Adobe Acrobat Pro vs Standard: The Detailed Comparison

Looking for the main difference between the 2 Adobe Acrobat subscriptions: Pro and Standard? This page is exactly what you need.

After thorough testing, we’ll use a detailed comparison table to show the primary differences between Adobe Acrobat Standard and Adobe Acrobat Pro, helping you find the best Adobe subscription for your specific needs.

👉Moreover, also get PDFgear, the best free Adobe Acrobat alternative to edit and manage PDFs without cost.

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The Comparison Table

The following is a detailed comparison table of the features provided by Adobe Acrobat Standard and Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Feature	Adobe Acrobat Standard	Adobe Acrobat Pro
Price	Starts at $12.99 per month with annual billing	Starts at $19.99 per month with annual billing
Creating editable PDFs from scanned documents	❌	✅
Permanently remove sensitive information from PDF	❌	✅
Compare two versions of a PDF file or two different PDF files	❌	✅
Adding your logo to PDF documents	❌	✅
Creating PDF forms from web forms	❌	✅
Automatic optimization of PDF files	❌	✅
Adding interactive objects in PDF like audio, image, etc.	❌	✅
PDF text editing	✅	✅
Converting PDF	✅	✅
Exporting PDF	✅	✅
Filling or signing PDF documents	✅	✅
Basic features	Same	Same
User experience	A little complex with a slight learning curve	Overwhelming options on the screen
Free Trial	❌	✅
Built-in OCR feature	❌	✅
Organizing PDF	❌	✅
Accessibility & Integration	Adobe Acrobat Standard is compliant with all e-signature industry standards	Adobe Acrobat Pro allows Bates numbering for legal compliance on PDFs
Compatibility	Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and iPadOS	Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and iPadOS

Additional features of Adobe Acrobat Pro include:

• Automatic comparison of two versions of a PDF file or two different PDF files
• Adding interactive elements via JavaScript
• Creating PDFs with audio, video, and interactive elements from your phone
• Streamlining repetitive processes with the action wizard
• Ensuring PDFs comply with ISO standards like PDF/A and PDF/X
• Accessibility standards for people with disabilities
• Bates numbering for legal compliance on PDFs

While both versions have similar basic features, Adobe Acrobat Pro offers more advanced features and a more comprehensive user experience, especially for professionals and enterprises who need in-depth PDF editing tools. Adobe Acrobat Pro also has a 7-day free trial, while there is no trial with the Standard version.

More Feature Differences

For users looking for detailed comparisons of specific features in Adobe Acrobat Pro and Standard, this section provides the very information.

PDF Creation

Acrobat Pro: Create PDFs from various file types, including multimedia and web pages.

Acrobat Standard: Create PDFs from various file types, excluding multimedia and web pages.

PDF Editing

Acrobat Pro: Full editing capabilities, including text, images, links, and multimedia.

Acrobat Standard: Limited editing capabilities, primarily focused on text and basic formatting.

PDF Export

Acrobat Pro: Export PDFs to various formats, including Microsoft Office, image formats, HTML, and more.

Acrobat Standard: Export PDFs to Microsoft Office formats only.

PDF Compression

Acrobat Pro: Advanced PDF compression and optimization options.

Acrobat Standard: Basic PDF compression options.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

Acrobat Pro: OCR capabilities for scanned documents, allowing for text recognition and editing.

Acrobat Standard: Basic OCR capabilities for scanned documents, without the ability to edit recognized text.

Form Creation and Management

Acrobat Pro: Create, edit, and manage interactive PDF forms.

Acrobat Standard: Fill out and sign PDF forms, but no form creation or editing capabilities.

Document Comparison

Acrobat Pro: Compare two PDFs side-by-side, highlighting differences in content and formatting.

Acrobat Standard: No document comparison feature.

Redaction

Acrobat Pro: Redact sensitive information from PDFs, permanently removing the content.

Acrobat Standard: No redaction feature.

Bates Numbering

Acrobat Pro: Apply Bates numbering to legal documents for easy identification and organization.

Acrobat Standard: No Bates numbering feature.

Integration with Adobe Sign

Acrobat Pro: Full integration with Adobe Sign for e-signature capabilities.

Acrobat Standard: Limited integration with Adobe Sign, primarily for signing documents.

Collaboration and Commenting

Acrobat Pro: Advanced collaboration tools, including shared reviews, comments, and annotations.

Acrobat Standard: Basic commenting and annotation features, without shared review capabilities.

Security and Encryption

Acrobat Pro: Advanced security features, including password protection, encryption, and certificate-based signatures.

Acrobat Standard: Basic security features, including password protection and encryption.

Accessibility Features

Acrobat Pro: Tools to create and verify accessible PDFs, including a built-in accessibility checker.

Acrobat Standard: No specific accessibility tools or features.

In summary, Adobe Acrobat Pro offers a more comprehensive set of features compared to Adobe Acrobat Standard. While both versions allow users to create, view, and modify PDFs, Acrobat Pro is better suited for professionals who require advanced editing, collaboration, and security features.

FREE Adobe Acrobat Alternative

If you’re looking for pro-level PDF editing features without forking out big time, you should look no further than PDFgear, the best free alternative to Adobe Acrobat Pro.

PDFgear is a free-to-use PDF editor program that works on Windows, Mac, and iOS.

With PDFgear, you get to easily edit PDF text, convert PDFs using OCR, fill out PDF forms, sign on PDFs, organize PDF pages, print PDFs to standard sizes, etc.

What’s more, PDFgear also offers an AI-powered PDF chatbot feature that is even better than Acrobat AI, the newly released AI assistant in Adobe Acrobat.

• PDFgear Copilot: An AI-powered document dialogue function that simplifies actions on PDF files.
• PDF Text Editor: Allows you to edit a PDF like in Microsoft Word.
• AI OCR: Recognizes and extracts text from documents.
• PDF Converter: Converts PDF to multiple file formats.
• PDF Creator: Generates PDFs from various file formats.
• PDF Reader and Viewer: Offers customized reading modes and settings.
• Annotation and Markup Tools: For adding notes, highlights, comments, or drawing shapes.
• PDF Form Filler: Fills out interactive PDF forms accurately and efficiently.
• Page Organizer: Allows you to rotate, extract, delete, insert, and crop PDF pages.
• Hyper PDF Compressor: Achieves a 90% compression ratio.

FAQs

What are the main differences between Adobe Acrobat Pro and Adobe Acrobat Standard?

Adobe Acrobat Pro offers a more comprehensive set of features compared to Adobe Acrobat Standard. The main differences include advanced PDF editing, form creation and management, redaction, Bates numbering, document comparison, and enhanced security and collaboration features in Acrobat Pro.

Which version should I choose, Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Standard?

Your choice depends on your specific needs. If you require advanced editing, collaboration, and security features, Acrobat Pro is the better option. However, if you only need basic PDF creation, editing, and exporting capabilities, Acrobat Standard should suffice.

Are both Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Standard available as standalone software, or do I need a subscription?

Both Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Standard are available through Adobe’s subscription-based model, Adobe Creative Cloud. Standalone versions of the software are no longer offered.

Can I upgrade from Acrobat Standard to Acrobat Pro?

Yes, you can upgrade from Acrobat Standard to Acrobat Pro by purchasing a subscription plan for Acrobat Pro and following the upgrade process through your Adobe account.

Is there a free trial available for Adobe Acrobat Pro and Adobe Acrobat Standard?

Adobe offers a 7-day free trial for both Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Standard, allowing you to test the features and decide which version is best suited for your needs.

Can I use Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Standard on multiple devices with a single subscription?

Yes, with a single subscription, you can install and use Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Standard on up to two devices (either two computers or one computer and one mobile device).

Can I open and edit PDF files created in Acrobat Pro using Acrobat Standard?

Yes, you can open and edit PDF files created in Acrobat Pro using Acrobat Standard. However, you may not be able to access or modify some advanced features specific to Acrobat Pro.