Pdf Viewer reviews from Reddit

Summary

We analyzed 378 Reddit reviews across 44 subreddits and 69 posts to rank the best Pdf Viewer brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/linuxmasterrace, r/sysadmin, r/embedded, r/windows, r/linuxquestions. Top-rated brands include Okular (4.1/5), Foxit (4.1/5), Xodo (4.6/5).

Stats

Reviews378

Subreddits44

Posts69

Brands90

Products19

Top communities

r/linuxmasterrace60 r/sysadmin37 r/embedded27 r/windows26 r/linuxquestions21

378 reviews from

and

By Brand

By Product

Okular

4.1

(42)

"Okular is the PDF software I've been looking for. Seriously great stuff."

"Okular is great"

"I love Okular"

"Okular!!!!! (From KDE) It's the best one out there guaranteed!"

"Okular is the best"

"Try Okular and soon you will find that Acrobat reader is the one lacking here :D"

"Okular and Zathura for anything else."

"Ocular is decent, cross platform, and open source."

"Try *Okular*, it’s a decent cross platform pdf viewer."

"Okular: KDE, annotation features include commenting on PDF documents, highlighting."

Foxit

4.1

(19)

"Foxit is the only right answer"

"I like Foxit Reader also. It is much faster than Adobe Reader and much cleaner."

"I have been using Foxit Reader for all my pdf requirements, including marking up data sheets."

"Foxit reader is the best. And it has annotation and e-signature options."

"In my very, incredibly, outstandingly humble opinion, you should try Foxit."

"On Windows there is Adobe, Foxit, Sumatra and many more"

"Foxxit reader"

"Foxit"

"Foxit is my main if it's something that Chrome/Edge/FF isn't nice to use with."

"Foxit reader for the win. I can’t even bookmark a pdf document using Adobe. Eff that!!"

Xodo

4.6

(16)

"I use xodo and pdf extra."

"Is the best I tried"

"Xodo"

"I'm using Xodo, it has touch-friendly UI, hides it on tap, supports inking on document pages out-of-the-box and remembering scroll position of last document. Don't know your use cases but for me it is the best option I've found so far."

"Xodo can do almost everything."

"Xodo has worked the best for printing and quick view."

"Xodo, Moon reader Pro."

"Xodo is one of the best ones out there"

"Xodo, my main pdf app."

"Xodo pdf and mobipdf both are good"

Microsoft

3.9

(15)

"Believe it or not, Microsoft Edge opens PDFs and you can listen to them using its Read Aloud feature."

"You could use Microsoft Edge. I prefer their voices to the Adobe one."

"And not just fill in forms, your can annotate, ink, highlight, etc., and save it all as a pdf. All within Edge."

"Edge let's you annotate, ink, type, highlight, and save. All for free, no attempts at up selling, etc."

"Edge does all of that. Annotate, ink, type, save, whatever you need."

"Edge."

"Edge. Can even do basic editing if needed."

"If all you want to do is view PDF's I would just stick to edge, it's less clunky doing it than most and quicker than reader"

"I have Edge installed, just because I like the pdf viewer. It is superior to Chromium and Firefox in that regard."

"I use edge and okular, don’t have issues with either tbh"

Zathura

4.1

(13)

"Zathura is really great, it's got vim keybindings."

"Zathura is rely great."

"Zathura gang!"

"Viewer - I use Zathura (plain - no plugins). It's fast and has VI bindings and does what you expect."

"If you want something more minimalist you have Zathura"

"Zathura for me!"

"I bounce back and forth between zathura and okular."

"I use Zathura on my laptop"

"For a minimalist pdf viewer go zathura."

"For pure viewing, I like to use zathura."

PDF-XChange

4.5

(11)

"Pdf-xchange editor is perfect for me."

"PDF-XChange Editor has many features, most for free and only some advanced need to be licensed."

"Pdf-xchange best hands down. It's faster, does searching better, has tabs, lots of customization, doesn't complain you haven't purchased it yet, works great year after year."

"Pdf-xchange best hands down"

"The stand-alone PDF viewer from them has even better performance and it is totally free as well."

"PDF X-Change Editor"

"PDF-Xchange is nice and you cant edit PDFs as well."

"PDF-XChanger. Does what adobe can do and even more."

"I've been using PDF-XChanger for years"

"Pdf-xchange, simple, lightweight, no fuss and if you want to enable editing it's cheap and the license is perpetual"

SumatraPDF

4.3

(11)

"Best free pdf reader on windows with dark mode support & inverted colors"

"Sumatra PDF best light document viewer."

"SumatraPDF!"

"Sumatra."

"SumatraPDF, as someone mentioned below. Put it in 'book view' mode and it works just like Xodo did back in the good old days."

"Can open big files and zoom over 700%."

"For Windows, SumatraPDF and MuPDF, in that order. On Linux, Zathura and MuPDF, in that order."

"If you want something lightweight and fast (and aren't afraid of 90's - 00's design), use Sumatra."

"I use and prefer sumatra pdf reader."

"SumatraPDF has excellent LaTeX support and also it is very lightweight and straightforward."

Evince

3.7

(12)

"Most people use Evince if they favour GTK+ or Okular if they favour Qt."

"For local documents, I just stick with Evince, mostly because it's what I'd been using for many, many years over on Windows."

"Evince is free, cross platform, open source."

"I use Document Viewer which is Evince and it works just fine. I find it to be lightweight and fast."

"Evince is the best for long sessions of reading because the UX."

"Evince works perfectly as far as I can tell."

"Evince works pretty well for me, does one thing and does it goodly"

"I love evince but occasionally use Adobe reader to sign docs"

"Evince: Gnome, good but has less features than okular"

"Honestly, they both seem about the same. If I hadn't habitually installed Evince on my last Mint install, I probably never would have missed it."

PDFgear

4.2

(10)

"Best free pdf editor on windows"

"PDFGear. It is totally free!"

"I use PDFgear with OneDrive, and sometimes PDF Expert with OneDrive. Just pick one PDF editor that works for you."

"PDFgear. Free and easy."

"PDFgear is a free choice."

"PDFGear is a great completely free PDF editor."

"I always recommend PDFGear"

"PDFgear. It can also convert PDF to Word for free."

"I've been using PDFgear for a little while now, I'm very happy with it."

"[PDFgear] is a free PDF editor."

#10

Adobe Acrobat Reader

3.6

(11)

"The free Adobe Reader is the only app that will handle every possible PDF feature correctly."

"Acrobat reader or foxit"

"Adobe Acrobat Reader can do, if you want the best compatibility. I use Foxit Reader for most of my filling needs."

"You only need the free Adobe Reader, you don’t need the expensive version."

"Adobe Reader, Google Chrome PDF Viewer"

"On Windows I use Adobe Reader, because it just works with every kind of PDF possible."

"There is nothing wrong with regular Acrobat Reader, and yes, it is 64 bit, I just checked on my own installation."

"Wouldn't just installing Adobe Reader DC be all you need"

"Adobe reader is free"

"Adobe Reader, free."

#11

PDF Expert

4.4

(9)

"PDF Expert is really good. It does a lot and you can compress your PDFs inside of it."

"PDF Expert is my go-to."

"The free version of PDF Expert is ideal."

"I use PDF Expert and have yet to be let down by it."

"Pdf expert works well with Autocad pdf’s."

"PDFexpert"

"PDF expert. Free, has what you need, and can annotate."

"I recently downloaded the free version of PDF Expert."

"I recently found PDF Expert. The free version lets me annotate."

#12

Foxit Reader

4.1

(8)

"I really like Foxit"

"I did my entire 150+ session campaign of Arden Vul with Foxit reader."

"On windows: foxit Reader on linux: qpdfivew"

"[Foxit PDF Editor](https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/). Its Microsoft Ribbon-like interface makes it user friendly."

"Foxit Reader for Linux."

"Foxit PDF Reader for Linux is very Adobe compliant."

"I use Foxit Reader (Linux desktop version)."

"Of the other options, I guess foxit isnt that bad."

#13

Sioyek

4.1

(8)

"Sioyek has some nice features specifically for academic and technical PDFs."

"Sioyek, it's awesome, take time to configure it how you want."

"Sioyek is a neat one."

"My favorite is Sioyek, but for some tasks Okular is better."

"Sioyek has many features you should have a look at it."

"Yes it says it's for research papers, but works as pdf reader as well"

"For fast navigation and synctex feature I use Sioyek, it's a "new" reader that works very well and has many good features."

"Sioyek"

#14

Adobe

3.7

(9)

"I’ve tried a ton over the years and I always end up back with Adobe, even on Mac and iOS"

"Adobe Acrobat Reader"

"In Adobe Acrobat Reader in the top left menu click View then Read Out Loud."

"On Windows there is Adobe, Foxit, Sumatra and many more"

"Adobe acrobat"

"I use the Adobe Reader Android app on my Chromebook to read ebooks."

"If OP need features like easier note reading, then the default Adobe Reader is the way to go."

"Adobe reader, Chrome, open office, or just about anything Microsoft hasn't touched."

"Acrobat is completely broken for me on the Duo."

#15

Apple

3.9

(8)

"Apple Books!!! To add a file to the library, select the file in the Finder."

"Personally I’ve used Preview for 16 and a half years. It used to be a lot better in older MacOS X versions, in my view."

"Preview.app, it’s build in, has signature option, for handwritten signature, I mean, annotations, highlight."

"I'm in the Preview is the best camp."

"Quick View in Files and Safari works great for me."

"Safari provides a pretty minimal UI for PDFs and it shouldn't get in the way of reading."

"The notes app lets you do this. I save periodically and unfortunately when you close it doesn't save where you left off."

"IBooks does this. Sometimes it’s slow to load with bigger patterns."

#16

Microsoft Edge

4.0

(7)

"Edge, Microsoft's web browser. It just works. And it's free."

"Microsoft edge is best for annotations and adding text. Give it a try"

"Microsoft edge's pdf viewer ain't bad either, i would say it is one of the best"

"For Windows I've used Microsoft Edge in the meanwhile which was sufficient but not ideal (a bit clunky)."

"Edge has a good one built in."

"MS Edge is a really good pdf reader, especially if you don't require a lot of features."

"Microsoft Edge (old version) is actually a really solid PDF viewer"

#17

MuPDF

3.9

(7)

"Mupdf does all this and is lightweight as hell."

"Mupdf(open source)"

"Mupdf is very minimal, but gets the job done. Loads really fast too."

"The fastest I've tried for Linux is mupdf."

"If you have crostini installed then the mupdf or zathura (with the mupdf plugin) Linux applications are very snappy."

"Recently discovered mupdf watching Luke Smith's video on making quick presentations with markdown/pandoc. Works great on those, but it won't open some other pdfs I have."

"I use muPDF. It’s very basic and doesn’t have an interface besides showing the file itself."

#18

PDF-XChange Editor

4.5

(6)

"It's my favourite pdf reader by a long shot."

"I personally use PDF-XChange Editor the most for reading, even though it's not the most pen & touch friendly, it's certainly the most customizable, has the most layout options, has the most extensive search options, and is the most performant and stable with lots of PDFs open."

"I personally use PDF-XChange Editor. It has a free and lifetime licensed version so you may give the free version if it suit your needs."

"You should give a try to PDF-XChange Editor. Annotation feature is free."

"I used it on my laptop for years and then when I got the sp8 I kept it and it has been working fine"

#19

Sumatra PDF

4.5

(6)

"[Sumatra PDF](https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/free-pdf-reader)."

"Sumatra is the best. I am using it for like a year now."

"[SumatraPDF] is the best PDF reader on Windows."

"Sumatra PDF. That is the best one."

"I've used a whole bunch of them but I personally use Sumatra now"

"Just tooled around with Sumatra and found on their forum they used to have dark mode but abandoned it."

#20

Drawboard

4.4

(5)

"This one so far has just been fantastic. Very good at dealing with multiple tabs, minimalist fluid interface, very powerful annotation tools."

"DrawboardPDF! I have been using it for years."

"Drawboard is awesome. awesome for sketching/markin up etc. free version is good for simple markups"

"Draw board PDF, especially if you have the pen"

"Vouch for drawbooard aswell, free and easy to use."

#21

Xodo PDF Reader

4.0

(5)

"[Xodo PDF reader] is another one that has been suggested a lot by others."

"I use Xodo (free app) and its pretty good."

"If you need a free pdf reader and annotater with no in app purchases try Xodo."

"Xodo is pretty good."

"I have been using Xodo."

#22

PDF24

4.0

(5)

"Use pdf24 reader for full screen"

"I use pdf24 offline desktop edition you can check it out. It's free"

"PDF24"

"I use PDF24"

"PDF24 for tons of features"

#23

KDE

3.4

(5)

"Okular is probably the best free OSS version. It's maintained and run by the KDE community."

"Multi-platform, fast and packed with features, Okular allows you to read PDF documents."

"I use Kile/Okular combo on both windows and Linux Mint."

"Okular - Opensource from the KDE Project from the Microsoft Store..."

"Okular is a fantastic app on Linux, but the Windows version is trash."

#24

Preview

3.4

(5)

"Preview (the default PDF app) on macOS works great."

"Preview (comes with your Mac) is also excellent."

"Preview"

"Preview. But you have to use a Mac (it’s a bundled utility as part Of the OS)"

"Does well for simple things like filling out or signing a document."

#25

Goodnotes

4.3

(4)

"GoodNotes just has so many functions, yet the interface is clean and not overloaded. I'm so much more productive now!"

"If you're using ipad and willing to shell out a little money, try goodnotes or notability."

"Not free but worth it."

"You can split screen."

#26

pdf-tools

4.0

(4)

"I set up pdf-tools as my default pdf viewer and its really amazing."

"As others mentioned, I also use `pdf-tools`."

"Pdf-tools, on both windows and linux"

"I have ended up using pdf-tools within emacs: fast, easy to use, searchable and automatically updated."

#27

Skim

4.0

(4)

"I tried Skim and it’s very good, but went back to preview at this point"

"Skim is also a good free option"

"Skim or pdf expert."

"On my Mac, I use Skim (free)."

#28

Drawboard PDF

4.0

(4)

"Try Drawboard PDF."

"Was quite useable in free version too."

"I am using drawboard PDF for pen annotating and I'd say it's the best one."

"Have you already tried Drawboard PDF? I use it a lot for annotating PDFs."

#29

Firefox

4.0

(4)

"Mostly use firefox, sometimes evince."

"Firefox"

"The built-in PDF viewer can disable security options from pdf documents, and also it includes annotation capabilities: write text, draw, and add signatures to PDF."

"Firefox works fine, I've recently opened a 250 page PDF, no problem."

#30

Xreader

3.5

(4)

"İf you just want to look into pdf files than I would recommend xreader"

"I switched to XReader which is lightweight and has options to invert colors."

"Rather, the Mint Xfce default of `xreader` because silly me forgot to get it again for this current Mint installation."

"You can try maybe calibre or also xreader for something minimal"

#31

SimplePDF

4.3

(3)

"It’s web based but everything happens locally: the document you load and data you fill in is never sent to the server."

"Lots of good recommendations in the thread but if you’re still looking you may want to look into SimplePDF.eu"

"Https://simplePDF.eu – online PDF editor but everything happens locally"

#32

Atril

3.0

3.0

(1)

"The built in reader is decent. Allows marking up too."

#90

Moonreader+

3.0

(1)

"I’ve had some decent luck with Moonreader+."

Discover your audience

GummySearch is an audience research toolkit for 130,000 unique communities on Reddit.

If you are looking for startup problems to solve, want to validate your idea or find your customers online, GummySearch is for you.

Tell me more

Get started