Functional outcomes in long-term survivors of acute liver failure (ALF) are not well-characterized. The aim of this prospective study was to determine health related quality of life (HRQOL) in long-term adult ALF survivors. ALFSG registry participants completed the CDC HRQOL-14 and SF-36 questionnaires at a 1 and/or 2 year follow-up study visit. Responses were compared among ALF subgroups and to available U.S. general population controls. Among the 282 adult ALF patients, 125 had undergone liver transplantation (LT) while 157 were spontaneous survivors (SS), including 95 acetaminophen overdose (APAP) patients and 62 non-APAP SS. Acetaminophen SS patients reported significantly lower general health scores and more days of impaired mental and physical health, activity limitations due to poor health, pain, depression, and anxiety compared to the other groups (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in coma grade, use of mechanical ventilation or ICP monitoring among the patient groups during their ALF hospitalization but the APAP SS had a significantly higher rate of psychiatric disease and substance abuse (p< 0.001). Compared to the U.S. general population, a greater proportion of the combined SS patients reported fair/poor health and >14 days of impaired physical/mental health and activity limitations due to poor health. In addition, a greater proportion of LT recipents reported >14 days of impaired physical/mental health. Similar results were observed using the SF-36 across the three ALF subgroups and compared to population controls. In conclusion, long-term adult ALF survivors report significantly lower quality of life scores compared to U.S. population controls. Furthermore, APAP SS patients report the lowest quality of life scores, possibly due to a higher rate of pre-morbid psychiatric and substance abuse disorders.