Compare software

Characters vs PopChar: catalog facts
Characters	PopChar
Best for: Finding and copying special characters and emoji on a GNOME desktop	Best for: Designers and writers who regularly insert special characters and symbols
Free Free and open source under the GPL-2.0-or-later and BSD-3-Clause licences.	Paid Paid licence from Ergonis, with a downloadable version to try.
Linux	Windows, macOS
Keyword search across Unicode characters Browse by category including emoji and math symbols All 3 strengths for Characters Keyword search across Unicode characters Browse by category including emoji and math symbols Actively maintained GNOME app	Search characters by name or by shape Shows Unicode code points and HTML entities All 4 strengths for PopChar Search characters by name or by shape Shows Unicode code points and HTML entities Works system-wide in any application Supports ligatures and complex characters
Linux only Basic feature set aimed at lookup and copy	Paid software No Linux version
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Not open source
License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-3-Clause	License not stated
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Characters apps.gnome.org/Characters Catalog checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for PopChar ergonis.com/en/popchar Catalog checked October 2, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.