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FBReader vs Foliate
October 07, 2025
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FBReader is an free eBook reader that supports numerous file formats like ePub, fb2, plucker, HTML, plain text, doc and more. You can also add multiple books at once in an archived format (tar, zip, gzip, bzip2). It supports embedded images, footnotes, hyperlinks, text search and full screen reading. It also has automatic bookmarking so that you don’t lose your place when closing a book.
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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
FBReader and Foliate are both desktop e-book readers that support popular formats (ePub, mobi, fb2, comics). They enable to read your own books downloaded for free. Both readers allow to customize the reading space: fonts, spacing, margins, background (or enable a dark theme), add bookmarks and notes. Both support syncing books (via plugins or cloud services).
However, FBReader is more cross-platform – it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and also offers mobile apps for Android and iOS. It also supports more formats and has its own cloud syncing service. The program uses propriety optimized text rendering engine (not WebKit) and has a minimalist interface without unnecessary effects - that is why it runs quickly even on very old computers. FBReader can connect to online libraries and OPDS catalogs to download books. The program is mostly free, but there is a paid version for mobile devices with text-to-speech.
Foliate is a completely free, open-source program developed specifically for GNOME and Linux. It's based on WebKit and renders books as web pages. It has a fairly modern interface which adapts to system themes. It has a built-in dictionary, translator, Wikipedia search and the ability to export notes in Markdown format.
However, FBReader is more cross-platform – it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and also offers mobile apps for Android and iOS. It also supports more formats and has its own cloud syncing service. The program uses propriety optimized text rendering engine (not WebKit) and has a minimalist interface without unnecessary effects - that is why it runs quickly even on very old computers. FBReader can connect to online libraries and OPDS catalogs to download books. The program is mostly free, but there is a paid version for mobile devices with text-to-speech.
Foliate is a completely free, open-source program developed specifically for GNOME and Linux. It's based on WebKit and renders books as web pages. It has a fairly modern interface which adapts to system themes. It has a built-in dictionary, translator, Wikipedia search and the ability to export notes in Markdown format.
