A cheaper Adobe Acrobat alternative, made in Australia
Written by Autonome. Updated 5 November 2026.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Adobe Acrobat for a small business?
Yes, if what your team mostly does is merge, sign, redact and fill in PDFs. Autonome PDF does those in your browser, and editing is free. Its Team plan, with unlimited downloads, Save to Team and Request signatures, is A$3.30 per person a month incl. GST. Acrobat Pro for teams is A$37.99 per licence a month incl. GST, going by Adobe's Australian pricing on 5 November 2026.
We'll be straight with you, though: Acrobat does more. It compares two versions of a PDF, it has desktop and mobile apps, and it has been the standard for a very long time. We built Autonome PDF for the jobs a small Australian office does every week, kept the files on your own computer, and priced it so nobody has to ration licences.
- Redaction and OCR included, without paying for a Pro plan.
- Your file is worked on in your browser, not uploaded.
- A team of five pays A$16.50 a month, against A$189.95 for five Acrobat Pro licences.
- Made in Melbourne, priced in Australian dollars with GST included.
Try it on your own file
Open a PDF in Autonome PDF. Nothing is uploaded, and editing needs no account.
| Autonome PDF | Acrobat Standard | Acrobat Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person a month | Free to edit, Team plan A$3.30 | A$26.99 | A$37.99 |
| Merge, split, edit text, fill and sign | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Redact | Yes | No | Yes |
| Make scans searchable (OCR) | Yes, English, 20 pages at a time | Not listed | Yes |
| Export to Word or Excel | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add a password | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Request signatures | Team plan, up to 20 signers | Yes | Yes |
| Compare two PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Where it runs | Your browser, installable, works offline | Desktop, web and mobile | Desktop, web and mobile |
Why people look for an alternative
Usually it's the bill. A per-person subscription is easy to justify for the one person who lives in PDFs, and much harder for the five who sign a quote twice a week. So licences get shared, people go back to printing and scanning, or someone uploads a payslip to whichever free website came up first.
That last one is what bothered us. We didn't want contracts and payslips sitting on anyone's server, ours included, so Autonome PDF does the work inside your browser. The file only leaves your computer if you choose Save to Team, Request signatures or Send to Xero or MYOB.
Why an Australian alternative
Because the paperwork is Australian. Our prices are in Australian dollars with GST included, so the number on this page is the number on your tax invoice. And when you need help, you're emailing a small team in Melbourne, on Australian time.
It's built around Australian documents too. It recognises a tax invoice by its ABN, our signing pages explain where the Electronic Transactions Act applies, and inside Autonome, Send to Xero or MYOB checks every supplier with the Australian Business Register before a draft bill is made.
When Acrobat is the better choice
If you compare versions of contracts every week, Acrobat Pro's compare tool is worth paying for, and Autonome PDF doesn't do that. If you need certificate-based digital signatures with a digital ID, use a tool built for that. Our signatures are electronic signatures with a tamper-evident record and a Certificate of Completion, which suits most business documents but not every requirement. And if your whole organisation already runs on Adobe, with its storage and workflows, switching one tool rarely saves enough to be worth the disruption.
Switching over
There's nothing to migrate. A PDF is a PDF, whatever made it: open one in Autonome PDF and carry on. We'd suggest keeping the free Acrobat Reader for viewing, trying Autonome PDF on the next job that comes up, and only cancelling licences once nobody is reaching for them. Already on Autonome? PDF Studio is included in your plan, working on your company files.
Questions
What are the cheapest alternatives to Adobe Acrobat?
For the odd PDF, your web browser can already open one and fill in a simple form for free. Free PDF websites cost nothing too, but most want your file uploaded first, which isn't great for payslips or contracts. If your team edits, signs or redacts PDFs every week, Autonome PDF is free to edit, and its Team plan is A$3.30 a person a month with nothing uploaded.
Is Autonome PDF really free?
Editing is. You can open, edit, sign and redact without an account. Downloading the result takes a free sign-in, with 5 downloads a week, and the Team plan, A$3.30 per person a month incl. GST, removes that limit.
Can I open PDFs made in Acrobat?
Yes. A PDF is a PDF, whatever made it.
Are Adobe's prices on this page current?
We checked them on adobe.com/au on 5 November 2026. They include GST and can change, so check Adobe's own pricing page before you decide.
Is an electronic signature legal in Australia?
For most business documents, yes, under the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth). Wills and some deeds can't be signed this way, so check with your adviser if you're unsure.
Try it on the next PDF that lands on your desk.
14-day free trial. Your card is checked and nothing is charged for 14 days. Then A$193.50/mo ex GST for up to 50 people.
Look around first, no card