Calibre vs Foliate

September 11, 2025 | Author: Maria Lin
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Calibre
calibre is an open source e-book library management application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books. It has a cornucopia of features divided into the following main categories: Library Management, E-book conversion, Syncing to e-book reader devices, Downloading news from the web and converting it into e-book form, Comprehensive e-book viewer, Content server for online access to your book collection
20
Foliate
A simple and modern eBook viewer for Linux desktops. Beautiful Pages. Supports EPUB, Mobipocket, Kindle, FictionBook, and comic book archive formats. Single-column, two-column, or continuous scrolling layouts
Calibre and Foliate are both open-source ebook readers for Linux. They support many ebook formats, allow to customize fonts and text appearance, add bookmarks, search the text of the book, edit file metadata (author, title, cover).

But Calibre is not just a reader, but a full-fledged ebook library manager. It has many other functions: format conversion, synchronization of books with reading devices, built-in server for remote access, ebook editor, a large library of plugins. This program, in addition to Linux, also works on Windows and macOS.

Foliate is a lightweight and minimalist reader with a more intuitive interface. Its features include support for page turning animation, automatic text scrolling, built-in dictionaries and translators. It's dedicated for working in GNOME - a popular graphical desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like systems.
Author: Maria Lin
Maria Lin, is a seasoned content writer who has contributed to numerous tech portals, including Mashable and bookrunch, as a guest author. She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of California, where her research predominantly concentrated on mobile apps, software, AI and cloud services. With a deep passion for reading, Maria is particularly drawn to the intersection of technology and books, making book tech a subject of great interest to her. During her leisure time, she indulges in her love for cooking and finds solace in a good night's sleep. You can contact Maria Lin via email maria@bookrunch.com