Comparison

Comics Book Reader vs Smart Comic Reader

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

Head to head
About

Comics Book Reader

This application is a robust viewer for various comic book formats, including CBZ, CBR, CB7, and CBT. It offers a highly optimized visualization system for mobile devices, ensuring maximum productivity and comfort. Enjoy an elegant design, extended functionality, and high speed for a pleasurable reading experience.

Highlights
  • Supports CBZ, CBR, CB7, CBT formats
  • Integrates with cloud services (Google Drive, Dropbox)
  • Supports network services (SMB, FTP, SFTP)
  • File manager with sorting and search
  • Wi-Fi and FTP transfer options
  • Page layout and effects customization
  • Bookmarks and quick preview
Features
Read full description

The BEST application for reading cbz, cbr, cb7 and cbt comics. All formats are thoroughly elaborated and are 100% supported by the application. The visualization system takes into account the specific character of the formats functioning on mobile devices (memory capacity, the number of general processor units etc.), Providing a maximum productivity and comfort when working with large documents. Elegant design, extended functionality, high speed and stability of work will make reading of your favorite literature a pleasurable experience. You can contact technical support and leave a comment without quitting the application. Comic Book Reader’s special features: ■ Compatible with all popular archive formats (rar, zip, 7z, gz, tar ...) ■ Integration with popular cloud services(Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, Yandex.Disk) ■ Integration with popular network services(SMB, FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, DLNA) ■ Open documents directly from cloud services and network services ■ Hight application stability ■ Automatic recovery bad and non standard files ■ User friendly navigation ■ Page layout option in documents(single page, double pages, double pages with cover) ■ Effects for documents(sepia, monochrome, color controls) ■ Brightness control ■ Rotation lock ■ Bookmarks ■ Quick preview ■ Page scaling ■ Auto scaling for adjacent pages ■ Opening documents from external applications ■ Last open document list ■ Web Browser and download manager ■ Wi-Fi transfer ■ FTP transfer File Manager Features: ■ Intuitive interface ■ iTunes integration ■ File sorting(by name, by extension, by size, by date) ■ Searching files in subfolders ■ Create, move, copy, rename, pack/unpack, delete file/folder options ■ File/folder search ■ Preview book cover Wi-Fi Transfer Features: ■ Intuitive interface ■ Create, move, rename, delete file/folder options ■ Downloading/uploading few media files with one click ■ Display upload progress Feel free to ask questions, report bugs or request new features: support@develsoftware.com

About

Smart Comic Reader

This app offers a unique comic reading experience by automatically detecting and zooming into individual panels. It allows for seamless navigation between panels with simple taps, optimizing the view for smaller screens. Import comics from various sources and organize them within your iCloud or local storage.

Highlights
  • Automatic panel detection and zoom
  • Seamless panel-to-panel navigation
  • Optimized viewing for small screens
  • Comic import from any source
  • iCloud sync and local storage options
  • Supports CBZ, CBR, and PDF formats
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

A different kind of comic reader that offers a better way to read comics on a smaller screen. How it works: 1. Import any comic into the app. 2. Double tap on a panel and watch the app automatically detect its boundaries and zoom in on it. 3. Tap on the side of the screen to easily move to the next panel. If needed, the app will rotate the comic to make maximum use of your screen space. Key Features ============ Smart Reader: - Automatically zoom in and move between panels for a smooth reading experience. - Works with any comic, western or manga, no matter the art style. Panels do not need well-defined edges to be detected. - Always stay in control, let the app guide you over the page while you can always manually zoom and pan. Comic Collection: - Import comics from anywhere and organize your comic collection. - Comics are stored in iCloud to save storage space and keep your collection in sync across devices. - Your Smart Comic Reader collection is a regular folder on your iCloud Drive that you can access and manage from any iCloud connected device, like a Mac, or a Windows device using iCloud for Windows. - Also works locally if iCloud is disabled. - Supports comics in CBZ/ZIP, CBR/RAR and PDF formats. And many more features to come! If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to send them to: support@vandijk.dev. Comics in video and screenshots: “Pepper&Carrot”, David Revoy, CC-By “Plastic Man”, Quality Comics, Public Domain “Say Hello to Black Jack”, Shuho Sato

Screenshots

Comics Book Reader3 screens
Smart Comic Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Comics Book Reader at Free against Smart Comic Reader's $2.99. Comics Book Reader also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 18.3). Smart Comic Reader's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 4). On ratings volume, ads 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

Comics Book Reader is free to download; Smart Comic Reader costs $2.99 up front. Comics Book Reader sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Smart Comic Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Smart Comic Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 214 and 539 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Comics Book Reader's written reviews are positive against 91% of Smart Comic Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Comics Book Reader ships an update every 4 months, Smart Comic Reader every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Comics Book Reader versus Smart Comic Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterComics Book ReaderSmart Comic Reader
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.3 (214 ratings)4.9 (539 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.1% of reviews91.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings214539 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#76 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS10.0 — better18.3
Further details — not scored
Size158 MB54 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperLTD DevelSoftwareOnne van Dijk

Customer experience

Comics Book Reader

All ratings214 ratings
Positive83.6%
Neutral3.3%
Negative13.1%
Written reviews369 reviews
Positive75.1%
Neutral8.1%
Negative16.8%

Smart Comic Reader

All ratings539 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral0.9%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews217 reviews
Positive91.2%
Neutral2.3%
Negative6.5%

User reviews

Comics Book Reader

From 214 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth performance
  • 📚 Supports various comic formats
  • 💾 Cloud storage integration
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🔍 Good file management

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • ⏰ Frequent ads interrupting reading
  • 💰 Expensive premium version
  • 📱 Compatibility issues with newer devices
  • 🔗 Cloud storage integration problems

Smart Comic Reader

From 539 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Panel-by-panel reading mode
  • 👍 Seamless iCloud integration
  • 🔒 No ads or data collection
  • 👍 Clean, minimal UI
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional issues with panel detection
  • 🔀 Difficulty exiting panel view
  • 🔀 Inability to adjust cover size in grid view

Bugs and requests

Comics Book Reader

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Corrupted comic file downloads
  • Slow performance on older devices
  • Inability to access cloud storage
  • Incorrect page rendering

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to organize comics into folders
  • Seamless page-to-page navigation
  • More cloud storage providers support
  • Customizable reading experience

Smart Comic Reader

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Deleted user's entire comic collection
  • iCloud sync not working for some users
  • Freezing/crashing issues on iPad

Requested features

6 requests
  • Page marking/bookmarking function
  • Built-in dictionary/translation tool
  • Vertical scrolling mode for webtoons
  • Ability to manually arrange reading order
  • Live Text integration for dictionary lookup
Show 1 more
  • Widgets for quick access

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Comics Book Reader

One-time4
  • Thank the Developer$0.99
  • Appearance Customization$1.99
  • Additional Formats$3.99
Show 1 more
  • Pro Version$5.99
None

Smart Comic Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Comics Book Reader free?
Comics Book Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Smart Comic Reader free?
Smart Comic Reader costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Comics Book Reader or Smart Comic Reader?
Smart Comic Reader is rated higher. Comics Book Reader averages 4.3 out of 5 from 214 ratings, while Smart Comic Reader averages 4.9 from 539 ratings.
Do Comics Book Reader or Smart Comic Reader have ads?
Neither Comics Book Reader nor Smart Comic Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Comics Book Reader or Smart Comic Reader?
Comics Book Reader ships an update every 4 months, and Smart Comic Reader every 5 weeks. Most recently, Comics Book Reader was updated on September 20, 2026 and Smart Comic Reader on September 28, 2026.

Other comparisons