the PDF editor works for you.
However, it's worth noting that you'll need to give payment details when starting the trial - you won't be charged right away, but as soon as your subscription starts, you will. Once your trial ends, you'll immediately join your chosen Document Cloud subscription plan: Acrobat Standard or Acrobat Pro.
How do I buy Adobe Acrobat DC?
Adobe Acrobat isn't available as a one-time buy - like most other Adobe products, it's only available on subscription.
To get your hands on Acrobat, you'll need to choose between the Acrobat Standard plan and the Acrobat Pro plan. Many tools, such as its PDF to Excel converter and eSign software, are available on both plans. But there are some big differences between the two Document Cloud offerings.
Acrobat Standard is Windows only, and has fewer features than the Pro edition. Chiefly, subscribers miss out on redaction tools, and the ability to make scanned documents that can be edited and searched.
Acrobat Pro is the better choice for power-users, those working in Microsoft 365, and security-conscious organizations. It's also available across Windows and Mac.
See the full comparison on Adobe's website here.
What's the cost of Adobe Acrobat DC?
Adobe Acrobat DC is available on two subscription plans. You'll be locked into at least a monthly subscription, but a yearly plan is discounted. Choose the plan that suits your budget. The annual billed monthly option also has an exit fee for cancelling before the year's subscription is up. Commercial licenses are also available.
Acrobat Standard DC prices
Monthly: $22.99 / £23.26 / AU$32.99
Annual billed monthly: $12.99 / £13.14 / AU$18.69
Annual upfront: $155.88 / £156.89 / AU$224.27
Acrobat Pro DC prices
Monthly: $29.99 / £29.96 / AU$43.99
Annual billed monthly: $19.99 / £19.97 / AU$28.99
Annual upfront: $239.88 / £238.75 / AU$347.82
Note: while these prices are correct at the time of writing, prices outside the US fluctuate regularly with the exchange rates. All subscriptions can be canceled with a full refund within the first 14 days.
Can I get Acrobat on Creative Cloud?
Adobe's Creative Cloud All Apps subscription plan is perfect if you work across different creative apps like photo editors and video editing software, as well as PDFs.
This plan bundles Acrobat Pro alongside programs including Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and top DTP software Adobe InDesign.
With a range of graphic design software, video, photography, UX, and office tools, a Creative Cloud subscription plans can prove better value for money when working across the spectrum.
Creative Cloud All Apps subscription prices
Monthly: $79.49 / £75.85 / AU$114.99
Annual billed monthly: $52.99 / £49.94 / AU$76.99
Annual upfront: $599.88 / £596.33 / AU$871.07
Adobe Acrobat DC discounts for students and teachers
Acrobat Pro is available to teachers and students without a discounted rate. Acrobat Standard is not available.
Adobe offers a Creative Cloud All Apps discount to students and teachers that can prove eligibility (e.g., school ID card). This plan includes all desktop and mobile apps, plus 100GB of cloud storage, A perfect pairing with the best student laptops.
Creative Cloud student-teacher prices
Annual billed monthly: $19.99 / £16.24 / AU$21.99 a month for the first year, $29.99 / £25.28 / AU$43.99 a month afterward.
How can I get started with Adobe Acrobat DC?
Adobe Acrobat is a professional tool for a professional setting, and that means it has a lot more depth than you might think.
Thankfully, Adobe has a stellar range of online tutorials that you can view by clicking here. These can be sorted by Beginner and Experienced, to help ease the learning curve.
We've also explored the key question in our guide How to edit PDFs.
Adobe Acrobat: Key information
It’s worth knowing that older installations of Adobe Acrobat will be automatically removed when downloading a newer version. Be sure to disable this default if you want to keep both.
Cloud storage is a noteworthy perk of the Adobe Acrobat DC subscriptions. With Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or a basic membership with Creative Cloud, you’ll get 2GB of free cloud storage. But an Adobe Acrobat DC subscription bumps you up to 100GB of cloud storage.
If you’re managing a larger team, an Acrobat DC teams subscription may be a more cost-effective option to coordinate multiple licenses. For teams of 10 people or more, the monthly cost is $169.90/month. Enterprise pricing options are also available for larger teams.
Adobe Acrobat DC: Android and iOS apps
An Adobe Acrobat Reader DC app, and the Adobe Fill & Sign app are available on iOS and Android. You can perform basic manipulating and editing of PDFs here, but you'll need the desktop version to get the most out of Acrobat's features.
For more PDF viewing apps, we've rigorously tested the best PDF readers for Android, best PDF readers for Windows, and best PDF readers for Mac.
What's the difference between Adobe Acrobat DC, Acrobat Pro DC, and Adobe Reader DC?
Adobe offers three PDF readers for Windows, Mac, and mobile: Acrobat Reader DC, Acrobat DC (known as Acrobat Standard DC), and Acrobat Pro DC.
Acrobat Reader DC is a free PDF reader that you view and print files, or leave comments and annotations when used an as online collaboration tool. Outside of this, the free PDF software is fairly limited, with no real editing or conversion features.
Acrobat DC is a full PDF editor for Windows, available on subscription. Using the tool lets you create and edit PDF documents. You may also read, comment, sign, and convert Word to PDFs or PDFs to Excel, or almost all other Office filetypes, including PDF to PowerPoint.
Acrobat Pro DC extends Acrobat Standard DC even further. It works on Windows and Mac, adding in options to edit and search scanned files, insert multimedia into documents, and compare two PDFs side-by-side.
Alternatives to Adobe Acrobat
We've tested out a host of the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives. Depending on your needs, you'll find a range of tools that let you get to work without subscribing to Adobe's Document Cloud - whether you're on Windows, Mac, mobile, or browser.
Top choices include Foxit PDF Editor, Nitro PDF Pro, and EaseUS PDF Editor. For a free alternative, try the excellent online PDF editor PDF24 Creator.
- Best free PDF to Word converters: Create files fit for your word processor.
