Acrobat Pro Costs $239.88/yr for Accessibility Checking. PDFlys Costs Nothing.
A dollar-for-dollar comparison of PDF accessibility compliance tools. Real pricing from Adobe's 2026 rate sheets. No estimates.
The Hidden Cost of PDF Accessibility Compliance
Most organizations discover the same thing: the software they need to check PDF accessibility isn't free. Adobe's accessibility checker — the industry default — is locked behind Acrobat Pro, their most expensive PDF tier. Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Reader don't include it.
That means every person who needs to run an accessibility audit needs a Pro license. For a 10-person compliance team, that's nearly $2,900 per year before anyone fixes a single issue.
PDFlys built its accessibility checker from the ground up for compliance work — 30 checks across four standards, one-click auto-fixes, enterprise audit evidence — and made the entire thing free. Here's how the numbers compare.
Adobe Acrobat Pricing — March 2026
Accessibility checking requires Acrobat Pro. Standard and Reader editions don't include it.
Individual Plans
| Plan | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Month-to-month (no commitment) | $29.99/mo | $359.88/yr |
| Annual, billed monthly | $19.99/mo | $239.88/yr |
| Annual, prepaid | — | $239.88/yr |
Business / Teams Plans
| Plan | Per User / Month | Per User / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Acrobat Pro for Teams | $23.99/user/mo | $287.88/user/yr |
| Acrobat Studio for Teams | $29.99/user/mo | $359.88/user/yr |
Early Termination Fee
Cancel an annual plan early and Adobe charges 50% of the remaining contract balance. Cancel six months in, and you owe roughly $60 on top of what you've already paid. The FTC filed a complaint against Adobe in June 2024 for hiding these fees and making cancellation unnecessarily difficult.
Adobe announced a price increase for Acrobat Standard business licenses effective April 1, 2026. Acrobat Studio — their new premium tier — costs 25–36% more than Pro.
PDFlys Accessibility Checker — Free
Total Cost of Ownership Over Time
Assumes the cheapest annual Acrobat Pro plan. Does not account for Adobe's 2025 and 2026 price increases.
Single User
| Acrobat Pro | PDFlys | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $239.88 | $0 |
| 3 years | $719.64 | $0 |
| 5 years | $1,199.40 | $0 |
10-Person Team
| Acrobat Pro | PDFlys | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $2,878.80 | $0 |
| 3 years | $8,636.40 | $0 |
| 5 years | $14,394.00 | $0 |
50-Person Organization
| Acrobat Pro | PDFlys | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $14,394.00 | $0 |
| 3 years | $43,182.00 | $0 |
| 5 years | $71,970.00 | $0 |
These figures don't include early termination fees, mid-contract price increases, or IT overhead for managing license seats.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
How the two tools compare on accessibility-specific capabilities.
Standards Coverage
| Feature | Acrobat Pro | PDFlys |
|---|---|---|
| WCAG 2.1 Level AA | Partial (tests WCAG 2.0) | Full |
| PDF/UA (ISO 14289-1) | Yes | Yes |
| Section 508 | Via WCAG mapping only | Dedicated checks with E205.3 exemptions |
| EN 301 549 | No | Yes |
Checks & Scoring
| Feature | Acrobat Pro | PDFlys |
|---|---|---|
| Total checks | ~20 | 30 |
| Quantitative score (0–100) | No — pass/fail checklist only | Yes, with severity weighting |
| Letter grade (A–F) | No | Yes |
| Per-standard compliance verdict | No | Yes — all 4 standards |
Auto-Fix
| Feature | Acrobat Pro | PDFlys |
|---|---|---|
| Set document language | Manual | One-click auto-fix |
| Set document title | Manual | One-click auto-fix |
| Set DisplayDocTitle | Manual | One-click auto-fix |
| Normalize language codes (BCP 47) | Manual | One-click auto-fix |
| Deduplicate structure IDs | Manual | One-click auto-fix |
| Mark decorative images as artifacts | Manual per image | Auto-fix with confirmation |
| Set tab order to structure | Manual per page | Auto-fix all pages |
Reporting & Audit Evidence
| Feature | Acrobat Pro | PDFlys |
|---|---|---|
| Pass/fail per check | Yes | Yes |
| SHA-256 document hash | No | Yes |
| Unique report UUID | No | Yes |
| ISO 8601 timestamp | No | Yes |
| Confidence scoring | No | Yes |
| PDF report export | Basic | Multi-page A4 with verdict badges |
| JSON export for CI/CD | No | Yes |
Privacy & Access
| Feature | Acrobat Pro | PDFlys |
|---|---|---|
| Processing location | Desktop app (local) | Browser (local) |
| Account required | Yes (Adobe ID) | No |
| Telemetry / usage data | Yes | No file data transmitted |
| File limits | Unlimited (with license) | Unlimited (free) |
What Acrobat Pro Does That PDFlys Doesn't
Acrobat Pro is a general-purpose PDF editor. If you need more than accessibility checking, here's what it offers beyond compliance tools.
Full PDF Editing
Edit text, images, and page layout directly inside PDFs.
OCR
Convert scanned documents to searchable, selectable text.
Reading Order Editor
Drag-and-drop interface for reordering tagged content.
Advanced Tag Editing
Manually restructure the document's accessibility tag tree.
Digital Signatures
Certificate-based document signing with validation.
Redaction Tools
Search-and-redact with pattern matching across entire documents.
What PDFlys Does That Acrobat Doesn't
For accessibility compliance specifically, PDFlys covers ground that Acrobat's checker misses.
Four-Standard Simultaneous Audit
WCAG 2.1 AA, PDF/UA, Section 508, and EN 301 549 — all checked in one pass.
Quantitative Accessibility Score
0–100 score with severity-weighted checks and letter grading, not just a pass/fail checklist.
One-Click Auto-Fixes
Seven common accessibility issues fixed automatically — download the corrected PDF immediately.
Enterprise Audit Evidence
SHA-256 document hash, report UUID, confidence scoring, and per-standard compliance verdicts.
JSON Export for CI/CD
Machine-readable audit data for automated testing pipelines and compliance databases.
Zero Licensing Overhead
No seats to manage, no renewals to track, no termination fees. Open the page and start auditing.
Which Tool Fits Your Needs?
Use Acrobat Pro if...
- You need a full-featured PDF editor and accessibility is one part of your workflow
- You need to manually edit reading order and document structure tags
- Your organization already has Adobe licenses and the marginal cost is absorbed
- You need OCR for scanned documents
Use PDFlys if...
- Accessibility compliance checking is your primary concern
- You need to audit against Section 508, EN 301 549, or WCAG 2.1 — not just WCAG 2.0
- You need audit evidence with cryptographic hashing and compliance verdicts
- You handle sensitive documents and want zero-upload, browser-only processing
- You want to integrate accessibility checks into CI/CD via JSON export
- You're budget-constrained or buying software requires procurement cycles
Use both if...
- You fix accessibility issues in Acrobat Pro (tag editing, reading order) and verify compliance with PDFlys (scoring, audit evidence, multi-standard checks)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Acrobat Standard check accessibility?
Is PDFlys really free? What's the catch?
What happens if I cancel my Acrobat Pro subscription early?
Does PDFlys check the same standards as Acrobat?
Can PDFlys fix accessibility issues?
Are my files safe with PDFlys?
Can I use the PDFlys audit report for legal compliance?
Does Adobe's April 2026 price increase affect Acrobat Pro?
What if I need both accessibility checking and full PDF editing?
Can I integrate PDFlys into automated testing?
Stop Paying for Accessibility Compliance Checking
30 checks. Four standards. One-click fixes. Enterprise audit evidence. No subscription, no account, no file limits.