PDF tools / Compare
Adobe Acrobat online vs Smallpdf
Both do 10 of the same PDF tools tasks. Below is what each says about its own limits and pricing, and how each ranks on signals we can measure or quote.
Disclosure: agathox makes some of the tools listed here. They are labelled and scored by the same method as every other tool.
A
Adobe Acrobat online
Adobe's free online PDF tools, from Adobe, Inc.
Signals score: 3.9 / 5 · not a hands-on test
Visit www.adobe.com/acrobat/online.htmlB
Smallpdf
Online PDF tools by Smallpdf AG (Zurich, Switzerland).
Signals score: 4.2 / 5 · not a hands-on test
Visit smallpdf.comPricing, limits and privacy
- Free tier
- A: Free tools with limits per tool, for example merge up to 100 files and 1,500 pages, split up to 1 GB and 1,500 pages, Word to PDF up to 100 MB, compress up to 2 GB with limited use. PDF to Word has a daily limit whose number is not stated.
- B: Limited access to basic features of 21 tools, with up to 2 conversions a day. The same limit applies with or without a free account. File-size and page limits are not stated.
- Paid plan
- A: Acrobat Standard from US$14.99 a month on an annual plan billed monthly, US$179.88 a year prepaid, or US$24.99 month to month.
- B: Pro adds unlimited use of all tools, OCR, batch conversion, no ads and the desktop and mobile apps. The price is not shown on the official pages we could read.
- Signup
- A: Depends on the tool. Merge and compress say no signup; split, OCR and edit ask you to sign in to download; Fill & Sign requires it.
- B: Not required for most tools. Sign needs a free account.
- Watermark
- A: Merge and PDF to JPG say no watermark. Not stated for the other tools.
- B: Says it adds no watermark, even on the free plan.
- Where files go
- A: Files are uploaded to Adobe's cloud servers and deleted unless you sign in and save them. No retention time is stated.
- B: Cloud-based: files are uploaded and deleted automatically after one hour for most tools. Its servers are in Ireland.
From each tool's own pages, checked 2026-10-31. Prices and limits change; check the tool before you rely on them. Sources are listed on each tool's page.
Compare on a task
Neither tool has been hands-on tested on these tasks yet, and we do not guess. Open a task to see both ranked with every other tool.
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