Comparison

Reader+ vs Crash Course

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Reader+

This application allows users to read books, take notes, and save bookmarks with seamless online and offline functionality. It features an updated bookshelf, a new interface for easy navigation, and interactive multimedia to enhance the learning experience.

Highlights
  • Book navigation
  • Note-taking
  • Bookmark saving
  • Offline reading
  • Integrated multimedia
  • Interactive activities
  • Updated bookshelf
Features
Read full description

With Reader+, you can quickly navigate through your books, read them, take notes and save bookmarks. Built to work seamlessly online and offline, Reader+ lets you focus on your reading and activities and not worry about connectivity. Integrated multimedia and interactive activities enhance and extend your learning experience! Is Reader+ the right app for you? Check your courseware platform on your web browser to confirm. Here’s what’s waiting for you: - An updated bookshelf to make it easier for you to find the book that you are looking for - A new interface that makes navigation a breeze - A new card view in the Resource Panel to give you a more visual way of finding and interacting with supplemental resources - Better support for accessibility - Bug fixes

About

Crash Course

Access thousands of free educational videos covering humanities and sciences. Enhance your learning with supplemental flashcards and quizzes for select courses. Join a community dedicated to making education fun and engaging.

Highlights
  • Thousands of educational videos
  • High school and college level courses
  • Humanities and sciences subjects
  • Supplemental flashcards
  • Quizzes for review
  • Community of learners
Features
Read full description

Watch thousands of educational videos and review your learning with the Crash Course App! At Crash Course, we believe that high-quality educational content should be available to everyone for free. We produce courses that accompany high school and college-level classes ranging from the humanities to the sciences. On YouTube we have created a community of over 10 million subscribers that believe, like us, that learning should be fun, engaging, and thoughtful (and silly when appropriate). This app is a portal to our thousands of videos online and a place to review your learning with supplemental flashcards and quizzes. Flashcard decks are currently available for all episodes of Anatomy & Physiology, Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry, and we'll be continually adding more content. So please join our community of learners because you are the exception!

Screenshots

Reader+4 screens
Crash Course3 screens

Verdict

The call

Reader+ and Crash Course both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 78% of Crash Course's written reviews are positive against 23% of Reader+'s. Crash Course also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). Reader+'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Crash Course sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Reader+ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Reader+ against 4.8 for Crash Course. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.1K and 1.6K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 23% of Reader+'s written reviews are positive against 78% of Crash Course's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reader+ ships an update every 2 months, Crash Course every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Reader+ versus Crash Course: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReader+Crash Course
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.1K ratings)4.8 (1.6K ratings)
Positive reviews22.7% of reviews78.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1K1.6K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 6 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size525 MB146 MB
Age rating9+17+
DeveloperPearson Education, Inc.Complexly LLC

Customer experience

Reader+

All ratings1,081 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews88 reviews
Positive22.7%
Neutral5.7%
Negative71.6%

Crash Course

All ratings1,579 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral1.1%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews209 reviews
Positive78.5%
Neutral6.7%
Negative14.8%

User reviews

Reader+

From 1.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Useful app for accessing textbooks
  • 🚀 Easy to download and access books
  • 💡 Helpful for studies and reading

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
  • 🔒 Issues with login and account management
  • 🔋 Books need to be redownloaded frequently
  • 👎 Buggy and unreliable performance

Crash Course

From 1.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🙌 Helpful for students
  • 🎓 Great for learning difficult topics
  • 💕 High-quality, engaging content
  • 🆓 Completely free to use
  • 🙏 Grateful for the free education

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • 🔍 Limited course selection
  • 🔄 Trouble downloading/accessing content
  • 🔒 App is marked 17+, should be more accessible

Bugs and requests

Reader+

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Books not showing up in the app
  • Inability to sign in or create an account
  • Frequent crashes when opening or using the app

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add annotation and note-taking capabilities
  • Improve offline access and caching of books
  • Enhance user interface and navigation

Crash Course

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Courses disappearing after updates
  • Search function not working
  • Trouble downloading content
  • App crashing during use

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add math and English courses
  • Expand course selection
  • Improve search functionality
  • Allow offline video viewing
  • Add progress tracking and favorites
Show 1 more
  • Implement landscape mode on tablets

In-app purchases

None

Reader+

No in-app purchases

13 purchases

Crash Course

One-time13
  • Contribute $1.99$1.99
  • Contribute Tier 1$1.99
  • Contribute $4.99$4.99
Show 10 more
  • Contribute Tier 2$4.99
  • Contribute Tier 3$9.99
  • Contribute Tier 4$14.99
  • Contribute Tier 5$19.99
  • Contribute Tier 6$24.99
  • Contribute Tier 7$29.99
  • Contribute Tier 8$39.99
  • Contribute Tier 9$49.99
  • Contribute Tier 10$59.99
  • Contribute Tier 14$99.99

Questions

Is Reader+ free?
Reader+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Crash Course free?
Crash Course is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Reader+ or Crash Course?
Reader+ and Crash Course are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.1K and 1.6K ratings respectively.
Do Reader+ or Crash Course have ads?
Reader+ shows ads; Crash Course does not.
Which is updated more often, Reader+ or Crash Course?
Reader+ ships an update every 2 months, and Crash Course every 6 months. Most recently, Reader+ was updated on September 29, 2026 and Crash Course on September 22, 2026.

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