ODT and PDF are file formats that are commonly used with text documents. While ODT is associated with Sun Microsystems’ Open Office / Star Office, PDF is associated with Adobe System Incorporated’s Acrobat / Adobe Reader.

ODT or Open Document Text Document is an XML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) format for open source text documents. It was developed by OASIS as part of the Open Document 1.0 specification and largely replaces the DOC format. ODT was made with industry standards in mind. PDF or Portable Document Format is the format created in 1993 by Adobe Systems. Files are generally converted from other formats to PDF and used for viewing on various computers. They have the extension PDF. It is primarily used to facilitate document exchange and represent documents with data in the form of text, images, and vector graphics.

Open text documents can be opened in all Open Office compatible applications, including Neo Office, Abi Word, and KWord. Other programs that support this format are Microsoft Word 2010, Corel Word Perfect Office X5, etc. Adobe Acrobat is used to create and edit PDF documents. Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign are the main programs associated with them. Some of the other programs that can open PDF are Inkscape, Corel Word Perfect Office X5, Foxit Reader, etc. The PDF can also be viewed on the web with the help of the Acrobat plug-in.

Both formats are similar in nature. The main difference between them is that PDF is more commonly used as a medium for data presentation rather than data storage. On the other hand, ODT is generally used only to store data. PDF is more popular and widely used than ODT.