Comparison

Revel by Pearson vs Cengage Read

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

Head to head
About

Revel by Pearson

Access interactive course materials offline and online, with progress syncing across devices. Listen to audio versions of texts, complete quizzes, and set reminders to stay on track with deadlines.

Highlights
  • Offline course material access
  • Cross-device progress syncing
  • Audio playback of texts
  • In-app quizzes
  • Customizable reminders and notifications
  • Highlighting and note-taking
Features
Read full description

With the Revel app from Pearson, you can read, practice, and study anytime and anywhere—and set notifications so you never miss a due date again. The Revel app lets you access your interactive course materials on your tablet or mobile phone, offline and online. Your progress automatically syncs across all devices (including your laptop or desktop computer), so you can learn as you move throughout your day—on the train, on the bus, or whenever you have a moment—without breaking stride. Check out some of the ways the Revel app lets you learn where you want to, when you want to. - Download course materials to your devices and read, practice, and study even when you're offline - Listen and learn as you go with full audio of your text (available for most courses) - Complete assigned quizzes on your device to prep for class whenever you have a moment - Set your own reminders and notifications so you never miss a deadline again - Highlight key passages and take notes at your convenience

About

Cengage Read

Access and study your digital textbooks from anywhere. This app allows students to read, take notes, highlight, bookmark, and use text-to-speech for a flexible learning experience on the go.

Highlights
  • Read eTextbooks on the go
  • Take notes and highlight
  • Bookmark important sections
  • Text-to-speech functionality
  • Search keywords
  • Navigate via table of contents
Features
Read full description

Read your eTextbook and study on the go with the Cengage Read app. Cengage Read lets students study whenever – and wherever – they want. Take notes, highlight and bookmark info, have the text read out loud with text-to-speech and easily search keywords and jump to pages with the table of contents. Just log in with your Cengage username and password to get started.

Screenshots

Revel by Pearson4 screens
Cengage Read4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Revel by Pearson at 4.7 against Cengage Read's 4.2. Revel by Pearson also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Revel by Pearson holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8.9K and 4.2K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 12% of Revel by Pearson's written reviews are positive against 20% of Cengage Read's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Revel by Pearson ships an update every 3 months, Cengage Read every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Revel by Pearson versus Cengage Read: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRevel by PearsonCengage Read
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (8.9K ratings) — better4.2 (4.2K ratings)
Positive reviews12.4% of reviews19.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8.9K — better4.2K
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better18
Further details — not scored
Size261 MB37 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperPearson Education, Inc.Cengage Learning

Customer experience

Revel by Pearson

All ratings8,881 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews177 reviews
Positive12.4%
Neutral16.9%
Negative70.6%

Cengage Read

All ratings4,122 ratings
Positive80.4%
Neutral4.5%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews260 reviews
Positive19.6%
Neutral8.8%
Negative71.5%

User reviews

Revel by Pearson

From 8.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Convenient app for accessing textbook
  • 👍 Good learning tool with interactive features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Poor user experience and interface
  • 🔇 Audio playback issues
  • 📱 Not optimized for mobile devices
  • 💾 Unreliable sync and data saving

Cengage Read

From 4.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to read textbooks
  • 🚀 Convenient for on-the-go learning
  • 👍 Useful for listening to audio while commuting
  • 👍 Allows highlighting and note-taking

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and glitchy
  • 🔥 Poor text formatting and layout
  • 👎 Difficult to navigate and use
  • 🔒 Login and account issues
  • 🔍 Missing key features like split-screen and assignment tracking

Bugs and requests

Revel by Pearson

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Orientation issues when switching between pages
  • Highlighting and text selection problems
  • Inconsistent audio playback controls
  • Frequent crashes and freezes
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add portrait mode and zoom options
  • Improve highlighting and note-taking features
  • Implement bookmark/progress saving
  • Allow offline access to textbook content

Cengage Read

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent crashes and sign-outs
  • Inconsistent highlighting and note-taking functionality
  • Inability to view full pages and content
  • Text-to-speech feature not working properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improve text formatting and layout
  • Add split-screen support for note-taking
  • Enhance accessibility features like text-to-speech
  • Integrate assignment and due date tracking

In-app purchases

None

Revel by Pearson

No in-app purchases

None

Cengage Read

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Revel by Pearson free?
Revel by Pearson is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cengage Read free?
Cengage Read is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Revel by Pearson or Cengage Read?
Revel by Pearson is rated higher. Revel by Pearson averages 4.7 out of 5 from 8.9K ratings, while Cengage Read averages 4.2 from 4.2K ratings.
Do Revel by Pearson or Cengage Read have ads?
Neither Revel by Pearson nor Cengage Read shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Revel by Pearson or Cengage Read?
Revel by Pearson ships an update every 3 months, and Cengage Read every 2 months. Most recently, Revel by Pearson was updated on November 2, 2026 and Cengage Read on November 3, 2026.

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