Compare software

Smile vs Characters: catalog facts
Smile	Characters
Best for: Linux users who type emoji often and want a dedicated picker	Best for: Finding and copying special characters and emoji on a GNOME desktop
Free Free and open source under the GPL-3.0-or-later licence.	Free Free and open source under the GPL-2.0-or-later and BSD-3-Clause licences.
Linux	Linux
Installs on most distributions through Flathub Open source with a dedicated documentation site All 3 strengths for Smile Installs on most distributions through Flathub Open source with a dedicated documentation site Focused on one task	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
Linux only The homepage gives little detail about features	Linux only Basic feature set aimed at lookup and copy
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-3.0-or-later	License: GPL-2.0-or-later AND BSD-3-Clause
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Smile smile.mijorus.it Catalog checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Characters apps.gnome.org/Characters Catalog checked October 1, 2026

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