Pactivo vs Adobe Acrobat Sign
Adobe sells e-signatures inside its Acrobat plans, priced per licence, alongside PDF editing and Adobe's wider document tools. Pactivo does one job for UK regulated firms: per-envelope signing with an email passcode for every signer and UK data storage on every plan.
In short
For small businesses, Adobe includes e-signatures in Acrobat for teams, priced per licence: Acrobat Pro for teams is £20.22 a licence a month (excluding VAT) on an annual plan billed monthly, with no usage caps on e-signatures. Pactivo charges per envelope with no per-user fees and no annual commitment.
If you already pay for Acrobat Pro for teams, e-signatures come with it, and you also get PDF editing. If you only need signatures, or many people send now and then, per-envelope pricing usually costs less.
Adobe's UK e-signature page does not set out signer checks, eIDAS signature levels or where documents are stored; its trust centre says the hosting location depends on the services deployed and the customer's settings. Pactivo gates every document behind an email passcode and stores data in the UK on every plan.
Side by side
How you pay
Pactivo: Per envelope, no per-user fees: £0.69 an envelope on Starter (monthly billing), down to £0.36 on Scale (annual billing), excluding VAT.
Adobe Acrobat Sign: Per licence, as part of Acrobat: Acrobat Pro for teams £20.22 and Acrobat Studio for teams £24.94 a licence a month, excluding VAT, on annual plans billed monthly (Acrobat Pro for teams is £242.64 a year prepaid). Adobe also sells Acrobat Sign as a stand-alone product with unlimited seats.
Volume limits
Pactivo: None: you pay for each envelope you send.
Adobe Acrobat Sign: No usage caps on e-signatures in Acrobat for teams plans.
Free option and commitment
Pactivo: No free plan. You can sign up and send your first envelope without a credit card. Change or cancel at any time.
Adobe Acrobat Sign: Free trial for up to 10 licences. On the annual plan billed monthly, a fee of half the remaining annual commitment applies if you cancel more than 14 days after the trial ends.
Checking the signer
Pactivo: Every signer enters a one-time passcode sent to their email before the document opens, on every plan.
Adobe Acrobat Sign: Not covered on the pages we checked.
Signature levels
Pactivo: UK eIDAS Simple Electronic Signature (SES). Advanced and Qualified signatures are on the roadmap.
Adobe Acrobat Sign: Not covered on the pages we checked.
Evidence
Pactivo: Hash-chained audit trail, and a signed PDF sealed with a PAdES digital signature and an RFC 3161 timestamp, on every plan.
Adobe Acrobat Sign: Audit trails and real-time status tracking for documents sent for signature.
Independent verification
Pactivo: Anyone with the verification code can check a completed document on a public page, without an account.
Adobe Acrobat Sign: Not covered on the pages we checked.
Data residency
Pactivo: UK, on every plan.
Adobe Acrobat Sign: Hosted on AWS and Microsoft Azure; Adobe says the location depends on the services deployed and the customer's settings or deployment preferences.
Integrations and apps
Pactivo: API and webhooks only; no app marketplace or native mobile apps. Signers sign in the browser on any phone.
Adobe Acrobat Sign: Send from Acrobat on desktop or mobile, and from Microsoft Word, Teams, Salesforce, Workday and other apps; store signed documents in Box, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. Templates and bulk send.
| Pactivo | Adobe Acrobat Sign | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Per envelope, no per-user fees: £0.69 an envelope on Starter (monthly billing), down to £0.36 on Scale (annual billing), excluding VAT. | Per licence, as part of Acrobat: Acrobat Pro for teams £20.22 and Acrobat Studio for teams £24.94 a licence a month, excluding VAT, on annual plans billed monthly (Acrobat Pro for teams is £242.64 a year prepaid). Adobe also sells Acrobat Sign as a stand-alone product with unlimited seats. |
| Volume limits | None: you pay for each envelope you send. | No usage caps on e-signatures in Acrobat for teams plans. |
| Free option and commitment | No free plan. You can sign up and send your first envelope without a credit card. Change or cancel at any time. | Free trial for up to 10 licences. On the annual plan billed monthly, a fee of half the remaining annual commitment applies if you cancel more than 14 days after the trial ends. |
| Checking the signer | Every signer enters a one-time passcode sent to their email before the document opens, on every plan. | Not covered on the pages we checked. |
| Signature levels | UK eIDAS Simple Electronic Signature (SES). Advanced and Qualified signatures are on the roadmap. | Not covered on the pages we checked. |
| Evidence | Hash-chained audit trail, and a signed PDF sealed with a PAdES digital signature and an RFC 3161 timestamp, on every plan. | Audit trails and real-time status tracking for documents sent for signature. |
| Independent verification | Anyone with the verification code can check a completed document on a public page, without an account. | Not covered on the pages we checked. |
| Data residency | UK, on every plan. | Hosted on AWS and Microsoft Azure; Adobe says the location depends on the services deployed and the customer's settings or deployment preferences. |
| Integrations and apps | API and webhooks only; no app marketplace or native mobile apps. Signers sign in the browser on any phone. | Send from Acrobat on desktop or mobile, and from Microsoft Word, Teams, Salesforce, Workday and other apps; store signed documents in Box, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. Templates and bulk send. |
When Adobe Acrobat Sign is the better choice
- Your team already pays for Acrobat Pro, so e-signatures come at no extra cost.
- You also need PDF editing, conversion and Adobe's other document tools.
- You want to send for signature from inside Microsoft Word, Teams, Salesforce or Workday.
- A few people send a lot of documents, so a licence with no usage cap works out cheaper.
When Pactivo is the better choice
- You only need e-signatures, and would rather pay per envelope than per licence on an annual plan.
- You want every signer behind a passcode, and a PDF sealed with a trusted timestamp, set out plainly on every plan.
- You need documents stored in the UK.
- You want clients and counterparties to be able to verify a signed document themselves, without an account.
How we checked
We took every statement about Adobe Acrobat Sign from Adobe Acrobat Sign’s own public web pages on 15 October 2026. Prices and plans change, so check the current position on their site before you decide. If something here is out of date or wrong, email hello@pactivo.com and we will correct it.
- Adobe: e-signatures in Acrobat for business (UK)
- Adobe Acrobat pricing for business (UK)
- Adobe Trust Center: Document Cloud hosting locations
Adobe, Acrobat and Acrobat Sign are trademarks of Adobe Inc. Pactivo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Adobe Inc..