Comparison
Sidenote vs Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant
Both let you chat with and summarise a document. The difference is scope. Acrobat's AI Assistant works on PDFs you've opened inside Acrobat. Sidenote is a browser extension that reads whatever you already have open — PDF, Confluence, Notion, Google Docs or any web page — and cites the exact passage. Here's an honest, feature-by-feature comparison.
The short answer
Should you use Sidenote or Acrobat AI Assistant?
Plenty of people use both. Acrobat manages the PDF files; Sidenote reads everything across the browser.
Compared honestly
Sidenote vs Acrobat AI Assistant: feature by feature
CapabilitySidenoteAdobe Acrobat AI Assistant
Reads the page or PDF you already have open in the browserSidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantNo
Works on private Confluence, Notion & SharePoint pagesSidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantNo
Works on Google Docs, web articles & live web pagesSidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantNo
Chats with & summarises PDFsSidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantYes
Reads scanned, image-only PDFs via OCRSidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantPartial
Citations scroll & highlight the exact passageSidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantPartial
Server-side citation check drops unsupported claimsSidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantNo
Ask across many documents at onceSidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantPartial
One-click glossary of jargon & acronymsSidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantNo
Free tier (no card)SidenoteYesAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantNo
Edit, sign, redact & organise PDF files themselvesSidenoteNoAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantYes
Desktop app & deep PDF toolingSidenoteNoAdobe Acrobat AI AssistantYes
Two rows go to Acrobat, and we're not pretending otherwise — see Where Acrobat wins below. The exact-passage citations and cross-document Collections are where Sidenote pulls ahead.
The core difference
A PDF feature inside one app, or a reader for the whole browser.
Acrobat's AI Assistant is a feature inside Acrobat — a paid add-on on top of the PDF tool you already use. Open a PDF in Acrobat and it can summarise it and answer questions. It does that job well, but it lives where your PDFs live: inside Acrobat.
Sidenote isn't tied to one file type or one app. It sits in the side panel of every tab, reads what you already have open — a PDF, a Confluence runbook, a Notion doc, a Google Doc, a web article — and answers in place. Click a citation and it scrolls the real document and highlights the exact passage.
The difference in one exampleTake a private Confluence runbook and a research PDF you need to read together. Acrobat's assistant works on the PDF once it's open in Acrobat — the live wiki page never becomes a PDF in there. Sidenote reads both in the browser, on your session, and lets you ask across them at once.
Giving credit
Where Acrobat is the better tool.
If these are what you need, Acrobat — with or without the AI Assistant — is the right home:
- Editing & organising PDF filesEdit text, reorder pages, merge, split, compress and export. Acrobat is the industry standard for working on the PDF file itself — Sidenote only reads.
- Signing, forms & redactionE-signatures, fillable forms and permanent redaction are core Acrobat features. Sidenote doesn't change documents — it reads and cites them.
- Deep PDF tooling & desktop appA mature desktop application with comparison, accessibility and pre-press tools. Sidenote is a focused desktop browser extension for reading.
For the reading and reasoning side, see how Sidenote handles exact-passage citations, or compare plans on the pricing page.
FAQ
Sidenote vs Acrobat AI Assistant — common questions
Is Sidenote a good Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant alternative?
If your reading lives entirely inside Acrobat as PDF files you've already opened there, the AI Assistant is convenient. But if you read across PDFs and the wider web — Confluence runbooks, Notion docs, SharePoint pages, Google Docs, arXiv papers, articles — Sidenote is the better fit because it rides along in your browser and cites the exact passage, rather than only working on PDFs inside Acrobat.
Does Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant cost extra on top of Acrobat?
Yes. The AI Assistant is a paid add-on layered on top of Acrobat or Reader, billed separately from your existing Acrobat subscription. Sidenote has a free tier forever, plus a 7-day Pro trial that needs no card and paid plans from £10/month. Always check Adobe's pricing page for current figures.
Can Acrobat AI Assistant read my private Confluence, Notion or SharePoint pages?
Not as web pages. Acrobat's AI Assistant works on documents you've opened inside Acrobat or Reader — chiefly PDFs. A live page behind your company login isn't a PDF file in Acrobat, so it's out of reach. Sidenote runs inside your browser on your own session, so it reads what's on your screen, including private wikis and intranet pages.
Does Sidenote handle scanned PDFs?
Yes. Open a scanned or image-only PDF in your browser and Sidenote OCRs it first, so even documents with no text layer become searchable and citable. Acrobat can OCR PDFs too, but you generally run that step inside Acrobat before the AI Assistant can use the text.
Which is more trustworthy for citations?
Both surface sources. Sidenote adds two things: every answer is checked server-side against the passages actually retrieved, so unsupported claims have their citation dropped before you see them; and clicking a citation scrolls the document to the exact sentence and highlights it, so verifying takes a second.
Can I use both?
Absolutely. Acrobat is the better home for editing, signing, redacting and organising PDF files themselves. Plenty of people keep Acrobat for managing PDFs and use Sidenote to read and question everything across the browser. They overlap, but they're not the same shape of tool.
Try it on the page you're on
Read anything. With citations.
Add Sidenote to Chrome and ask the document in front of you a question — PDF or not. No Acrobat, no upload, no new tab — just the answer, and the passage that proves it.
7-day Pro trial · No card required · Free tier forever