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Head-to-head · PDF Readers

Foxit PDF Reader vs SumatraPDF

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Foxit PDF Reader #1 in PDF Readers 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Foxit
SumatraPDF #4 in PDF Readers 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit SumatraPDF

Foxit PDF Reader leads on 0 checks, SumatraPDF on 0, and 5 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreFoxit PDF Reader · 9.4/10
  • Free planboth

Foxit PDF Reader scores higher on our rubric for pdf readers: 9.4 against 9.0 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #4.

On platform support, Foxit PDF Reader gives you Cross-platform where SumatraPDF offers Desktop.

Foxit PDF Reader is the better fit for free cross-platform readers with collaboration. SumatraPDF is the better fit for portable Windows reading with signatures.

  • Foxit PDF Reader fits best

    Free cross-platform readers with collaboration

  • SumatraPDF fits best

    Portable Windows reading with signatures

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Side by side

Feature Foxit PDF Reader 9.4/10 Visit ↗ SumatraPDF 9.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.4 9.0
Ranking #1 in PDF Readers #4 in PDF Readers
Best for Free cross-platform readers with collaboration Portable Windows reading with signatures
Pricing model Free Free
Starting price Free Free plan
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Desktop, Mobile Desktop
Platforms Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android Windows
Support Docs, Tickets Docs, Community
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market
Features Foxit PDF Reader 4/4 · SumatraPDF 4/4
Annotation tools ✓ ✓
Form filling ✓ ✓
Offline access ✓ ✓
Text-to-speech ✓ ✓
Specs
OCR support None Not checked yet
Platform support Cross-platform Desktop
Our review
Pros
  • Free access across web, desktop, iOS, and Android
  • Annotations, forms, signatures, shared reviews, and text-to-speech
  • Integrates with major storage and business services
  • Opens PDFs, ebooks, comics, images, and several document formats
  • Supports annotations, digital signatures, and Windows text-to-speech
  • Portable deployment and command-line PDF operations support local workflows
Cons
  • OCR is documented for PDF Editor rather than PDF Reader
  • Web use requires an internet connection
  • AI document analysis excludes OCR documents
  • Windows-only, with no macOS, Linux, web, or mobile versions
  • Cannot fill PDF forms, despite supporting form-field highlighting
  • Scanned pages require OCR elsewhere
Our verdict

Foxit PDF Reader is a free application for personal and business users who need to open, read, print, annotate, comment on, fill, sign, and share PDF documents. Reader editions are available on the web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android,…

Read the review →

SumatraPDF is a free, open-source desktop reader for Windows. It is aimed at people who want to read PDFs and a broad set of other local formats, including EPUB, MOBI, CBZ, DjVu, XPS, CHM, and image files. Text search, document navigation,…

Read the review →
  1. Foxit PDF ReaderPDF Readers 9.4Free plan
  2. SumatraPDFPDF Readers 9.0Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Foxit PDF Reader — where it wins

    • Free access across web, desktop, iOS, and Android
    • Annotations, forms, signatures, shared reviews, and text-to-speech
    • Integrates with major storage and business services

    Where it doesn't

    • OCR is documented for PDF Editor rather than PDF Reader
    • Web use requires an internet connection
    • AI document analysis excludes OCR documents
  • SumatraPDF — where it wins

    • Opens PDFs, ebooks, comics, images, and several document formats
    • Supports annotations, digital signatures, and Windows text-to-speech
    • Portable deployment and command-line PDF operations support local workflows

    Where it doesn't

    • Windows-only, with no macOS, Linux, web, or mobile versions
    • Cannot fill PDF forms, despite supporting form-field highlighting
    • Scanned pages require OCR elsewhere
  • Foxit PDF Reader9.4/10 · Free plan

    A free cross-platform reader with collaboration, forms, signatures, and cloud integrations.

    Visit FoxitFull verdict →
  • SumatraPDF9.0/10 · Free plan

    A portable Windows reader with broad format support, annotations, signatures, and command-line tools.

    Visit SumatraPDFFull verdict →

More comparisons

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update