Guides

Bible Apps for Linux: The Options and How to Install Them

November 4, 2026

Most Bible software is made for Windows, the Mac and phones. Linux users are often told to use a website or to run Windows software through Wine. There are better choices than that. Several good Bible apps run natively on Linux, most of them free, and a few have been maintained for more than twenty years.

This guide describes the main options, what each is good for, and how to install it. We make one of them, Carrell, so read our description of it with that in mind. The others are described from their own published information.

The SWORD Project, and why it matters on Linux

Much Linux Bible software is built on the SWORD Project, an open-source library from the CrossWire Bible Society. SWORD defines a format for Bible “modules”: translations, commentaries, dictionaries and books. CrossWire and other repositories offer hundreds of them, including many public-domain translations and some licensed ones that need an unlock key.

This is useful to know because a module you download for one SWORD app works in the others. If you try Xiphos, then switch to BibleTime, your library of modules comes with you.

The options

Xiphos

Xiphos is a free, open-source SWORD app for Linux and Windows, built with GTK, so it fits in well on GNOME and similar desktops. It shows Bible text, commentaries and dictionaries in side-by-side panes, and it has Greek and Hebrew tools, bookmarks, personal commentaries and a StudyPad for longer notes. It is actively maintained, with releases in 2026. Its own release notes mention some minor rendering flaws under Wayland.

Install: it is packaged by most distributions, for example sudo apt install xiphos on Debian and Ubuntu, or sudo dnf install xiphos on Fedora.

BibleTime

BibleTime is the Qt counterpart to Xiphos, so it suits KDE Plasma. It is also free, open source and built on SWORD, with parallel display, search across modules, bookmarks and personal notes. Version 3.2.0 was released in February 2026.

Install: sudo apt install bibletime, your distribution’s package manager, or sudo snap install bibletime.

Ezra Bible App

Ezra Bible App is a newer open-source app that also uses SWORD modules, with a more modern interface. It is organized around tagging verses by topic, which suits topical study. It runs on Linux, Windows and the Mac, and has had regular releases through 2026.

Carrell

Carrell is a Bible reader and study app we build, written in Rust and drawn natively rather than shown as a web page in a window. It runs on 64-bit x86 Linux under Wayland or X11. Showing the first page takes about 15 ms of work, and searching all 66 books takes under 2 ms, so results appear as you type.

• Free: the reader, seven public-domain translations (KJV, WEB, BSB, ASV, YLT, Darby and Webster), search, highlights, notes and bookmarks.
• Desktop features: parallel columns, compare a verse across every translation, Ctrl+K to jump to a reference such as “rom 8”, search narrowed to a book or testament, one continuous scroll through all 1,189 chapters, and focus mode.
• SWORD modules: Carrell can import translations in SWORD, USFM, OSIS and Zefania formats, including locked SWORD modules with your unlock key. If you already have modules from Xiphos or BibleTime, you can bring translations across.
• Study library: notes, sermons recorded from the microphone or from the computer’s own sound (useful for a livestreamed service), and Ask, which answers questions from the Bible and your own notes with every source cited. The library syncs with the iPhone and iPad app if you want it to, and exports to Markdown or JSON.
• Limits: it is in beta. It needs a Carrell account to sign in, and it does not have the large commentary libraries of the SWORD apps. Licensed translations such as the NIV and ESV are not available today. There is no ARM build yet.

Install: download the .tar.gz from the download page, then:

tar xzf carrell-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
./carrell

Copy carrell somewhere on your PATH to run it from anywhere. It needs OpenGL, xkbcommon and, for recording, PulseAudio, which most desktop installations already have.

diatheke, on the command line

The SWORD library comes with diatheke, a small command-line tool for looking up and searching passages in any installed module. It is mainly meant for testing the library, but it is handy for scripts or a quick lookup in a terminal. On Debian and Ubuntu it is in the diatheke package.

Logos through Wine

Logos does not make a Linux version. A community project, OuDedetai, installs and maintains Logos under Wine, and many users run it that way. Expect most features to work and some to be unreliable. It is worth it if you already own a large Logos library; it is not where to start.

In the browser

YouVersion (bible.com) and Blue Letter Bible work in any browser on Linux. YouVersion has many translations, including licensed modern ones, and its reading plans. Blue Letter Bible is strong on word study, with Strong’s concordance and lexicons. Both need a connection.

Which to choose

• For a large free library of commentaries and dictionaries: Xiphos on GNOME, or BibleTime on KDE.
• For topical study by tagging verses: Ezra Bible App.
• For fast reading, notes and sermons in one library that also lives on your phone: Carrell.
• For scripts and the terminal: diatheke.
• For a modern licensed translation such as the NIV or ESV: YouVersion in the browser, or a licensed SWORD module where one is offered.

The SWORD apps share modules, and Carrell imports them, so you do not have to choose only one. Many people keep a SWORD app for reference works and a separate app for daily reading and notes.

Trying Carrell on Linux

Carrell is free to download. Download Carrell for Linux, see everything it does, or read how the KJV, BSB and WEB compare.