Xpdf vs Zathura
April 18, 2026 | Author: Maria Lin
Xpdf and Zathura are both free, open-source PDF viewers for Linux, focused on minimalism and speed. They are designed primarily for keyboard control rather than mouse input, ensure low resource consumption and are suitable for use in tiling window managers.
However, Xpdf is one of the oldest PDF viewers and is often used as a base for other applications. It has its own PDF rendering engine that supports basic editing and text extraction. Its interface is more traditional, with menus and buttons. It is updated less frequently than Zathura. By the way, it runs on both Linux and Windows.
Zathura has an even more minimalist, Vim-inspired interface without unnecessary elements. The program is actively developed and updated. It uses plugins to support several formats iike PDF, DjVu, etc. It's easily customized via configuration files, integrates well with modern Linux environments and supports synchronization with LaTeX (via SyncTeX).
However, Xpdf is one of the oldest PDF viewers and is often used as a base for other applications. It has its own PDF rendering engine that supports basic editing and text extraction. Its interface is more traditional, with menus and buttons. It is updated less frequently than Zathura. By the way, it runs on both Linux and Windows.
Zathura has an even more minimalist, Vim-inspired interface without unnecessary elements. The program is actively developed and updated. It uses plugins to support several formats iike PDF, DjVu, etc. It's easily customized via configuration files, integrates well with modern Linux environments and supports synchronization with LaTeX (via SyncTeX).
