Acrobat Reader
Adobe's PDF app for reading, marking up and signing documents, with paid tools for editing and AI help
by Adobe Inc. · listed Oct 19, 2026
Quick verdict
Worth installing as a free, dependable PDF reader and signer. Only pay for the subscription if you truly need to edit, convert or scan documents on mobile.
Best for People who need to read, annotate and sign PDFs on their phone, with the option to pay for editing tools
Reviewed by AppsPicks on Oct 19, 2026. How we review
Acrobat Reader review
Acrobat Reader is Adobe's mobile app for opening, annotating and signing PDFs. The core reader is free: you can view files, highlight, comment, fill in forms and add a signature, then share the result or keep it in Adobe's cloud storage. Editing text and images, OCR on scanned pages, file conversion and the AI Assistant sit behind a paid plan, with a 7-day trial on offer. It suits anyone who regularly gets contracts, forms or reports as PDFs on their phone or tablet.
Day to day it works as a dependable viewer. Large files open reliably, the markup tools are easy to find, and signing a form takes a minute or two. The app does push its subscription, AI features and newer extras such as PDF Spaces fairly often, which can make a simple task feel busier than it needs to be. If you mainly read and sign, you can largely ignore the upsells.
Why we picked it: It is the reference app for the PDF format, and the free tier covers reading, commenting and signing well on both iOS and Android.
Watch out for: Real editing, OCR, conversion and the AI tools require a subscription, and the prompts to upgrade are frequent.
What we like
- Free tier handles viewing, annotating, form filling and signing
- Reliable rendering of complex PDFs from Adobe, the format's creator
- Cloud storage lets you pick up documents across devices
- Available on both iPhone and Android with a consistent interface
What could be better
- Text editing, OCR and conversion need a paid subscription
- Frequent prompts to upgrade or try AI features
- Adobe account sign-in is pushed for cloud and sharing features
Questions about Acrobat Reader
Is Acrobat Reader free?
The app is free to download, and reading, commenting, filling forms and signing cost nothing. Editing PDFs, OCR, conversion and the AI Assistant need a paid plan, which you can try with a 7-day free trial.
Which platforms does it run on?
It is available for iPhone and iPad on the App Store and for Android on Google Play. Adobe also offers Acrobat on desktop and the web.
Can I edit the text in a PDF?
Yes, but only with a paid subscription. The free version lets you annotate and sign, not change the existing text or images.
Does it work offline?
You can open and mark up PDFs stored on your device without a connection. Cloud storage, sharing and AI features need internet access.
Are there alternatives?
On iPhone, the built-in Files and Preview-style markup tools cover basic signing, and apps such as PDF Expert or Xodo offer editing with different pricing.
From the developer: how Acrobat Reader describes itself
Major new updates:
Collaborate and share your files in PDF Spaces, and turn your document summaries into podcast-style audio in Acrobat Studio.
The world’s most trusted PDF reader, PDF editor, and PDF maker with more than 635 million installs. View, share, annotate, add comments, and sign documents - all in one app. You can store your files online and read documents anywhere.
Get your 7-day free trial and try all the features of Acrobat Reader.
Paid features:
Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant • Work across multiple files in one place with PDF Spaces. Collaborate, store, and use AI Assistant across files • Use voice or text prompts with AI Assistant chatbot • Ask questions and get cited answers about details in your document, including charts, graphs, and tables with Figures Q&A • Easily share the responses you get • Try voice support to ask queries and have answers read aloud. • Use new Hands-free to keep the conversation flowing with voice only • Instantly generate summaries from your PDFs with Generative AI Summaries • Get content for emails, text, study notes, blogs, and more
[Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant is a paid feature*, free for a limited time]
Edit PDFs • With our PDF editor, edit text and images directly in your PDF (mobile only) • Fix typos or add paragraphs with the PDF editor • Easily add, delete, or rotate any image • Use this PDF signer and PDF viewer to get your docs just right
Recognize text • Optical Character Recognition (OCR) turns scanned PDFs into searchable, editable text to use in other formats
Merge & organize PDFs with PDF Converter • Split or combine multiple files into one PDF with PDF converter • Use the PDF editor to insert, delete, rotate, crop & reorder pages in your PDF file
Create, convert & export PDFs • Easily convert to PDF from any file type including Microsoft, Google Docs, and images • Export and convert PDFs to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or various image files • Convert web pages to PDFs
Compress & highly secure PDFs • Compress PDF files for easy saving and sharing • Password Protect PDF documents
Text from the app store listing, quoted for reference. Our own take is above.
Reviews (0)
Be the first to review.