pdfFiller for Business: An Effective Alternative to Adobe Acrobat

PDF editors became an essential part of routine business operations during the pandemic. The need to enhance remote document workflows has driven the growth of the PDF software market, expected to reach $4.11 billion by 2030 from $1.94 billion in 2021. Industry leaders like Adobe are facing harsh competition with multiple Adobe Acrobat alternatives. More cost-effective and user-friendly PDF editing software options, such as pdfFiller, offer a wide range of capabilities at a fraction of Adobe’s cost.  

Previously, we compared the two market-leading PDF solutions for business – Nitro PDF vs. pdfFiller. In this blog, we’ll compare Adobe Acrobat vs. pdfFiller. We’ll take an in-depth look at the features, pricing, and usability to determine whether pdfFiller for business is an effective alternative to Adobe Acrobat. Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

1. Adobe Acrobat vs. pdfFiller: Product Overview
2. Adobe Acrobat DC vs. pdfFiller for Business: In-depth Comparison & What Users Say
3. Customer Validation and Social Proof
4. The Verdict: Is pdfFiller for Enterprise the Best Alternative to Adobe Acrobat?

Adobe Acrobat vs. pdfFiller: Product Overview

Adobe is known as the pioneer of PDF management. Adobe Acrobat Document Cloud (DC) offers subscription plans for individual users, teams, and enterprises. Electronic signature comes in the form of a standalone Adobe Sign solution and as a part of Acrobat. Businesses looking to integrate Adobe capabilities, such as PDF, document generation, and eSignature, into their software can use API.

Adobe Acrobat for Teams and Enterprises: Features & Pricing

Acrobat Standard for teams allows users to create, edit, convert, eSign PDFs, and track responses in real-time; integrate with enterprise apps and reassign licenses in the Admin Console. Acrobat Standard for Teams costs $17.99/license/mo (annual, paid monthly and prepaid), or $215.86/year. 

On top of standard features, Acrobat Pro for teams and enterprises allows users to remove sensitive visible information in PDFs; collect eSignatures on web forms; add custom branding, and have access to advanced 24/7 tech support. Acrobat Pro for teams costs $28.79/license/mo (annual, paid monthly and prepaid), or $345.46/year. 

Acrobat DC has a free 7-day trial period. 

Customer Support:

• Advanced 24/7 Support for teams and enterprises.
• Expert Support (included with a license) offers online, phone, Experience League, forums, and self-help videos​
• Ultimate Support (paid) offers dedicated support representatives, personalized online help, prioritized access via phone, Experience League, and personalized Ultimate forums​.

pdfFiller for Business: Features & Pricing

pdfFiller is a cloud-based document management platform that allows users to create, edit, manage, save, share, and securely store their PDF files. The API integrations are available in both Basic and Premium plans for Enterprise. Using API empowers developers to integrate an advanced and intuitive editor and form builder into their software. Overall, pdfFiller plans for business offer an effective Adobe Acrobat alternative when it comes to both feature range and value for money. 

pdfFiller for business has two pricing options:

• The Basic plan for business offers powerful PDF editing, collaboration, and document management capabilities for 20+ users. The key features of this plan also include PDF annotation, automatic field detection, direct delivery of the selected tax forms to the IRS, and access to an online library of 25M ready-made forms and templates.
  
  Pricing: $96/user/year, or $8/user/mo.
• The Premium plan for business offers custom branding, SSO, audit trails, and premium support capabilities for 10+ users. One of the key benefits of this plan is access to the enterprise-grade eSignature solution to send PDFs for signature with signNow.
  
  Pricing: $180/user/year, or $15/user/mo.

pdfFiller for business has a free 30-day trial period.

Customer Support:

pdfFiller offers a wide range of customer support channels – Help Center, FAQ, 24/7 live chat, and phone support. Business users get a 24/7 dedicated customer support manager for both Basic and Premium plans. No need to pay extra for dedicated support.

Adobe Acrobat DC vs. pdfFiller for Business: In-depth Comparison & What Users Say

Customer reviews are the most common way to measure and compare subjective assessments of software products. We used the most recent (Summer 2022) data by G2, where both pdfFiller by airSlate and Adobe Acrobat DC are present in similar product categories: PDF editors, Document Creation, and Electronic Signature. Adobe Acrobat DC is listed in the Document Generation and File Conversion categories.

In summer 2022, pdfFiller scored top ratings in several G2 categories, such as Easiest to Do Business With, Best Support, and Best Relationship.

The cross-feature analysis of Adobe Acrobat DC vs. pdfFiller shows that the latter wins over the competition by every parameter that is a critical decision-making factor when businesses and enterprises choose their document software. The differences are especially drastic insofar as ease of use and software administration, support quality, and business partnership capabilities.

 

Customers who recently switched to pdfFiller as an alternative to Adobe Acrobat commended pdfFiller on its ease of use and clean interface:

eSignature 

An electronic signature is a critical element of business operations and a must-have for any document management system or PDF editor. Adobe and pdfFiller by airSlate have electronic signatures as standalone solutions (Adobe Sign and signNow, respectively) and built-in functionalities.

pdfFiller allows users to sign documents with an image of a handwritten signature, by drawing one, typing a full name, using a secure QR code, and even legally notarizing a form directly from the platform. Adobe Sign also has a notarization option available via the Notarize integration. 

And yet, when it comes to electronic signature capabilities, pdfFiller outranks Adobe Acrobat DC across many parameters, such as the ease of the sign-in process, signature workflow, reminders and expirations, bulk send, signature document creation, and reporting.

Document Management and Collaboration Features

Apart from eSignature, businesses are looking for efficient document management and team collaboration. According to customer reviews, Adobe Acrobat wins over pdfFiller regarding document management.

Acrobat has a wide range of collaboration tools for teams. With its help, each team member can share files with teammates and externally; comment on documents on mobile, desktop, or online; share and track records; use password protection for sensitive information; and more. The option to permanently redact PDFs to remove sensitive visible information is available only in Acrobat Pro.

pdfFiller for Enterprise allows users to add, delete, merge and rearrange pages in PDFs; use smart folders and tags; share documents and folders with roles; and eSign and email PDFs. Sending PDFs for signature with signNow is available only in the Premium for Enterprise plan.

Security and Compliance

When it comes to security and compliance, the scores are in favor of pdfFiller. The customer usability statistics clearly show that Audit Trail and document history are an integral part of security and compliance standards, and provide a rock-solid record when needed.

Both pdfFiller and Adobe provide users with the possibility to access audit logs. However, while pdfFiller has audit logs visible within its dashboard, figuring out the Activity and Audit reports is not as straightforward with Acrobat.  

Adobe’s security page mentions SOC2, HIPAA, FERPA, and FDA 21 CFR Part 11 certifications but doesn’t mention GDPR compliance for Adobe DC for Enterprise and business. pdfFiller’s security page, apart from SOC2, HIPAA, FERPA, and CCPA, also features GDPR compliance. HIPAA compliance is an Enterprise feature not available via self-serve so users can purchase it as an add-on.

Customer Validation and Social Proof

Let’s find out what customers say about pdfFiller and Adobe on popular review platforms. Users recognize pdfFiller’s intuitive interface, user-friendliness, comprehensive nature, ability to work with popular file types, and value for money delivered. Most users agree that Acrobat works better for more detailed editing but admit that Adobe’s suite of apps can be hard to figure out. 

Although customer rankings are not the most decisive factor for enterprises to make their software choices, they often reveal the issues users within the organization can face when using these apps.

Source: G2

Source: TrustRadius

Source: Software Advice

For more information on pdfFiller for business:

1. Check out our detailed review of pdfFiller for Enterprise features and pricing.

2. Learn how pdfFiller for business eliminates printing costs and helps organizations transition to paperless offices.

3. Learn how pdfFiller business ensures HIPAA compliance in Healthcare.

The Verdict: Is pdfFiller for Enterprise the Best Alternative to Adobe Acrobat?

Although Acrobat and pdfFiller for business have similar features, it’s evident that pdfFiller is more cost-effective when it comes to pricing plans. Customer reviews suggest that more and more business line owners are looking to switch to less expensive solutions after Adobe’s recent pricing policy change.

So which PDF solution for business to choose? The final choice would mainly depend on specific business requirements, average user profile in your organization, and, of course, your budget. You can calculate your savings with pdfFiller vs. Adobe Acrobat DC to assess the economic value of each solution. With pdfFiller, organizations save more than 35% while getting more powerful PDF functionality.

Choose pdfFiller for Enterprise, if:

• you need an easy to use PDF editing solution with form building capabilities;
• you’re looking for an enterprise-grade eSignature that complies with industry-leading security standards;
• you want to handle your organization’s document management in the cloud; 
• you’re flexible with pricing and the number of seats needed for your organization;
• you need a library of ready-made forms and templates for your business operations. pdfFiller currently has a library with more than 25M forms. Additionally, pdfFiller also offers access to US Legal Forms, the largest online library of state-specific legal forms;
• your organization is already using other business apps and you need a PDF editor as a built-in integration, an API solution, or a Zapier integration.