PeekPlainCompare
PeekPlain vs Adobe Acrobat
Acrobat is the reference PDF application, with the deepest feature set and a subscription price. PeekPlain covers the everyday jobs on a Mac, offline, with a one-time Pro upgrade.
| Adobe Acrobat | PeekPlain | |
|---|---|---|
| Price model | Subscription | Free; Pro is $24 once |
| View and annotate PDFs | Yes | Yes, free |
| Fill forms and sign | Yes | Yes, free |
| Request signatures from other people | Yes | No |
| Certificate-based digital signatures | Yes | Not yet |
| Edit existing PDF text | Yes | Yes, Pro |
| OCR to a searchable PDF | Yes | Yes, Pro; offline |
| Redaction | Yes | Yes, Pro |
| Create or edit form fields | Yes | Not yet |
| Export to Word, Excel, PowerPoint | Yes | No |
| Compare two PDFs | Yes | Yes, Pro |
| Accessibility checking and tagging | Yes | No |
| Opens Markdown, code, CSV, images | PDFs only | Yes |
| Runs on Windows and the web | Yes | No, Mac only |
Competitor details reflect our understanding at the time of writing and products change, so check their own pages before you decide. PeekPlain is in free beta; features marked Pro are rolling out through 1.0.
Where PeekPlain is weaker
- Acrobat is far more complete: signature requests, form creation, Office export, accessibility tools and enterprise controls.
- PeekPlain cannot open every unusual PDF Acrobat can, such as complex forms.
- PeekPlain is Mac only and in beta.
- If your workflow depends on certified signatures or legal e-sign tracking, use Acrobat.
Where PeekPlain is better
- No subscription: Pro is one payment, and the app keeps working.
- Opens fast and does not need an account or background services.
- Works offline and never sends your files anywhere.
- Free covers viewing, signing, merging and compressing presets.
Which should you pick?
If you need Acrobat's depth for regulated or shared workflows, keep Acrobat. If you mostly read, sign, merge, compress, OCR and redact PDFs on a Mac, PeekPlain does those without a subscription or an account.