Compare the Top PDF Readers for Linux as of April 2025

What are PDF Readers for Linux?

PDF readers are software applications that enable users to access, open, and read PDFs. PDF readers are essential tools for being able to open and read PDF files. Advanced PDF readers may also support form filling, digital signatures, and interactive features embedded in PDF documents. PDF readers are widely used in both personal and professional settings to view reports, manuals, eBooks, contracts, and other documents that need to preserve formatting across different devices and platforms. Compare and read user reviews of the best PDF Readers for Linux currently available using the table below. This list is updated regularly.

  • 1
    Apryse PDF SDK
    Apryse, previously known as PDFTron, takes document solutions to the next level, making work better and life simpler. Bring PDF viewing, annotating, editing, creation, and generation to any web, mobile, desktop or server framework or application. As a global leader in document processing technology, Apryse gives developers, enterprise customers and small businesses the tools they need to reach their document goals faster and easier. Our product portfolio includes Apryse SDK, Fluent, iText and XODO. Apryse technology works with all major platforms and a wide variety of unique file types.
    View Software
    Visit Website
  • 2
    Nutrient SDK
    Nutrient is the comprehensive solution for all your PDF needs, offering tools that effortlessly integrate and operate PDF functionality across any platform. 1. SDK PRODUCTS Integrate robust PDF functionality into iOS, Android, Windows, web (JavaScript), or any cross-platform technology, providing capabilities such as PDF viewing, markup, collaboration, and more. 2. LIBRARIES Utilize our potent .NET and Java libraries to boost your backend applications with batch processing of redactions and PDF forms, OCR’d scanned text, and editing of PDF documents, directly from your application server. 3. PROCESSOR Our dynamic PDF microservice, Processor, enables swift generation of PDFs from HTML, including HTML forms, along with Office-to-PDF conversions, OCR, redaction, and XFDF merging and exporting. 4. PDF API Use hosted PDF API to generate, convert, and modify PDF documents in your workflows. We manage the development and server administration, letting you focus on what you do best.
    Leader badge
    View Software
    Visit Website
  • 3
    Adobe PDF Library SDK

    Adobe PDF Library SDK

    Datalogics Inc.

    Shorten development times & get to market faster with Adobe PDF Library. Global OEMs, SaaS and enterprise end-users rely on Adobe PDF Library to automate the creation, editing and management of PDFs. An Adobe partner, our SDK uses the same source code as Acrobat for stability, reliability and quality results. Adobe PDF Library gives developers flexible programming language and platform options, and is currently available in .NET, .NET Framework, Java and C/C++ on Windows, Linux, MacOS, as well as via NuGet and Maven. Our extensive documentation includes getting started guides, API references, and hundreds of sample code examples on GitHub to help developers precisely create and define PDF workflow solutions. Pricing for Adobe PDF Library is based on your business model & software usage. Free trial includes access to our PDF technology experts who can help with proof of concept as well as extend your free trial license if needed. Download and get started today!
    View Software
    Visit Website
  • 4
    RAD PDF

    RAD PDF

    Red Software

    Add a fully functional PDF editor to your ASP.NET website in minutes! Compatible with 99% of desktop & mobile browsers, from Internet Explorer 6 through the latest iOS Safari release, RAD PDF simply works. No plugins or other software needed. RAD PDF natively supports the most commonly used PDF features. Beyond a PDF reader, RAD PDF equips web applications with a browser-based PDF editor & PDF annotator. Features not even available in Adobe Acrobat Reader can be used to provide advanced PDF functionality. By enabling PDF form filling, PDF redaction, & PDF signing directly in the web browser, RAD PDF users can utilize PDF features without worrying about having the right platform or software installed! Allow your app to design new PDF forms, protect content, sign PDFs, & more using an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). Client (JavaScript) and server APIs allow for endless possibilities .NET Core, Framework, & .NET 5+ supported Try editing any PDF with RAD PDF, FREE!
    Starting Price: $299 per developer
    Partner badge
  • 5
    PDF Studio
    PDF Studio is a powerful and affordable PDF editor that effortlessly caters to both simple and complex PDF tasks. From adding text, various annotations, watermarks, and digital signatures to filling out forms and converting MS Office to PDF, it covers all your needs. The PDF editor is perfect for companies and organizations looking to seamlessly automate their PDF editing and eliminate repetitive daily tasks with batch processing of multiple documents. Empower your team with perpetual PDF software at a fraction of the cost compared to competing subscription-based solutions like Adobe® Acrobat®. NEW: Qoppa PDF Studio 2023 released! The latest version, PDF Studio 2023, offers impressive enhancements, including support for Dropbox Team Spaces, improved enterprise deployments, expanded multi-document functions, a new highlighter marker tool, and optimization options for smaller document sizes. Available on Linux, Windows, macOS, and other major platforms.
    Leader badge
    Starting Price: $99.00
  • 6
    PDF Studio Viewer

    PDF Studio Viewer

    Qoppa Software

    PDF Studio Viewer is a cross-platform PDF reader that is reliable and easy to use. PDF Studio Viewer can annotate PDF documents and fill interactive forms. For more editing features, Qoppa Software publishes PDF Studio Standard and Pro editions. Features: -Display PDFs with high fidelity -Annotate & Markup PDFs -Fill & Save Forms -Render Digital Signatures & Layers -Advanced User Interface -Advanced Print & Search Options -Document Storage Integrations -DocuSign© Integration
  • 7
    Foxit PDF Reader

    Foxit PDF Reader

    Foxit Software

    Whether you're a consumer, business, government agency, or educational organization, you need to read, create, sign, and annotate (comment on) PDF documents and fill out PDF forms. Foxit PDF Reader is a small, lightning fast, and feature rich PDF viewer which allows you to create (free PDF creation), open, view, sign, and print any PDF file. Foxit Reader is built upon the industry's fastest and most accurate (high fidelity) PDF rendering engine, providing users with the best PDF viewing and printing experience. Available in English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Sign documents in your own handwriting or utilize eSignature and verify the status of digital signatures. Be safe from vulnerabilities by utilizing Trust Manager/Safe Mode, ASLR & DEP, Disable JavaScript, and Security Warning Dialogs. Integrate with leading cloud storage services and popular enterprise CMS.
    Starting Price: $8 per month
  • 8
    MuPDF

    MuPDF

    Artifex Software

    Add powerful PDF functionality to all of your software application projects. MuPDF is a highly versatile, customizable PDF SDK that can be used as a PDF renderer, viewer, or library. The tiny footprint and lightning-fast performance make MuPDF a perfect fit for mobile browsers, eBooks, and embedded applications where small size is key. MuPDF supports a variety of interactive features including annotations, form filling, digital signatures, redactions, text search, and progressive loading. The wide range of input and output formats and our full range of platform support deliver a flexible solution to easily and successfully fulfill your project’s unique needs. MuPDF supports PDF, XPS, OpenXPS, EPUB, FictionBook 2 and CBZ. The MuPDF API easily integrates with all of the major platforms including Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, OpenBSD, and Windows. C++ and Python bindings have been added making it easy to use the MuPDF library from these languages.
    Starting Price: $749/per platform*
  • 9
    Javelin PDF Reader

    Javelin PDF Reader

    Drumlin Security

    Javelin PDF readers provide all the core functionality needed for viewing standard PDF files and PDF files encrypted using our free Drumlin Publisher software (.drmz and .drmx files). These readers support internal and external hyperlinks, contents/navigation trees, a range of page display formats, plus document text searching, annotation, and markup. Encrypted files are protected against content copying and onwards distribution. They may also have restrictions applied such as whether printing is permitted and whether they expire at some point and can no longer be viewed. The properties and/or info facility in the Javelin readers provides details of these Digital Rights Management (DRM) settings. Visually impaired users should select the Mac OSX/Catalina Javelin3 software as this supports text-to-speech conversion. You can use Javelin on a PC or Mac connected to a large corporate network with a restrictive firewall.
    Starting Price: Free
  • 10
    JPedal

    JPedal

    IDR Solutions

    JPedal is a versatile Java PDF Library for displaying, converting, printing, and parsing PDFs in Java applications. With over 20 years of development, it supports a wide range of PDF files. Key features include: -PDF to Image Conversion: Converts PDFs to images in various formats. -Java Swing PDF Viewer: Offers multi-page display, search, printing, and annotation editing. -Text and Image Extraction: High-quality extraction of text and images from PDFs. -PDF Search: Supports searching with wildcards and regular expressions. -Form & Annotation Handling: Supports XFA and AcroForms, enabling form data access and annotation editing. -Document Manipulation: Allows deleting, merging, splitting, and optimizing PDFs. -Security & Performance: Runs locally without third-party dependencies, processing PDFs up to 3x faster than alternatives.
    Starting Price: $950 one time fee
  • 11
    jPDFViewer

    jPDFViewer

    Qoppa Software

    Integrate a PDF reader right into your Java application or website. jPDFViewer is a self contained Java component that can be deployed in a Java application or a web application (in a web page as an applet, or a Java webstart application). Since it is written in Java, it allows your application to remain platform independent and run on Windows, Mac, Linux and Unix. jPDFViewer can load documents from files on a local or network drive, from a URL and from Java input streams for documents that are generated runtime or come from other sources, such as a database. Main Features: Read and display PDF files on any platform that supports Java Print PDF files Fill interactive PDF forms View all markup annotations Validates and displays digital signatures Text search and selection Advanced tools: zoom, loupe, snapshot, pan and zoom Easy navigation with different views: thumbnails, bookmarks, annotations... Customizable toolbar and user interface Support for all image types
    Starting Price: $2,000
  • 12
    Slim PDF Reader

    Slim PDF Reader

    Apryse Software

    Copy and paste PDF text, annotate PDFs, fill out interactive PDF forms, and validate digital signatures you receive on Windows, Mac, and Linux with a lightweight & completely free Slim PDF Reader. It comes with a Dark theme setting that will help you save battery on a laptop and reduce eye strain, a full range of advanced and customizable annotation tools, various document navigation tools, search and print features, ability to copy text for pasting into another application, snapshot tool, interactive PDF form filling and signature verification features. Slim PDF Reader is one of the smallest desktop PDF readers (download size only 15 MB), 100% bloatware free, fast and easy on system resources.
    Starting Price: Free
  • Previous
  • You're on page 1
  • Next