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Evince vs Zathura
January 09, 2025 | Author: Adam Levine
9★
Evince is a document viewer for multiple document formats. The goal of evince is to replace the multiple document viewers that exist on the GNOME Desktop with a single simple application.
7★
Zathura is a free, plugin-based document viewer. Plugins are available for PDF, PostScript and DjVu. It was written to be lightweight and controlled with vi-like keybindings. Zathura's customizability makes it well-liked by many Linux users
See also:
Top 10 PDF Readers for Business
Top 10 PDF Readers for Business
If you're a fan of minimalism and speed, Evince and Zathura are remarkably similar in their quest to provide a lightweight PDF viewing experience. Both are open-source and have a knack for effortlessly handling PDFs, DjVus and PostScripts, which is very useful when you've accidentally downloaded half a dozen of these files in the midst of a distracted evening. They're also speed demons, managing to display your documents with a swiftness that will make you wonder if they actually exist in some parallel dimension. And, of course, they both run happily on Linux-based systems, which is important if you're one of those people who enjoys the comfort of your keyboard and a steady stream of coffee.
Evince, being a product of the GNOME project since 2005, offers a rather more “user-friendly” experience, which, depending on who you ask, is either a delightful bonus or the equivalent of unnecessary frills. Its graphical interface includes all sorts of nifty features, like annotations and highlights for when you need to mark your intellectual territory in a PDF. Unlike some more exclusive applications, it spreads its charm across Linux, Windows and macOS, ensuring that you can use it wherever your digital wanderings take you. It’s the choice for those who want a little more than just the basics—like a perfectly comfy sofa, not too fancy but just right.
Now, Zathura, released in 2009 and with the rather delightful intention of being simple and functional, takes a very different approach. A creation of the PWMT project, it has no interest in showing you flashy buttons or obscure menus; its heart belongs to keyboard shortcuts and minimalism, the kind of purity you might expect from a monk who’s had a lot of coffee. It doesn’t bother with annotations—after all, who has time for that when there’s a keyboard to be mastered? Zathura is made for those who revel in efficiency, preferring to glide through their PDFs with nothing but their trusty keyboard and a glimmer of satisfaction. Plus, it’s available on Linux and other Unix-like systems, as you’d expect from something that demands dedication.
See also: Top 10 PDF Readers
Evince, being a product of the GNOME project since 2005, offers a rather more “user-friendly” experience, which, depending on who you ask, is either a delightful bonus or the equivalent of unnecessary frills. Its graphical interface includes all sorts of nifty features, like annotations and highlights for when you need to mark your intellectual territory in a PDF. Unlike some more exclusive applications, it spreads its charm across Linux, Windows and macOS, ensuring that you can use it wherever your digital wanderings take you. It’s the choice for those who want a little more than just the basics—like a perfectly comfy sofa, not too fancy but just right.
Now, Zathura, released in 2009 and with the rather delightful intention of being simple and functional, takes a very different approach. A creation of the PWMT project, it has no interest in showing you flashy buttons or obscure menus; its heart belongs to keyboard shortcuts and minimalism, the kind of purity you might expect from a monk who’s had a lot of coffee. It doesn’t bother with annotations—after all, who has time for that when there’s a keyboard to be mastered? Zathura is made for those who revel in efficiency, preferring to glide through their PDFs with nothing but their trusty keyboard and a glimmer of satisfaction. Plus, it’s available on Linux and other Unix-like systems, as you’d expect from something that demands dedication.
See also: Top 10 PDF Readers
