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Adobe Acrobat vs signNow

Adobe Acrobat and signNow are both contracts & e-signature tools. Adobe Acrobat is aimed at enterprise and small businesses, while signNow is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Adobe Acrobat costs less, from $14.99/mo versus $20/mo for signNow. Only Adobe Acrobat has a free plan.

Adobe Acrobat

Adobe's PDF editor, converter and e-signature suite with AI tools

signNow

airSlate e-signature app with templates, bulk send and an API

PricingFreemium · $15Paid · $20
Starting price$14.99/mo$20/mo
Free planYesNo
Free trial7 days7 days
Built forEnterprise, Small businesses, FreelancersSmall businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers
Platformsweb, windows, macos, ios, androidweb, ios, android
CountryUS · 1993US · 2011
Rating——

Choose Adobe Acrobat if

Professionals and organizations that work with PDFs every day and need reliable editing, OCR, redaction and e-signatures.

  • Reference implementation of the PDF format with the best fidelity
  • Complete toolset from editing to OCR, redaction and e-sign
  • Free Acrobat Reader covers viewing, commenting and signing

Look elsewhere if: Occasional users who only convert or compress files now and then (Smallpdf, iLovePDF, Foxit).

Choose signNow if

Small and mid-sized teams that need reliable e-signatures, templates and bulk sending without paying DocuSign prices.

  • Far cheaper entry point than DocuSign for core e-signature work
  • All paid plans include unlimited users, according to signNow
  • Unlimited templates and document storage on every paid plan

Look elsewhere if: Companies that need full contract lifecycle management or negotiation workflows (DocuSign, Ironclad, Juro).

Adobe Acrobat vs signNow pricing

Adobe Acrobat

  • Acrobat Reader$0View, comment, fill and sign PDFs
  • Acrobat Standard$14.99/moAnnual plan billed monthly; edit, convert, e-sign
  • Acrobat Pro$19.99/moAnnual plan billed monthly; $29.99 month-to-month
  • Acrobat Studio$24.99/moAnnual plan billed monthly; Pro plus AI Assistant, PDF Spaces
  • Acrobat Pro for teams$23.99/license/moAnnual plan billed monthly; admin console

signNow

  • Business$20/mo$8/mo billed annually; unlimited users, 100 invites/year
  • Business Premium$30/mo$15/mo billed annually; bulk send, signing links, payments
  • Enterprise$50/mo$30/mo billed annually; SMS, branding, conditional fields
  • Site License$1.50/inviteAPI, SSO, premium integrations, HIPAA; volume discounts

Adobe Acrobat · Key features

  • Edit text and images directly in PDFs
  • Convert PDFs to and from Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  • OCR to make scanned documents searchable and editable
  • Redaction, file comparison and PDF/A and accessibility tools
  • Request e-signatures with web forms and reusable templates
  • AI Assistant for summaries and questions across documents

Cons

  • Expensive compared with Foxit, Smallpdf or iLovePDF
  • Annual plans billed monthly carry an early cancellation fee
  • Desktop app is heavy and frequently promotes upsells

signNow · Key features

  • Reusable templates with fillable, conditional and required fields
  • Bulk send one template to many recipients at once
  • Signing order by role, automatic reminders and expiration dates
  • Shareable signing links and embeddable web forms
  • Payment collection on Premium and SMS delivery on Enterprise
  • Signer authentication with password or 2FA plus a full audit trail

Cons

  • Tight invite caps: 100 a year on annual plans, 10 a month on monthly
  • Bulk send, payments and advanced signing sit on higher tiers
  • Document editor and template builder feel dated

Adobe Acrobat vs signNow: FAQ

Which is cheaper, Adobe Acrobat or signNow?

Adobe Acrobat starts at $14.99/mo and signNow at $20/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.

Do Adobe Acrobat and signNow have a free plan?

Adobe Acrobat has a free plan. signNow has no free plan, a 7-day free trial.

Not sure yet?