Kiosk vs Porteus Kiosk
Kiosk
github.comPorteus Kiosk
porteus-kiosk.orgSide by side
| Figure | Kiosk | Porteus Kiosk |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | €2.17/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 8 |
| Spec score · Kiosk Browsers | 8.9 (#1) | 7.8 (#12) |
| Spec score · Kiosk Management Software | 8.9 (#2) | 7.9 (#10) |
| Integrations | The desktop apps support opening PDFs directly and associating Kiosk with PDF files; the extension can intercept PDFs opened in Chrome. | The ThinClient variant includes applications supporting Citrix, RDP, VNC, and SSH connectivity protocols. |
| Product | Kiosk is an open-source PDF reader for web, desktop, mobile, and browser extensions. | Porteus Kiosk is a lightweight Linux operating system restricted to browser use that opens a chosen homepage at startup. |
| Support | The Linux release directs users to report bugs by opening a GitHub issue. | Active client subscriptions include software and hardware help; standard support queries are answered by email within 24 hours. |
Plans
Porteus Kiosk
- Automatic updates and support subscription (201–500 PCs)€26 a year
- Automatic updates and support subscription (101–200 PCs)€28 a year
- Automatic updates and support subscription (51–100 PCs)€30 a year
- Automatic updates and support subscription (26–50 PCs)€33 a year
- Automatic updates and support subscription (11–25 PCs)€36 a year
- Automatic updates and support subscription (1–10 PCs)€40 a year
- Porteus Kiosk Server subscription€300 a year
- Automatic updates and support subscription (above 500 PCs)Priced on request
In their own words
Kiosk
Kiosk is a free, open-source PDF reader for web, desktop, mobile, and browser extensions. It renders PDFs and offers full-text search with highlighted results, page thumbnails, zoom, and light, dark, and night display modes. Its Chrome extension adds highlighting, underlining, strikethrough, drawing, shapes, and text annotations. The project says PDFs stay on the device, with no telemetry, cloud processing, or account requirement. Android works offline after installation, and the extension release notes also state that offline use is supported. The web app can run locally or be deployed through GitHub Pages as a self-hosted instance. Desktop apps can open PDFs directly and associate Kiosk with PDF files; the extension can intercept PDFs opened in Chrome. The extension supports Chrome 88+, Edge 88+, and Brave, but not Firefox or Safari. The project is released under the MIT License. Its Android release is an early alpha, and the macOS app is ad-hoc signed but not notarized, so Gatekeeper may warn on first launch.
Porteus Kiosk
Porteus Kiosk is a lightweight Linux operating system that limits a computer to browser use and opens a selected homepage at startup. The maker lists public terminals in schools, libraries, cafes, hotels, offices, and tourist centers, as well as digital signage, as uses. It runs on x86_64 PCs, requires at least 2 GB of RAM and 1 GB of storage, and does not support ARM devices such as Raspberry Pi. The hybrid ISO can be installed on writable media including USB drives, hard drives, SSD or eMMC devices, and SD or MMC cards. Browser history is not retained, passwords are not saved, and caches are cleared when the browser closes. Automatic updates are enabled by default; the maker describes a read-only image and startup checks that stop booting if component values differ from registered values. Porteus Kiosk Server can manage up to 1000 clients behind NAT, proxies, or firewalls, but cannot host client updates: clients update from the maker’s domain and need separate subscriptions. A 30-day free evaluation is available. Continued use requires a subscription, starting at €40 per PC per year, excluding VAT, for 1–10 PCs.