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Desktop App

Okular

KDE's free document viewer for PDFs, EPUBs, comics and more.

Visit Okular4.5
  • Rating

    4.5 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Beginner

  • Works on

    Linux, Windows

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

What is Okular?

Okular is a fast, multi-platform document viewer from KDE that opens PDF, EPUB, DjVu and Markdown documents, comic book files and common image formats in one app. It is free and open source, is available on most Linux distributions and can be installed on Windows from the Microsoft Store, with regular releases as part of KDE Gear.

Pros: what Okular does well

  • Opens many document and comic formats
  • Free and open source
  • Actively updated by KDE

Cons: where it falls short

  • macOS only has untested nightly builds
  • Interface feels busy at first

Who Okular is for

Linux and Windows users who want one viewer for PDFs, ebooks and comics.

Who can skip it

Mac users happy with Preview.

Okular alternatives

Not sold on Okular? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

Raindrop.io

Focus: bookmarks, read later and collections. Also in Research and Reading, like Okular. A web app, not a desktop app. Freemium (Okular: Free). Adds Web, Chrome and Firefox. Rated 4.6 (Okular: 4.5).

Web AppFree planWeb, Chrome

Pandoc

Focus: document converter, markdown and command line. Also in Research and File Management, like Okular. Adds macOS and Offline. Rated 4.8 (Okular: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows

ripgrep

Focus: search tool, command line and developer tool. Also in File Management and Research, like Okular. Adds macOS and Offline. Rated 4.8 (Okular: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows

calibre

Focus: ebooks, ebook converter and library. Also in Reading and File Management, like Okular. Adds macOS and Offline. Rated 4.7 (Okular: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS

NetNewsWire

Focus: rss reader, mac app and news. Also in Reading and Research, like Okular. Adds macOS and iOS. Rated 4.7 (Okular: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, iOS

Anki

Focus: spaced repetition, flashcards and study. Also in Research and Reading, like Okular. Adds macOS, Android and iOS. Rated 4.6 (Okular: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows

Free alternatives to Okular

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

Foliate

Focus: ebook reader, epub and annotations. Also in Reading and Research, like Okular. Adds Offline. Rated 4.6 (Okular: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeLinux, Offline

Kiwix

Focus: offline wikipedia, reference and offline reading. Also in Research and Reading, like Okular. Adds Offline. Rated 4.6 (Okular: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, Linux

Readest

Focus: ebook reader, epub and annotations. Also in Reading and Research, like Okular. Adds macOS, iOS and Android. Rated 4.6 (Okular: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS

Sioyek

Focus: pdf reader, research papers and keyboard. Also in Reading and Research, like Okular. Adds macOS. Rated 4.6 (Okular: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS

Fluent Reader

Focus: rss reader, news feeds and reading. Also in Reading and Research, like Okular. Adds macOS. Same 4.5 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS

Thorium Reader

Focus: ebook reader, epub and accessibility. Also in Reading and Research, like Okular. Adds macOS and Offline. Same 4.5 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
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