SumatraPDF vs Evince

SumatraPDF9.0Visit EEvince8.6Visit

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

vs

E Evince #7 in PDF Readers 8.6/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit GNOME

• SumatraPDF fits best

  Portable Windows reading with signatures

• Evince fits best

  Linux users wanting a straightforward reader

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature	SumatraPDF 9.0/10 Visit ↗	EEvince 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.6
Ranking	#4 in PDF Readers	#7 in PDF Readers
Best for	Portable Windows reading with signatures	Linux users wanting a straightforward reader
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platforms	Windows	Linux
Support	Docs, Community	Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market	Solo, Small business
Features SumatraPDF 4/4 · Evince 3/4
Annotation tools	✓	✓
Form filling	✓	✓
Offline access	✓	✓
Text-to-speech	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Specs
OCR support	Not checked yet	None
Platform support	Desktop	Desktop
Our review
Pros	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	Reads PDF, PostScript, DjVu, DVI, XPS, and comic-book archives Supports annotations, forms, bookmarks, outlines, and document search Free and open source with offline desktop access
Cons	Windows-only, with no macOS, Linux, web, or mobile versions Cannot fill PDF forms, despite supporting form-field highlighting Scanned pages require OCR elsewhere	Linux-only desktop availability limits cross-platform use Built-in OCR is not provided Its integration list is limited to gedit
Our verdict	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 →	Evince is a free, open-source document viewer for the GNOME desktop, aimed at Linux users who need a straightforward way to read and manage common document formats. It opens PDFs alongside PostScript, DjVu, DVI, XPS, and comic-book archive… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• 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

• Evince — where it wins

  • Reads PDF, PostScript, DjVu, DVI, XPS, and comic-book archives
  • Supports annotations, forms, bookmarks, outlines, and document search
  • Free and open source with offline desktop access

  Where it doesn't

  • Linux-only desktop availability limits cross-platform use
  • Built-in OCR is not provided
  • Its integration list is limited to gedit

• SumatraPDF9.0/10 · Free plan

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

  Visit SumatraPDFFull verdict →
• EEvince8.6/10 · Free plan

  A capable free Linux reader for PDFs, forms, annotations, and more.

  Visit GNOMEFull verdict →