Comparison

Serial Reader vs Rubatar

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

Head to head
About

Serial Reader

Read classic literature in daily, manageable segments. This app breaks down over 900 books into daily issues, each readable in 20 minutes or less, helping you build reading habits and tackle lengthy classics. Customize your reading experience with various themes, fonts, and sync options.

Highlights
  • Daily book installments
  • Over 900 classic books
  • Serialize your own EPUBs
  • Sync with Goodreads/Readwise
  • Word lookup
  • Reading streaks and badges
Features
Read full description

Read classic books in daily bite-sized bits!  Serial Reader helps you fit more reading into your busy life. Choose from more than 900 books — or add your own! — and the app delivers a new issue from the book every day. Build great reading habits and tackle daunting classic books. Each daily issue can be read in 20 minutes or less, making it easy to fit reading into your spare time! Picked as one of Apple's Best New Apps and Best New App Updates. "This free app will make you ridiculously well-read in 20 minutes a day" — Mashable "For those who are intimidated by thick, leather-bound tomes, Serial Reader is a good way to break it all down" — The Washington Post • Read hundreds of popular classic books for free • Large variety of themes & fonts • Serialize your own EPUB books • Sync to Goodreads and Readwise • Lookup words with quick dictionary & Wikipedia access • Earn fun badges and track your reading streaks Plus, with the Serial Premium upgrade: • Read tomorrow's issue early • Sync your reading across multiple devices • Save quotes & notes while reading • Save books to Read Later • Pause delivery of new issues • Pick specific delivery days and hours for new issues • Custom app icons "Serial Reader’s subscription format makes it a little bit more fun to crank through the classics" — Lifehacker "A useful tool that makes it easy in our modern world to make classic books part of your reading diet" — MacStories More than 900 books available in the app with new titles added each week. Every book is free to read! A preview of available books: Most Popular • Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen • A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens • The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald • Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky • War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy • Les Misérables - Victor Hugo • The Time Machine - H.G. Wells • The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde • The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway American Lit • Moby-Dick - Herman Melville • Little Women - Louisa May Alcott • My Antonia - Willa Cather • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain Adventure • The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas • Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson • Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe • The Odyssey - Homer • King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard Romance • Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte • Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy • Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare Science Fiction • The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne • A Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs Horror • Dracula - Bram Stoker • The Dunwich Horror - H.P. Lovecraft • Frankenstein - Mary Shelley • The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe • The King in Yellow - Robert W. Chambers • The Wendigo - Algernon Blackwood Mystery • The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle • The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie • The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins Biography • The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass • Twelve Years a Slave - Solomon Northup Children's • Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll • The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame • Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery Fantasy • The Well at the World's End - William Morris • Time and the Gods - Lord Dunsany • The Wood Beyond the World - William Morris Philosophy • The Republic - Plato • Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes • Rights of Man - Thomas Paine Nonfiction • Vindication of the Rights of Woman - Mary Wollstonecraft • On the Origin of Species - Charles Darwin • The Federalist Papers • The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels Westerns • Riders of the Purple Sage - Zane Grey • The Virginian - Owen Wister • Gunman's Reckoning - Max Brand Religion • King James Bible • The Dhammapada • The Quran Build great reading habits and finish classic books in days with Serial Reader!

About

Rubatar

Experience a harmonious blend of classical poetry and traditional regional music. Listen to curated playlists, read timeless verses, and find a space for reflection. Discover art and emotion united in a unique digital sanctuary.

Highlights
  • Listen to curated traditional music playlists
  • Read classical poetry selections
  • Daily poetry available without subscription
  • Connect Apple Music account
  • Future poem analysis and bookmarking
Read full description

Rubatar is a simple space where traditional regional music and classical poetry meet. Listen, read, and reflect, all in harmony. What is Rubatar? The name Rubatar blends Rubaii (رباعی), a classical four-line poetic form, and Tār (تار), a traditional Persian string instrument. Together, they symbolize the union of verse and sound, timeless expressions of art and emotion. How it works • Connect your Apple Music account to listen to curated playlists of traditional and regional instrumental music. • Read selections of classical poems from across cultures while immersing yourself in these sounds. • Even without an active Apple Music subscription, you can still read and enjoy the daily poetry in Rubatar. Coming soon We’re working on new features including: • Poem analysis and commentary • Bookmarking and sharing poems • Search and discovery tools for poetry and music Join the community Rubatar grows with its listeners and readers. If you curate traditional or classical regional music, or play instruments such as the Tār, Se Tār, Santoor, Oud, or Tonbak, we’d love to feature your work. Independent poets are also welcome to reach out and share their art. Contact us We’re building Rubatar for those who love poetry, music, and reflection. Your feedback helps shape the journey, let us know your thoughts and ideas.

Screenshots

Serial Reader4 screens
Rubatar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Rubatar at none against Serial Reader's 5. Rubatar also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 months). Serial Reader's advantage is ratings volume (4.1K vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. Serial Reader sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Rubatar asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Rubatar holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Serial Reader has 4.1K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Serial Reader ships an update every 3 months, Rubatar every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Serial Reader versus Rubatar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSerial ReaderRubatar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4.1K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews95.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings4.1K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB32 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperMichael SchmittMeghdad Abbaszadegan

Customer experience

Serial Reader

All ratings4,104 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.7%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews227 reviews
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.3%
Negative3.5%

Rubatar

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Serial Reader

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App crashes when changing fonts
  • Issues with new chapter delivery not working

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more modern/non-classic book options
  • Improve sync functionality across devices
  • Allow more customization of reading experience
  • Provide flexible delivery schedule options

Rubatar

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Serial Reader

One-time5
  • Tip Jar - Essay$1.99
  • Serial Premium$2.99
  • Tip Jar - Short Story$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Tip Jar - Novel$9.99
  • Tip Jar - Epic$14.99
None

Rubatar

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Serial Reader free?
Serial Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Rubatar free?
Rubatar is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Serial Reader or Rubatar?
Rubatar is rated higher. Serial Reader averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4.1K ratings, while Rubatar averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Serial Reader or Rubatar have ads?
Neither Serial Reader nor Rubatar shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Serial Reader or Rubatar?
Serial Reader ships an update every 3 months, and Rubatar every 8 days. Most recently, Serial Reader was updated on November 6, 2026 and Rubatar on October 30, 2026.

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