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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Web App

PDF.js

Mozilla's PDF viewer that runs in your browser.

Visit PDF.js4.6

  • Rating

    4.6 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Beginner

  • Works on

    Web, Firefox, Chrome

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

Free: 1,100+ ways people make money onlineFree: 399+ ways to make money online

What is PDF.js?

PDF.js is a PDF viewer built with HTML5 and supported by Mozilla. It is built into Firefox, so you can read PDFs without installing anything, and there is an online demo viewer where you can open or drag in a file. A Chrome extension is also available, maintained by a contributor.

Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.

Pros: what PDF.js does well

  • Already built into Firefox
  • Nothing to install to try it online
  • Backed by Mozilla

Cons: where it falls short

  • A viewer, not a full PDF editor
  • Chrome extension is maintained by an individual

Who PDF.js is for

Anyone who wants a simple, private way to read PDFs in the browser.

Who can skip it

People who need to edit, sign or annotate PDFs heavily.

PDF.js alternatives

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

All Reading resources

Linkwarden

Focus: bookmarks, read it later and web archive. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. Adds iOS, Android and Safari. Rated 4.7 (PDF.js: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb, iOS
4.7Visit

FreshRSS

Focus: rss reader, news aggregator and feeds. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. Same 4.6 rating.

Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.6Visit

Okular

Focus: epub reader, document viewer and kde. Shares pdf viewer with PDF.js. A desktop app, not a web app. Adds Linux and Windows. Rated 4.5 (PDF.js: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreeLinux, Windows
4.5Visit

Shiori

Focus: bookmarks, read later and self-hosted. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. Rated 4.5 (PDF.js: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb, Chrome
4.5Visit

Pandoc

Focus: document converter, markdown and command line. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. A desktop app, not a web app. Adds macOS, Windows and Linux. Rated 4.8 (PDF.js: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

ripgrep

Focus: search tool, command line and developer tool. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. A desktop app, not a web app. Adds macOS, Windows and Linux. Rated 4.8 (PDF.js: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

Free alternatives to PDF.js

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

SingleFile

Focus: web archive, save web page and offline reading. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. A browser extension, not a web app. Adds Safari. Rated 4.7 (PDF.js: 4.6).

Browser ExtensionFreeChrome, Firefox
4.7Visit

Docling

Focus: document parsing, pdf to markdown and ocr. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. An AI tool, not a web app. Adds Windows, macOS and Linux. Same 4.6 rating.

AI ToolFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

Foliate

Focus: ebook reader, epub and annotations. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. A desktop app, not a web app. Adds Linux and Offline. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreeLinux, Offline
4.6Visit

Kiwix

Focus: offline wikipedia, reference and offline reading. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. A desktop app, not a web app. Adds Windows, Linux and Offline. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, Linux
4.6Visit

Readest

Focus: ebook reader, epub and annotations. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. A desktop app, not a web app. Adds Windows, macOS and Linux. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

Sioyek

Focus: pdf reader, research papers and keyboard. Shares open source and github with PDF.js. A desktop app, not a web app. Adds Windows, macOS and Linux. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit
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