Foliate review: ebook notes stay on your PC

Foliate is a free open-source ebook reader for Linux.¹ It is for people who want to open a book file on their own computer, adjust the page, and keep their place and notes in files they can copy.¹³ The newest numbered release is 3.3.0, published on 1 April 2025.⁶

Last checked October 28, 2026.

At a glance

What it is: A free open-source ebook reader for Linux.¹

Works on: Linux, including a Flathub build, a Snap, and packages linked for Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora and openSUSE.¹²⁴

Price: Free.⁴

Licence: GNU General Public License, version 3 or any later version.²

Best for: Reading ebook files on a Linux computer, with notes kept in a folder on that computer.

Official site: johnfactotum.github.io/foliate

What Foliate does (and how it protects your privacy)

Foliate opens EPUB, Mobipocket, Kindle, FB2, CBZ and PDF files.¹ EPUB is the usual ebook file. You can read page by page or as one long scroll, and you can change the font, spacing, margins and colour scheme.¹ A touchpad or touchscreen can turn the page. The sidebar holds the table of contents and a search through the book, and a slider shows how far you have come.¹

Your place in the book, bookmarks and notes are stored in plain JSON files, one file per book.¹³ JSON is ordinary text with a fixed shape. On a normal install the folder is ~/.local/share/com.github.johnfactotum.Foliate. The Flatpak copy uses ~/.var/app/com.github.johnfactotum.Foliate/data/com.github.johnfactotum.Foliate. The Snap copy uses ~/snap/foliate/current/.local/share/com.github.johnfactotum.Foliate.³ Copying those files is how the FAQ says you back up or move your progress and notes.³

The FAQ says an EPUB is HTML packaged in a zip, and that it can contain JavaScript.³ JavaScript is small program code a page can run. Foliate blocks JavaScript and external resources inside books.³ The FAQ recommends the Flatpak package as a sandbox, a box that limits what the app can reach.³ Lookup is separate. The website says Foliate can check Wiktionary and Wikipedia, and translate a passage with Google Translate.¹ Those tools need network access, and on the Flatpak that permission is optional.³ Read-aloud uses Speech Dispatcher on the computer.¹³ For a reference work that stays on the device, Kiwix keeps copies you can open without visiting the site.

Key features of Foliate

Common book files: EPUB, Mobipocket, Kindle, FB2, CBZ and PDF.¹
A page you can tune: Page-by-page or scrolling view, plus font, spacing, margins, colour, right-to-left text, vertical writing and fixed-layout books.¹
Light, sepia, dark and invert: Flathub lists those schemes, with a progress slider, chapter marks, bookmarks, notes and find-in-book.⁴
A rough page count: Each location is 1,500 bytes. The FAQ says locations are not exact.³
Catalogues: Version 3.1.0, published on 5 January 2024, added OPDS catalogues, including OPDS 2.0. OPDS is a shared format for a book list. The 3.2.0 notes still mention OPDS feeds.⁷⁸
PDFs and a library view: Version 3.2.0, published on 28 November 2024, says PDF drawing became faster and no longer blurry, and it mentions opening a book from the library view in another program.⁸
Read-aloud: Speech Dispatcher on your computer, with a voice such as eSpeak NG. The FAQ says the default voice may sound somewhat robotic.³

Foliate pros and cons

Pros

It is free, and the README places it under the GNU GPL version 3 or any later version.²⁴
Your place in the book and your notes are JSON files you can copy to another disk.³
JavaScript and outside resources inside a book are blocked, and the FAQ suggests the Flatpak as a sandbox.³
Release 3.3.0 was updated for GNOME 48. GNOME is a Linux desktop. The gtk4 branch also shows commits dated 8 April 2026.⁵⁶
Install paths include Flathub, the command sudo snap install foliate, and the distribution packages the website names.¹²

Cons

The project presents Foliate as an e-book reader for Linux, and the install paths above are Linux installs.¹²⁴
The latest numbered release is 3.3.0, from 1 April 2025. Flathub marks that version as over a year old.⁴⁶
Dictionary, encyclopedia and translation tools need a network connection. The site names Wiktionary, Wikipedia and Google Translate.¹³
A book cannot run its own JavaScript, because Foliate blocks it.³
Read-aloud needs Speech Dispatcher installed, and the FAQ says the default voice may sound somewhat robotic.³

Is Foliate safe and private?

John Factotum publishes Foliate. Flathub lists the app by John Factotum, with a verified mark for johnfactotum on GitHub, and the latest release names that same account.⁴⁶ The README uses GPL version 3 or later, and it ships foliate-js (MIT), zip.js (BSD 3-clause), fflate (MIT) and PDF.js (Apache Licence 2.0).² The latest release is 3.3.0, from 1 April 2025, and the gtk4 branch has commits dated 8 April 2026.⁵⁶

The FAQ says an EPUB is HTML in a zip and can hold JavaScript and other potentially unsafe content. It says the current app blocks JavaScript and external resources, and it recommends a sandbox such as the Flatpak.³ On versions 1 and 2, JavaScript could be switched on. The FAQ says not to enable it on those versions, because it is highly insecure.³

The Flatpak’s network permission is for the online dictionary, encyclopedia and translation tools. It also asks for a read-only link to Speech Dispatcher, and for Tracker so the library view can find where a file is stored. The FAQ says these permissions are optional. Turn off any you do not want with the flatpak command or with Flatseal.³

How to get started with Foliate

On Linux, install Foliate from its Flathub page. That listing is version 3.3.0 and is marked free.⁴ With Snap, run sudo snap install foliate.²
The official site also links packages for Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora and openSUSE.¹ The latest release includes a Debian package named foliate_3.3.0_all.deb.⁶
Open a book. The website lists EPUB, Mobipocket, Kindle, FB2, CBZ and PDF.¹
Choose a font, spacing, margins and a colour scheme. Flathub lists light, sepia, dark and invert.⁴ Touchpad gestures turn the page, and version 3.2.0 added Space and Shift+Space for the same job.¹⁸
Bookmarks and notes are saved in the JSON files for your install. Copy those files, using the path in the section above, if you want a backup.³
For read-aloud, install speech-dispatcher and a voice such as espeak-ng, then use the Narration button in the footer.³ On the Flatpak, leave the network permission off if you do not want lookup or translation to go online.³

Who should use Foliate (and who might prefer something else)

Foliate suits someone on Linux who already has ebook files and wants a quiet reader, with notes stored as files on that computer. Version 3.2.0 can open a book from the library view in another program.⁸ If you leave dictionary and translation unused, the Flatpak network permission can stay off.³

To organise a whole ebook library on your computer, see calibre. On Windows, SumatraPDF opens PDFs and ebooks. For textbooks and research PDFs, Sioyek is written for that reading.

Frequently asked questions

Is Foliate free?

Yes. Flathub lists it as free, and the project calls it free software under the GNU GPL.¹⁴ The README allows version 3 of that licence or any later version.²

Is Foliate safe?

The FAQ says JavaScript and external resources in book files are blocked, and it recommends the Flatpak as a sandbox.³ Notes are JSON files on the computer.³ Lookup and translation use the network, and the website names Wiktionary, Wikipedia and Google Translate for those tools.¹³

Does Foliate work on iPhone?

The official site presents Foliate as an e-book reader for Linux.¹ Flathub, the Snap command and the distribution links are Linux installs.¹²⁴

Does Foliate work offline?

Your place and notes stay in the local JSON folder, and copying that folder is the backup method the FAQ describes.³ The Flatpak network permission is for online dictionary, encyclopedia and translation tools.³ Read-aloud uses Speech Dispatcher on the computer.³