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Do you want to try Adobe Acrobat before buying it? It offers a free trial, but you have to install the program first. For some, that's too much work for something you aren't certain you'll be continually using. Thankfully, there is online Adobe Acrobat. It lets you use some Acrobat features on your web browser. It's the more convenient way of getting the experience.

But how good is online Adobe Acrobat? What other online PDF tools can you use? To answer these questions, continue reading.

In this article
  1. Does Adobe Acrobat Have an Online Service?
    1. HiPDF - Best Adobe Online Services Alternative
    2. PDF Simpli - Totally Free Adobe Acrobat Online Alternative
    3. PDFZorro - A Unique Adobe Acrobat Online Alternative
    4. Visual Paradigm - Fast Adobe PDF Online Alternative
    1. PDF Editing
    2. Templates
    3. OCR
    4. Convert
    5. AI Features

Part 1. Does Adobe Acrobat Have an Online Service?

Yes. Adobe Acrobat has an online version. You can open it using your preferred web browser. You can use it for free, but you have to register an account.

Adobe Acrobat Online, or simply Adobe PDF Online, is very impressive. This is quite a feature-rich online PDF solution. It lets you store PDFs on the Adobe Cloud. Furthermore, Adobe PDF online allows you to edit PDFS, which is the main reason you'd want a PDF tool. The editor lets you add comments, text, highlights, drawings, and e-signatures.

Other capabilities include splitting PDFs, converting PDFs to Microsoft file formats, combining PDFs, organizing PDF pages, and compressing PDFs. Adobe Acrobat Online also lets you fill and sign PDFs or request for other's e-signatures.

While Adobe Acrobat Online is exceptional, it is not without downsides. First, you do not have unlimited access to its features. Two, the tool does not support PDFs larger than 100 MB. The compressor accepts PDFs smaller than 25 GB, and the PDF to Word and PDF to PPT converters accept up to 200 MB. And for unregistered users, you can only process and download only one PDF.

How To Use Adobe Acrobat Online?

  1. Open your preferred web browser and navigate to Adobe PDF Online. It is supported on Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer 11, Firefox, Safari 11, and Google Chrome.
  2. Click Sign in and log into your account. If you don't have one yet, register an account first.
  3. Select the tool that you want to use.
online adobe acrobat pdf editor tool

Part 2. Adobe PDF Online Alternatives

Adobe PDF Online is not your only choice for online PDF processing. In fact, you have a long list of options. But the question is, which ones are good? Which tools offer the same amount of value that Adobe Acrobat Online does? In this section, we will explore its best online alternatives.

HiPDF - Best Adobe Online Services Alternative

hipdf online pdf editor

HiPDF, from Wondershare PDFelement, is amazing in so many ways. The best thing about it is it offers unlimited document processing. The only thing you need to do is register an account. Creating an account on HiPDF is 100% free.

Let us talk about HiPDF's most notable features. You can use HiPDF to convert files to and from PDF. It also lets you edit PDFs, crop PDFs, and quickly replace words in the PDFs. PDF protection and page organization are also among the features.

The premium features include the OCR and AI Tools. Please note that you can use the AI tools for free until you run out of tokens.

PDF Simpli - Totally Free Adobe Acrobat Online Alternative

pdfsimpli online pdf editor

Unlike the previous tools, PDF Simpli is totally free. You do not need to pay for anything and don't even need to create an account. You can use this tool right off the bat.

PDF Simpli's editor is good. Admittedly, there is nothing special about it. But in terms of all the basic PDF tools that you'd need, PDF Simpli has got you covered. You can use this to fill up interactive forms, add or replace text, and add highlights, images, shapes, and signatures.PDF Simpli can also add watermarks, convert files to PDF, compress PDFs, and split PDFs.

PDFZorro - A Unique Adobe Acrobat Online Alternative

pdfzorro online pdf editor

PDFzorro's outdated user interface may be off-putting. But give this tool a chance. PDFZorro has some tools that are difficult to find in other online PDF solutions. For example, it has a Change PDF Metadata tool. Yes, not anyone would need that. But should you ever find yourself in a situation that calls for it, PDFzorro is an easy choice.

PDFzorro can also unlock PDFs, password-protect PDFs, merge PDFs, compress PDFs, and more.

Visual Paradigm - Fast Adobe PDF Online Alternative

visual paradigm online pdf editor

Visual Paradigm's online PDF solution is extremely fast. It can load PDFs with more than a thousand pages in seconds! And speed is not the only thing Visual Paradigm is going for it. It lets you add text, images, and tables. As the name suggests, Visual Paradigm is for graphic designers. That said, it provides you with images and clip art you can add to your PDF.

This tool offers two modes that make editing a lot easier: Traditional PDF Editor (block-based) and Document Editor (Flow-based). The latter lets you edit PDFs as if you're editing a document in Word.

Bonus: Offline PDF Editing Best Option: Wondershare PDFelement

wondershare pdfelement home screen

Using online PDF tools has its advantages. You do not have to install anything, so you do not need to worry about storage space. They're also less taxing for your computer since they don't use its processing power. However, there are also downsides. You can't use them when you do not have an internet connection. Plus, uploading PDFs to websites always has security risks.

That said, if you're able to install a PDF tool on your computer, we recommend doing so. If you decide to install a desktop PDF tool, choose Wondershare PDFelement. It is affordable, easy to use, and available on Windows and Mac.

Let us list some of Wondershare PDFelement's most attractive features.

PDF Editing

wondershare pdfelement pdf edito

Wondershare PDFelement's PDF editor allows you to edit all existing elements in the document. Furthermore, it lets you add to them. You can insert new text, images, links, and watermarks. You can also add custom backgrounds or backgrounds from templates.

Templates

Do you need to quickly whip up a birthday invitation or a resume? Wondershare PDFelement allows you to effortlessly create them, thanks to its Template Mall. That is right, Wondershare PDFelement offers hundreds of editable templates.

OCR

Wondershare PDFelement can easily turn scanned PDFs into editable or searchable PDFs. It has an OCR feature that recognizes over 20 languages. You can select more than one language at once, which is useful for multilingual documents. The tool also offers batch OCR.

Convert

Wondershare PDFelement can convert PDFs into different formats. Additionally, turning other files into PDFs is even easier. You just have to open them with Wondershare PDFelement. The tool automatically converts the file to PDF.

AI Features

ai sidebar on wondershare pdfelement

Wondershare PDFelement has kept up with the evolution of technology. It has integrated with Open AI to provide you with powerful AI tools. You can use the AI Sidebar to generate text, find answers, analyze the PDF, translate text, and more.

Now, these are just some of Wondershare PDFelement's features. There's a lot more that we can' discuss them all here. Install the tool and try it for free to see for yourself.

You may be asking, "Why choose Wondershare PDFelement when Adobe Acrobat exists?" Choosing Adobe Acrobat as the offline alternative to Adobe Online makes the most sense. Being the pioneer of the PDF files itself, Acrobat is the most powerful PDF editor. However, it is a bit pricey. And while it is user-friendly, the number of options may overwhelm you.

On the other hand, Wondershare PDFelement is budget-friendly, and its power isn't that far behind.

Conclusion

Online Adobe Acrobat exists, but it is not for everyone. If you are looking for alternatives, checking HiPDF is the best start. It lets you edit unlimited amounts of PDFs, with just one condition: create an account.

On the other hand, for offline PDF editing, Wondershare PDFelement is your best choice as it is the most cost-effective. This tool is powerful, user-friendly, and affordable.

Audrey Goodwin
Audrey Goodwin Apr 16, 24
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12 years of talent acquired in the software industry working with large publishers. Public speaker and author of several eBooks on technical writing and editing.