I want to buy Adobe Acrobat XI Pro full version... Limited access vs. full access?

Question

I want to buy Adobe Acrobat XI Pro full version, but I don't know what the difference is between limited access to online services offered by the full version and the full access that's offered by the month-to-month version. In other words, what would I losing by acquiring the full version, rather than just paying the $19.99 per month and get full access to online services? Can someone help clear this up for me? Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi dmoynihan0421,
The retail version of Acrobat costs around US449$ and the monthly subscription is available for a very nominal fee of 19.99$ per month.
The software is the same and there's no difference between the functionality of Acrobat except that in the retail version you have a serial number to permanently activate the software whereas in subscription Acrobat validates the license very month to check if the subscription is active or not.
The main difference between the two however is the Adobe Online services.
When you buy Acrobat XI Pro as a one-time purchase, you get only Acrobat software. No online services are included.
When you subscribe to Acrobat Pro in select countries, you pay a low monthly fee to get:
Acrobat XI Pro desktop software, including any upgrades
The FormsCentral Plus online service for creating and distributing web forms
The Adobe PDF Pack online service that makes it easy to create, convert, and combine PDFs in your browser
Acrobat.com for storing and sharing files in the cloud
The details of these services are as follows:
Adobe online services extend your Acrobat XI working environment to help you streamline and simplify your projects:
Adobe FormsCentral makes it fast and easy to create, distribute, and analyze forms. A desktop version of the online service is included in Acrobat XI Pro. Using the FormsCentral desktop app, you can create unlimited PDF forms for free from scratch or by using professional templates. If you subscribe to Acrobat Pro† or open a free or paid account with the FormsCentral online service, you can also use the desktop app to build web forms and manage form distribution and analysis.
Adobe EchoSign makes it easy to get rid of paper signatures forever. If you open a free or paid account with the service, you can use the Sign pane in Acrobat XI to send documents to others for signature approval and track results online. Recipients can sign electronically without installing software or creating an EchoSign account.
Acrobat.com lets you store and access your files online from within Acrobat or Reader on any device when you sign up for a free account or subscribe† to Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Standard.
Adobe PDF Pack lets you create, combine, and export PDFs from any browser or mobile device. PDF Pack is included when you subscribe† to Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Standard — or you can open a paid account.
Adobe Send is an Adobe online service that lets you send and track large files — including audio and video — without the headaches of email size restrictions. Paid subscriptions are available.
Regards,
Rave