Foliate – Open-source eBook reader for Linux
Foliate is a free, open-source eBook reader that’s especially popular among Linux users. The app supports common eBook formats like EPUB, MOBI, AZW, PDF, and CBZ/CBR (comics). In our test on Ubuntu 24.04, we were pleasantly surprised by how fast and responsive it feels compared with other free eBook readers.
Features and user experience
Foliate offers a clean, minimalist interface that lets you dive into reading right away without distractions. We tested it on a Ubuntu 24.04 laptop and saw no lag when flipping pages—everything felt snappy and smooth, even in large EPUBs hundreds of pages long.
The first thing we noticed was the wide range of reading themes. The default is light and uncluttered, but we quickly switched to dark mode during evening reading, which made a huge difference for our eyes. The sepia option was also incredibly comfortable for longer sessions, especially when you sit in front of a screen for hours. With themes, font choices, and line spacing, you can truly tailor the reading experience to your taste—we even created different “profiles” depending on the time of day.
Something that really impressed us was the built-in dictionary. It feels natural to highlight a word and instantly get a definition or translation without opening a browser. We also tried the translation feature via web APIs, and it handled English and German text without issues — very useful when reading foreign-language eBooks.
The ability to add notes and bookmarks turned out to be far more practical than we expected. We read a couple of non-fiction PDFs and could quickly add highlights and notes to sections we wanted to revisit later. During our test, everything saved without problems and was easy to access afterward. It showed that Foliate isn’t just for novels and casual reading—it can also be used seriously for study and research.
All in all, Foliate feels extremely polished for a free, open-source app. We tested various file types (EPUB, PDF, and CBR) and experienced almost no errors or crashes—it actually ran more stably than some commercial eBook readers.
Integration and customization
One of Foliate’s strengths is integration with OPDS catalogs, so you can add eBooks directly from sources like Project Gutenberg or Internet Archive. For US users, it’s easy to add your own eBook collections via a local folder or NAS.
In our testing, both import and organization worked flawlessly, even with large libraries of several hundred books.
Performance and stability
We found that Foliate opened even heavy PDFs quickly, and zoom/scroll worked without stutter. Comics in CBR format used a bit more RAM, but the app remained stable. Overall it feels lighter than alternatives like Calibre’s built-in eBook reader.
Strengths and weaknesses
Foliate is built to be simple and focused—and it succeeds. However, it lacks advanced features like cross-device eBook syncing and cloud integration. If you want those, you’ll need to combine it with third-party tools.
Top 5 Foliate tips
Foliate can open EPUB, MOBI, AZW, PDF, FB2, and CBR/CBZ (comics). That makes it a versatile eBook reader no matter where your books come from.
The app is built for Linux and is officially available only for Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch. You can experiment with Flatpak or run it via WSL on Windows.
Yes, you can add books to your library, search your collection, and create bookmarks and notes. It’s simpler than tools like Calibre, which offer advanced metadata management.
Yes—there’s dark mode, sepia, and other reading themes. You can customize font, line spacing, and margins to your preferences.
Yes, Foliate supports OPDS catalogs, so you can get books from sources like Project Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks, and Internet Archive directly in the app.
