Adaptive design is a web design approach that serves several distinct, fixed layout versions of a page, each tailored to specific device categories or screen sizes, as opposed to responsive design’s single fluid layout that adjusts continuously to any screen size.
While adaptive design can offer highly tailored experiences for specific known device types, it’s generally more complex to build and maintain than responsive design, and Google has expressed a general preference for responsive design’s simplicity.
Most modern websites favor responsive design over adaptive design specifically for its easier maintenance and stronger alignment with mobile-first indexing best practices.
We generally recommend responsive over adaptive design within our Technical SEO service.