Foxit PDF Reader vs Papers

Foxit PDF Reader9.2Visit Papers6.8Visit

Higher score Foxit PDF Reader #1 in File Reader Software 9.2/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 4 features Visit Foxit

vs

Papers #7 in File Reader Software 6.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 4 features Visit GNOME Papers

• Foxit PDF Reader fits best

  Cross-platform PDF reading and document review

• Papers fits best

  Linux users reading and annotating documents

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Side by side

Feature	Foxit PDF Reader 9.2/10 Visit ↗	Papers 6.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.2	6.8
Ranking	#1 in File Reader Software	#7 in File Reader Software
Best for	Cross-platform PDF reading and document review	Linux users reading and annotating documents
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Not published	Not published
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Desktop, Mobile	Desktop
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android	Linux
Support	Docs, Tickets	Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business
Features Foxit PDF Reader 1/4 · Papers 1/4
Annotations	✓	✓
Text search	Not published	Not published
Accessibility support	Not published	Not published
Cloud sync	Not published	Not published
Specs
Supported formats	Not published	Not published
Platforms	Not published	Not published
Our review
Pros	Reads and prints PDFs across web, desktop and mobile. Supports form filling, annotations and shared reviews. Includes text-to-speech, security controls and deployment tools.	Supports PDF, DjVu, TIFF, and comic-book archives Adds PDF text annotations, highlights, and annotation bookmarks Fills interactive forms and prints documents or booklets
Cons	OCR support is not included. Its listed support channels are documentation and tickets. Advanced deployment tools may exceed solo readers’ needs.	Linux-only desktop deployment limits cross-platform use Support is documented through a docs channel No AI-assisted features are included
Our verdict	Foxit PDF Reader brings PDF viewing, printing and document review together across the web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. It is aimed at people who need to read PDFs on different devices, as well as teams that exchange documents for… Read the review →	Papers is a free, open-source desktop document viewer from the GNOME Project for Linux users who read and annotate documents on the GNOME desktop. It opens PDF, DjVu, TIFF, and comic-book archive files, with controls to navigate, scroll,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Foxit PDF Reader — where it wins

  • Reads and prints PDFs across web, desktop and mobile.
  • Supports form filling, annotations and shared reviews.
  • Includes text-to-speech, security controls and deployment tools.

  Where it doesn't

  • OCR support is not included.
  • Its listed support channels are documentation and tickets.
  • Advanced deployment tools may exceed solo readers’ needs.

• Papers — where it wins

  • Supports PDF, DjVu, TIFF, and comic-book archives
  • Adds PDF text annotations, highlights, and annotation bookmarks
  • Fills interactive forms and prints documents or booklets

  Where it doesn't

  • Linux-only desktop deployment limits cross-platform use
  • Support is documented through a docs channel
  • No AI-assisted features are included

• Foxit PDF Reader9.2/10 · Free plan

  A cross-platform PDF reader for reading, reviewing, signing and completing forms.

  Visit FoxitFull verdict →
• Papers6.8/10 · Free plan

  A free Linux reader for viewing, searching, annotating, and printing documents.

  Visit GNOME PapersFull verdict →