Preview vs SumatraPDF

Preview9.1Visit SumatraPDF9.0Visit

Higher score Preview #3 in PDF Readers 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Apple

vs

SumatraPDF #4 in PDF Readers 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit SumatraPDF

• Preview fits best

  Apple users wanting a capable free reader

• SumatraPDF fits best

  Portable Windows reading with signatures

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Side by side

Feature	Preview 9.1/10 Visit ↗	SumatraPDF 9.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.1	9.0
Ranking	#3 in PDF Readers	#4 in PDF Readers
Best for	Apple users wanting a capable free reader	Portable Windows reading with signatures
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platforms	macOS	Windows
Support	Docs	Docs, Community
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market
Features Preview 3/4 · SumatraPDF 4/4
Annotation tools	✓	✓
Form filling	✓	✓
Offline access	✓	✓
Text-to-speech	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Specs
OCR support	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Platform support	Desktop	Desktop
Our review
Pros	Annotates, signs, fills, and manages PDF pages Includes basic OCR, text search, compression, and protection Works with local files and iCloud on Apple platforms	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	Available on macOS and iOS rather than broader platforms OCR support is basic Cloud access centers on iCloud	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	Preview is Apple’s built-in utility for viewing and editing PDFs and images on Mac and iPhone. It handles multipage PDF navigation, annotations, form filling, signatures, page management, text search, exporting, compression, password… 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 →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Preview — where it wins

  • Annotates, signs, fills, and manages PDF pages
  • Includes basic OCR, text search, compression, and protection
  • Works with local files and iCloud on Apple platforms

  Where it doesn't

  • Available on macOS and iOS rather than broader platforms
  • OCR support is basic
  • Cloud access centers on iCloud

• 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

• Preview9.1/10 · Free plan

  A capable free PDF reader for Apple users, with practical editing and signing tools.

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

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

  Visit SumatraPDFFull verdict →