
13 Adobe Reader Alternatives 2021: (Top-Tier List)
In this article, I will show you 12 amazing adobe reader alternatives 2021.
Adobe Reader is no doubt the most popular pdf reader that exists today and has served millions of people throughout the world.
It is efficient and free without annoying advertisements, which makes it the favorite of many people. However, Adobe Reader is not the only document that offers such quality and excellence.
There are lots of other fantastic options out there too. And below are some good Adobe Reader alternatives for Windows.
This list of adobe reader alternatives consists of some amazing lightweight PDF readers built for nothing other than viewing PDFs.
Some of them even have cool features you won’t find in Adobe Reader, such as basic PDF-editing tools.
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List Of Adobe Reader Alternatives 2021
PDF-XChange Editor

This is the first on this list. The PDF-XChange Editor offers lots of amazing features, which make it amazing for annotations and editing. The PDF reader is also free. If you will like to access pro features, you can buy a license or enjoy the features in exchange for a watermark.
The tool allows you to customize the toolbars to your taste so it becomes pretty fun and fast to work on the reader. However, compared to some other PDF readers, PDF-XChange Editor consumes more space. So if your resource efficiency is a priority to you, you may need to check for other adobe reader alternatives in this article.
Supported Operating system: Windows Xp, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista.
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Sumatra PDF

This is one of the best Adobe Reader alternatives you can find. It is pretty easy on system resources and it’s also open source. And if you will prefer something even more minimalistic than that, you can also download the portable app instead of the desktop version.
Even though Sumatra PDF doesn’t offer any options for editing, you can be sure of getting a really fast display when viewing your PDF documents on it. However, Sumatra has support tabs and also loaded with keyword shortcuts, so it even more ideal for rapidly reading PDFs. Also, Sumatra supports more than just PDF files. It also supports other files including Mobi, ePub, CBR, and CBZ formats.
Supported OS: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista.
Nitro PDF Reader

If you see the Nitro interface, you will almost think it was lifted off Microsoft Office. This PDF reader is super rich in features.
It makes it easy for you to perform some amazing tasks, unlike other free PDF readers.
You can use your digital ID to fill in forms and sign your documents. It also allows you to extract images, add notes, or convert a PDF to a plain text document. With its charming Microsoft’ interface resemblance, this reader is truly worth being a good alternative to Adobe Reader.
Supported Operating System: All Windows
Foxit Reader

This has always been one of the strong Adobe reader alternatives. It remains a mainstream option because it offers the most features among the other free PDF readers with no strings attached.
It is full of several editing tabs dominating the interface. They cover a range of advanced options like typewriter option, text markup, form handling, managing reviews, digital signatures, and tracking changes. Another interesting feature of Foxit Reader is that you can also customize the toolbar and add your own shortcuts to the Quick Action Toolbar.
Supported Operating System: Windows, macOS, Linux
STDU Viewer

STDU Viewer is also another Adobe reader alternative for Windows users. It is a popular image and document viewer and comes in small size. Its total downloadable size is about 2.5MB. The viewer supports multiple file formats, varying from PDF to TIFF and JPEG to GIF.
Asides these formats, it also supports files like DjVu, XPS, FB2, TXT, e-books, etc. STDU Viewer can also open a variety of image formats. The reader also an interface that supports multiple languages.
Supported Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
Soda PDF

If you are looking for a really good tool to open, create, and edit PDFs, Soda PDF is a great option. With its advanced features, it is a perfect alternative to Adobe Reader. It supports up to 8 languages and can be used to create PDFs from more than 300 file formats. You can also annotate your documents with text, notes, highlights, and stamps just like it is in Adobe Reader.
It allows you to modify the content of your PDF and customize the structure to suit your needs. To top it all, Soda PDF also allows you to protect your documents from unauthorized changes, copying, or printing with 256-AES password encryption.
Supported Operating System: Windows
Kofax Power PDF

This PDF reader comes with almost all the features you need to create and edit PDFs. It also comes with a dictating option, which makes it great for you if you are having any issues with your sight.
It allows you to create forms, and convert PDF documents into Word and other Office file formats.
You can use Power PDF to merge your PDFs into one and protect it with secure passwords. However, this Power PDF only supports opening just one PDF file at a time. It doesn’t support opening multiple PDF files at a time.
Supported Operating System: Windows, macOS
PDF Studio

This is another user-friendly Adobe Reader alternative for Windows which also comes at a lower price. It has advanced editing features that allow you to work on PDFs seamlessly and efficiently.
You can also use the program to create PDFs and also to modify it in compliance with PDF standards. You can create your PDFs out of Word documents, images, and other file types.
Supported Operating System: Windows, Linux, macOS
SlimPDF Reader

SlimPDF Reader is a lightweight PDF reader available for desktop Windows. Presently, it is the smallest PDF viewer with about 1.4 MB size. It has a minimalist interface and comes with various features and benefits, which makes it a good alternative for adobe reader.
It can help get rid of bloatware and also helps your computer run faster. Therefore, making it pretty easy for you to view any PDF file in no different way to other viewers. SlimPDF is an excellent that helps you read, view, and print PDF files.
Supported Operating System: Windows, Linux, macOS
Evince

Evince is a free and open-source document viewer that is available on Windows, Linux, and Unix operating systems. It is a default PDF viewer in Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora. The programs support a variety of file formats including PDF, DjVu, PostScrip, TIFF, XPS, and DVI. The viewer can also support slide-shows, full screen, and can also display two pages at the same time.
With the program, you can also select, highlight, and copy texts from the PDF file if they include the OCR data. Even if DRM protected, Evince allows you to convert, copy, and print any PDF files.
Supported Operating System: Linux
PhantomPDF

This is also another Adobe reader alternative for Windows. However, PhantomPDF is not a free PDF reader and it’s loaded with different features while it also comes with Foxit Software. Because of its ribbon-based interface too, it also resembles Microsoft Office and offers PDF editing and encryption.
It can convert both from PDF to other file types and vice vassal. PhantomPDF supports up to 41 languages which is very rare in most PDF viewers on the market.
Supported Operating Systems: Windows, macOS
PDFDocs

This is the last viewer on this list of “13 Adobe Reader Alternatives for Windows” but obviously not the least. This is a project-centric application that allows you to create, edit, annotate, collate, redact, and secure PDF files. It is also a paid tool. PDFDocs is a business-oriented software designed to help you manage and create electronic PDF binders.
PDFDocs allows you to automate the whole process of converting a large number of documents into a single PDF file.
Supported Operating system: Windows
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Conclusion
That’s a wrap on the Adobe reader alternatives 2021. Some of the alternatives listed in this article are paid and others are free, unfortunately, we did not include which is paid and which is free, you’ll have to solve that puzzle yourself.
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