5 Free Alternatives to Adobe Reader



The PDF format has become very popular now a days. Adobe Reader is the preferred software for viewing PDF files but i don’t like viewing my files in Adobe Reader. First of all, it is very slow and takes a lot of time in opening the files, and the latest version of Adobe Reader uses a lot of system resource while running. Though it has got some nice features, there are some very good alternatives available which are not only fast, but they are also lightweight. Here i will mention 5 Adobe Reader Alternatives that you can use.

Foxit PDF Reader

Reader3UI

The first name that comes to my mind when i think about any alternative to Adobe Reader is the Foxit Reader. Its popularity can be judged from that fact that it has got 50 million users around the world. Apart from being free, it has got a small size and is very fast. It also offers some Basic as well as advanced PDF form operations. It has got many features which you will find in Adobe Reader and it is very small and lightweight.

Download Foxit Reader

Cool PDF Reader

Cool PDF Reader

Cool PDF Reader is the world’s smallest PDF viewer. It is just 626Kb in size and you can use it to view and print PDF files and even convert it to different formats like BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG etc. It is a slim little reader and does what Adobe Reader does but it is faster and uses less resource.

Download Cool PDF Reader

PDF-XChange Viewer

PDF-XChange Viewer is another free and feature rich PDF viewer. It offers very smooth scrolling and offers a lot of features like extracting text and images from PDF files, adding comment and annotations, fill forms and it also includes plugins for Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Download PDF-XChange Viewer

Sumatra PDF

Sumatara Reader

Sumatra PDF is a free PDF reader with a minimalistic design. The focus is more on simplicity and performance than on features. It is very lightweight and fast.

Download Sumatra PDF

Perfect PDF Reader

Perfect PDF Reader is free PDF Reader and it has got a nice interface along with some good features. You can use to it to export your PDF files to different formats or work with the forms and it also supports digital signatures. Its interface is very nice, similar to Office 2007.

If you know any other, please share them with us in comments.

16 Comments

  1. Pavan Kumar says:

    Foxit is the best, I don’t have adobe reader installed, but I have foxit which is fast, wont occupy much space and low resource consuming :)

  2. Mike Panic says:

    On Windows, FoxIt is amazing, on Mac, Preview works even better!

  3. JoBa says:

    Discovered pdffiller.com not free but i can fax. Have to do this all the time. Maybe i will get this job after all :)

  4. Steve Yu says:

    I am using Adobe Reader all these time. Never think of switching to other alternatives.

  5. Syahid A says:

    Foxit does the job (amazing) for me. :D

  6. Joe Reynolds says:

    Foxit for fast and lean.
    But like the typewriter function + tabs in PDF X-Change viewer.
    If you drank the Vista coolade perfect may be for you.

    Nice compilation :)

  7. Simran says:

    I’m using Foxit PDF… Its the best

  8. STDUtility says:

    Try to use our STDU Viewer (http://www.stdutility.com/stduviewer.html). This viewer can read PDF, DjVu and image files.

  9. Foxit reader is cool better that Adobe.

  10. For me Foxit reader is quite cool. Small and hassle-free.

  11. patrick says:

    im going to try stduveiwer i use foxit right now but like the idea of one reader to handle many different things rather than a program for each thing

  12. Jeremy says:

    Foxit installed a browser toolbar without asking me, and tried to put advertisement links all over my desktop too. Ick.

  13. jeremy doesn't read EULAs says:

    “Foxit installed a browser toolbar without asking me, and tried to put advertisement links all over my desktop too. Ick.”

    BAD Jeremy! BAD BAD BAD! don’t trash talk something you AGREED to do! It didn’t install itself behind your back! You AGREED to add the Ask Toolbar and change your homepage. There is a option to opt out of installing that toolbar. Don’t blame this great software because you are one of those people that just clicks “next, next, next I AGREE!!!”
    If you didn’t want a toolbar you should’ve paid a little more attention!

    Foxit is great! Very Happy user!
    Does come with an optional toolbar for Ask.com but hey it’s free they have to make their money somewhere.

  14. Michael says:

    Re: “BAD Jeremy! BAD BAD BAD! don’t trash talk something you AGREED to do!”

    BAD Foxit! BAD BAD BAD! A GOOD program would be opt-IN instead of opt-OUT. Of course, the problem with that system is that the *careless* user would click next… next… and never opt-in. And the *careful* user would also avoid opting in. And the program wouldn’t get its advertising revenue.

    So it seems Foxit is no worse (and no better!) than the average ad-supported freeware, in terms of trying to foist ads on the user.

    I’m definitely going to give Foxit a try because Adobe Reader 1) has a ton of fancy features I will never want, and 2) is a big malware target. Thanks for the heads-up on being careful of opt-outs.

  15. Rent A Car says:

    I’m using Foxit PDF… Its the best.!

  16. Mirddes says:

    Sumatra PDF is awesome, ive been using if for a few years now, ever since version 0.6.

    it’s very fast

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