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's PDF editor, converter and e-signature suite with AI tools
airSlate e-signature app with templates, bulk send and an API
| Pricing | Freemium · $15 | Paid · $20 |
| Starting price | $14.99/mo | $20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | 7 days | 7 days |
| Built for | Enterprise, Small businesses, Freelancers | Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers |
| Platforms | web, windows, macos, ios, android | web, ios, android |
| Country | US · 1993 | US · 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.