Skim AlternativesOnly apps categorised as PDF Readers for Linux

Skim is not available for Linux but there are plenty of alternatives that runs on Linux with similar functionality. The best Linux PDF Reader alternative is Okular, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Skim and 17 are PDF Readers available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Linux PDF Reader alternatives to Skim are Xournal++, Evince, MuPDF and Sioyek.

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Skim alternatives are mainly PDF Readers but may also be PDF Editors or Note-taking Tools. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Skim.

Skim

PDF Reader
Free • Open Source

Skim is a PDF reader and note-taker for OS X. It is designed to help you read and annotate scientific papers in PDF, but is also great for viewing any PDF file.

More about Skim

Skim alternatives page was last updated Jun 14, 2024

Okular
Multi-platform, fast and packed with features, Okular allows you to read PDF documents, comics and EPub books, browse images, visualize Markdown documents, and much more.
108 Okular alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- PDF Reader
- Ebook Reader
Platforms
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- KDE Plasma
- Flathub
- Linux Mobile
+2
Top Okular Features
1. PDF annotation
2. Text Highlighting
3. Lightweight
4. Tabbed interface
5. Dark Mode
6. Ad-free
7. Low memory usage
8. KDE
9. Works Offline
10. Customizable shortcuts
11. Text editing
12. Fill PDF Forms
Show all NaN Okular features ▾
Okular VS Skim
Is Okular a good alternative to Skim?
- Okular is the most popular Linux alternative to Skim.
- Okular is Free and Open SourceSkim is also Free and Open Source

Xournal++
Xournal++ (a fork of Xournal) is a handwriting Notetaking software with PDF annotation support. Written in C++ with platform independent GTK, supporting Linux, e.g. Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, Suse, macOS and Windows 10. Supports Pen input like Wacom Tablets.
48 Xournal++ alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Note-taking Tool
- Digital Painting Tool
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
+1
Top Xournal++ Features
1. Handwritten Notes
2. PDF annotation
3. Support for styluses
4. Handwriting
5. Export to PDF
6. Works Offline
7. LaTeX Math
8. Pen Support
9. Pressure Sensitivity
10. Multi layer drawing
11. Freehand Writing
12. Audio with notes
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Xournal++ VS Skim
Is Xournal++ a good alternative to Skim?
Comments about Xournal++ as an Alternative to Skim

violoncello
Xournal++ allows for annotating pdfs with an active pen
Positive comment •Dec 31, 2020
0
- Xournal++ is Free and Open SourceSkim is also Free and Open Source

Evince
Evince (or GNOME Document Viewer) is a document viewer for multiple document formats: PDF, Postscript, djvu, tiff, dvi, XPS, SyncTex support with gedit, comics books (cbr,cbz,cb7 and cbt) and others. See Supported Document Formats for details.
113 Evince alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- PDF Reader
- Ebook Reader
Platforms
- Linux
- PortableApps.com
- Flathub
- GNOME
+3
Top Evince Features
1. Lightweight
2. PDF annotation
3. Invert colours
4. Multiple languages
5. Dark Mode
6. Ad-free
7. Portable
8. Works Offline
9. No registration required
10. Minimalistic
11. No Tracking
12. Privacy focused
Show all NaN Evince features ▾
Evince VS Skim
Is Evince a good alternative to Skim?
Comments about Evince as an Alternative to Skim

Guest
doesn't support annotations
Negative comment •Nov 5, 2015
0
- Evince is Free and Open SourceSkim is also Free and Open Source
- Evince is Privacy focusedSkim is not according to our users

MuPDF
MuPDF is a highly versatile, customizable PDF and XPS interpreter solution that can be used across a wide range of applications as a PDF renderer, viewer, or toolkit.
86 MuPDF alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- PDF Reader
Platforms
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- F-Droid
- Xfce
+3
MuPDF Features
1. Lightweight
2. Portable
3. Vim key mapping
4. PDF annotation
5. Ad-free
Show all NaN MuPDF features ▾
MuPDF VS Skim
Is MuPDF a good alternative to Skim?
- MuPDF is the most popular Android alternative to Skim.
- MuPDF is Free and Open SourceSkim is also Free and Open Source

Sioyek
Sioyek is a PDF viewer with minimal interface optimized for reading research papers and technical books.
28 Sioyek alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- PDF Reader
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
+2
Sioyek Features
1. Keyboard focused
2. Lightweight
3. Dark Mode
4. PDF annotation
5. Ad-free
Show all NaN Sioyek features ▾
Sioyek VS Skim
Is Sioyek a good alternative to Skim?

Qoppa PDF Studio
Create, Convert, Review and Edit PDF Documents on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
185 Qoppa PDF Studio alternatives
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
- PDF Reader
- PDF Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Chrome OS
+7
Top Qoppa PDF Studio Features
1. Edit PDF
2. Sign PDF files
3. Scan to PDF
4. PDF Redaction
5. Convert PDF to Word document
6. Create PDF files
7. Fill PDF Forms
8. OCR
9. Dark Mode
10. Text to Speech
11. Ad-free
12. Spell Checking
Show all NaN Qoppa PDF Studio features ▾
Qoppa PDF Studio VS Skim
Is Qoppa PDF Studio a good alternative to Skim?

Papers
A document viewer for the GNOME desktop. You can view, search or annotate documents in many different formats.
55 Papers alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- PDF Reader
- Ebook Reader
Platforms
- Linux
- Flathub
- GNOME
- Flatpak
Papers Features
1. Ad-free
2. Privacy focused
3. Full-Text Search
4. Lightweight
5. Works Offline
6. No registration required
7. No Tracking
8. Dark Mode
9. Text to Speech
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Papers VS Skim
Is Papers a good alternative to Skim?

zathura
Zathura is a highly customizable and functional document viewer. It provides a minimalistic and space saving interface as well as an easy usage that mainly focuses on keyboard interaction.
68 zathura alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- PDF Reader
- Ebook Reader
Platforms
- Mac
- Linux
- BSD
- MacPorts
- Homebrew
zathura Features
1. Lightweight
2. Ad-free
3. Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
4. Works Offline
5. Full-Text Search
6. Vi keybindings
7. Keyboard navigation
8. Vim key mapping
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zathura VS Skim
Is zathura a good alternative to Skim?

qpdfview
qpdfview is a Qt-based tabbed document viewer using the Poppler library for PDF rendering and CUPS for printing. Support for the DjVu and PostScript formats can be added via plugins.
74 qpdfview alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- PDF Reader
Platforms
- Linux
- Haiku
- Qt
qpdfview Features
1. Lightweight
2. Fill PDF Forms
3. Support for Right-to-Left
4. Edit PDF
5. QT Based
6. Tabbed interface
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qpdfview VS Skim
Is qpdfview a good alternative to Skim?

Atril
Atril is a simple multi-page document viewer. It can display and print PostScript (PS), Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), DJVU, DVI, XPS and Portable Document Format (PDF) files. When supported by the document, it also allows searching for text, copying text to the clipboard...
104 Atril alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- PDF Reader
- Text to Speech Service
Platforms
- Linux
- BSD
Atril Features
1. Dark Mode
2. Ad-free
3. PDF annotation
4. Text to Speech
5. Lightweight
6. Support for Javascript
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Atril VS Skim
Is Atril a good alternative to Skim?

ePDFView
A simple PDF document viewer, in the lines of Evince but without using the Gnome libraries. ePDFView is a free lightweight PDF document viewer using Poppler and GTK+ libraries.
60 ePDFView alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- PDF Reader
Platforms
- Linux
ePDFView Features
Lightweight
Gtk
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Discontinued
The last update is from August 2020.
ePDFView VS Skim
Is ePDFView a good alternative to Skim?

NightPDF
Dark Mode PDF reader.
95 NightPDF alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- PDF Reader
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Flathub
NightPDF Features
Portable
Dark Mode
Electron based
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NightPDF VS Skim
Is NightPDF a good alternative to Skim?