Okular
KDE's free, open-source document viewer for PDFs and many other formats, with annotation and signing.
- Verified facts
- 4 of 4
- Alternatives ranked
- 5
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Okular
Okular is the document viewer from the KDE community and a default on many Linux desktops. It opens PDF along with EPUB, comic book archives, DjVu, PostScript, images and more, and is known for solid annotation tools: highlights, inline and pop-up notes, freehand lines, stamps and shapes, which can be saved into the PDF. It also fills in forms, verifies digital signatures and can sign PDFs with a certificate. Features like trimming margins, presentation mode, text-to-speech and selecting tables from a page make it useful for study and research. Okular is free software released under the GPL. It is packaged by almost every Linux distribution and also available for Windows through the Microsoft Store, with nightly builds for macOS. It cannot edit the existing text of a PDF and does not convert files, so it complements rather than replaces an editor, but as a viewer it is one of the most capable free options.
Best for: Linux users and anyone wanting a free viewer with strong annotation and signing.
Pros and cons
What works
- Excellent annotation tools saved into the PDF
- Opens many formats besides PDF
- Can verify and add digital signatures
Why people leave
- Cannot edit existing text or convert files
- macOS only through untested nightly builds
- KDE-style interface feels out of place on Windows
Top Okular alternatives
See all 5- 1
Sumatra PDF66.5Lighter and faster on Windows, if you mostly read rather than annotate.
- 2
Adobe Acrobat Reader62.6Better for awkward forms that only render properly in Adobe's viewer.
- 3
Master PDF Editor59.6A paid editor with a native Linux build that can change existing text.
- 4
PDFsam57.2Free open-source app for the splitting and merging Okular does not do.
- 5
Xodo55.3Cross-platform viewer and editor, including a Linux desktop app.
Why people left Okular
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Reviews
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Okular: common questions
Is Okular free?
Yes. Okular is free, open-source software.
Is Okular open source?
Yes.
What platforms does Okular run on?
Okular is available for Linux and Windows.
What are the best alternatives to Okular?
The highest-ranked Okular alternatives right now are Sumatra PDF, Adobe Acrobat Reader and Master PDF Editor. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.