Background; Acne Vulgaris leads to significant increase in psychological issues among patients and has negative impact on quality of life and their productivity. Objective; The objective of this study is to compare efficacy of 0.1 % topical adapalenin gel versus 0.05 % isotretinoin gel in patients with mild to moderate acne vulgaris. Material and Methods; Group A, having 30 patients, was treated with 0.1 % adapalene gel in the morning and evening (twice a day) while Group B, also having 30 patients treated with 0.05 % isotretinoin gel twice a day for 6 weeks. The patients were followed weekly till 6 weeks from the beginning of therapy to observe efficacy. Results; Of these 60 study cases, 18 (30.0 %) were male patients while 42 (60.0 %) were female patients. Mean age of our study cases was 20.43 ± 3.37 years. Mean body mass index of our study cases was 25.12 ± 2.21 kg/m 2 and obesity was present in 13 (21.7 %) of our study cases. Of these 60 study cases, 30 (50%) had mild acne and 30 (50%) moderate acne Mean disease duration was 4.52 ± 2.68 months and 54 (90.0 %) had duration of illness up to 6 months. Of these 60 study cases, 17 (28.3 %) were illiterate and 43 (71.7 %) were literate. Efficacy was noted in 35 (58.3%), in group A efficacy was noted to be 23 (76.7%) and efficacy in group B was noted be 12 (40.0%). (P=0.008). Conclusion; Adapalene gel was found to be more effective, safe and reliable therapy for the treatment of mild to moderate acne as this therapy was significantly more efficacious as compared with 0.05 % isotretinoin gel. Our study results support the use of Adapalene gel for the treatment of mild to moderate acne as it provides desired outcomes which leads to improvement in quality of life these patients and also their productivity. This will also provide psychological relief to the patients having significant burden of psychological stress.