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qpdfview VS MuPDF

Compare qpdfview VS MuPDF and see what are their differences

DocRaptor
As the only API powered by the Prince HTML-to-PDF engine, DocRaptor provides the best support for complex PDFs with powerful support for headers, page breaks, page numbers, flexbox, watermarks, accessible PDFs, and much more featured
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qpdfview logo qpdfview

qpdfview is a Qt-based tabbed document viewer using the Poppler library for PDF rendering and CUPS...

MuPDF logo MuPDF

MuPDF is a lightweight PDF and XPS viewer.
  • qpdfview Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-25
  • MuPDF Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-05

qpdfview features and specs

  • Lightweight
    qpdfview is a lightweight application, which means it requires minimal system resources and offers fast performance, making it ideal for users with older or less powerful hardware.
  • Tabbed Interface
    The application supports tabbed browsing, allowing users to open multiple PDF documents within the same window, enhancing workflow efficiency and organization.
  • Cross-Platform
    qpdfview is available on various operating systems, including Linux and Windows, which provides flexibility for users who work across different platforms.
  • Search Functionality
    It features robust search capabilities, allowing users to quickly find text within PDF documents, which is particularly helpful for academic and professional use.
  • Annotation Support
    Users can add annotations to PDF files, making it useful for reviewing and editing documents.

Possible disadvantages of qpdfview

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to more comprehensive PDF editors, qpdfview does not offer advanced editing capabilities such as form filling or multimedia embedding.
  • User Interface
    The user interface is quite basic and may not be as polished or intuitive as some other modern PDF readers, which could be a drawback for some users.
  • Windows Support Limitations
    While it is cross-platform, some users may encounter limitations or less seamless performance on Windows compared to Linux distributions.
  • No Built-in Cloud Integration
    qpdfview does not offer direct integration with cloud storage services, which can inconvenience users who rely heavily on cloud-based document management.
  • Development Activity
    The development and updating of qpdfview may not be as active as some other PDF viewers, potentially leading to slower responses to bugs or feature requests.

MuPDF features and specs

  • Lightweight
    MuPDF is a lightweight PDF viewer and toolkit, which makes it ideal for embedding in applications or using on devices with limited resources.
  • Fast Performance
    MuPDF is known for its fast rendering speeds, which ensures quick viewing and manipulation of PDF files.
  • High-Quality Rendering
    MuPDF provides high-quality rendering of PDF documents, ensuring that text and images are displayed clearly and accurately.
  • Support for Multiple Formats
    In addition to PDF, MuPDF supports other formats such as XPS, OpenXPS, CBZ, EPUB, and FictionBook 2, making it versatile for various document types.
  • Open Source
    MuPDF is an open-source project, which means it's customizable and freely available for developers to modify and improve upon.
  • Comprehensive API
    MuPDF offers a comprehensive API that provides functionalities for rendering, editing, and extracting information from PDF documents.

Possible disadvantages of MuPDF

  • Limited Annotation Tools
    MuPDF's annotation tools are not as extensive as those found in other PDF editors, making it less suitable for users needing advanced annotation features.
  • No OCR
    MuPDF does not natively support Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which limits its ability to handle scanned documents as searchable and selectable text.
  • Basic User Interface
    The user interface of MuPDF is relatively basic compared to other PDF viewers and editors, which may not appeal to users looking for a more polished or feature-rich UI.
  • Limited Documentation
    The official documentation is somewhat limited, which can make it challenging for new users or developers to get started or find detailed information about specific features.
  • No Built-In Forms Support
    MuPDF does not offer built-in support for interactive PDF forms, limiting its use for documents requiring user input through forms.

Analysis of MuPDF

Overall verdict

  • Yes, MuPDF is generally regarded as a good option for those seeking a no-nonsense PDF viewing experience. Its performance and versatility make it a solid choice for both casual and professional users.

Why this product is good

  • MuPDF is considered a good PDF viewer and toolkit because it is lightweight, fast, and supports a variety of document formats. Its minimalistic design ensures that it performs efficiently without consuming unnecessary resources, making it suitable for both older and newer systems. Additionally, MuPDF is open-source, which allows developers to contribute to its development and customize it for specific needs.

Recommended for

    MuPDF is recommended for users who need a lightweight and fast PDF viewer that can handle a variety of document formats. It is particularly suitable for those who prefer open-source software and require a tool that can be easily integrated into custom applications. Additionally, it is ideal for developers looking for a library to incorporate PDF functionality into their software products.

qpdfview videos

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MuPDF videos

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MuPDF - Lightweight PDF Viewer - Linux XFCE

More videos:

  • Review - Install MuPDF (Lightweight PDF and XPS Viewer) in Linux Mint / Ubuntu via PPA

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to qpdfview and MuPDF)

qpdfview

MuPDF

PDF Tools
16 16%
PDF Tools
84% 84
PDF Readers And Editors
24 24%
PDF Readers And Editors
76% 76
PDF Editor
24 24%
PDF Editor
76% 76
PDF
100 100%
PDF
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare qpdfview and MuPDF

qpdfview Reviews

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MuPDF Reviews

MuPDF App Kit has been discontinued? Best MuPDF Alternative
However, MuPDF App Kit has been discontinued. This discontinuation affects numerous Android & iOS PDF viewers and editors relying on MuPDF App Kit libraries, rendering them incapable of delivering PDF functionalities to users. As a result, there is an urgent need to find an alternative to MuPDF in order to restore the functionality of PDF viewers and editors.
Source: www.compdf.com
13 of the Best Free PDF Readers
MuPDF is another small PDF reader. MuPDF allows users to view and edit PDF files, fill out forms and leave annotations on the document. Another feature of MuPDF is that it allows the user to convert their PDF file into other formats, such as HTML or SVG. For those people looking for a small and fast PDF reader and editor, this is a strong contender.
Source: www.indeed.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, MuPDF should be more popular than qpdfview. It has been mentiond 21 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

qpdfview mentions (3)

  • Qpdfview 0.5.0 Released
    Previous stable qpdfview 0.4.18 released in 2019. Development of O.5.x brings support for compiling with any Qt version (Qt4, Qt5 & Qt6).[0,1] [0] https://launchpad.net/qpdfview/+announcement/28501 [1] https://launchpad.net/qpdfview/+announcement/30745. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Going from zathura to neovim
    You didn't say what OS you're using, but on linux the best of the poppler-based PDF viewers are probably qpdfview (lighter weight) and okular (heavier but more features), both of which have good synctex support as well. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • What are your favorite PDF viewers/editors
    I've been happy with qpdfview as my PDF viewer for a couple of years now. I've customized it to have vi-like keybindings (j/k for instance) and it has others features like SyncTeX support and tabs that I want in a PDF viewer. The only thing lacking is support for playing media files, which comes in handy during presentations and such. I don't edit PDFs regularly, but when I do I just import it in Inkscape... Source: over 3 years ago

MuPDF mentions (21)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing qpdfview and MuPDF, you can also consider the following products

Okular - Okular is a universal document viewer based developed by KDE.

Sumatra PDF - Sumatra PDF is a slim PDF/DjVu/EPUB/XPS/CHM/CBR/CBZ/MOBI viewer for Windows.

Evince - Evince is a document viewer for multiple document formats: PDF, Postscript, djvu, tiff, dvi, XPS...

Foxit Reader - Foxit Reader is a free and light-weight multi-platform PDF document viewer.

Atril - Atril is a simple multi-page document viewer. Atril is a fork of Evince.

Adobe Acrobat DC - Make your job easier with Adobe Acrobat DC, the trusted PDF creator. Use Acrobat to convert, edit and sign PDF files at your desk or on the go.

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