Comparison

Kotobee Reader vs SmartBook

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

Head to head
About

Kotobee Reader

This app provides an ad-free digital reading experience for interactive ebooks. It supports EPUB 3.0, offers note-taking, highlighting, bookmarking, and text-to-speech functionalities. Access a free digital library for offline reading.

Highlights
  • EPUB 3.0 support
  • Note-taking and highlighting
  • Bookmarking
  • Aggregate annotations to PDF
  • Offline reading
  • Text-to-speech
  • Google lookup
Features
Read full description

Kotobee Reader: Your ultimate interactive ebook reader and ad-free digital reading companion Kotobee Reader is optimized for the EPUB 3.0 standard, supporting interactivity and multiple languages. Access Kotobee Books; a free digital library where you can download classics and ebooks distributed by other users and read offline. Kotobee Reader offers a powerful set of tools to enhance your reading experience: - Note-taking: Add notes to words and paragraphs, and access them later. - Highlighting: Mark important sentences with different color highlights. - Bookmarking: Bookmark multiple pages at different locations - Aggregate annotations: Aggregate your notes, highlights, and bookmarks, into a PDF. - Search: Search inside the chapter or the entire book. - Multiple languages: Use one of more than 16 different languages - Copy to clipboard: Copy any text to your clipboard, to use in external programs. - Text-to-speech: Let the reader speak out any text you choose - Google lookup: Search definitions and explanations directly with a click. Kotobee Reader is perfect for students, educators, and anyone looking for a customizable ebook reading experience. And the best part? No Ads! Read without interruptions. Kotobee Reader ensures an ad-free environment, and we don’t burden you with internal purchases either. For information about Kotobee Reader, please visit https://www.kotobee.com/products/reader For the creation of ebooks using our free software Kotobee Author, please visit https://www.kotobee.com/products/author Kotobee Reader and Kotobee Author are both part of the Kotobee platform: https://www.kotobee.com

About

SmartBook

This app facilitates language learning through bilingual reading. It offers parallel text, tap-to-translate functionality, and audio narration to help users master new languages by reading books and articles. Users can upload their own content or access a library of free dual-language books.

Highlights
  • Parallel book reader
  • Tap to translate
  • Real-time translation with Reverso Context
  • Audio narration
  • FB2 and EPUB reader
  • Vocabulary builder
  • AI translation
Features
Read full description

SmartBook turns any book into a dual-language reading experience. Read Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, Portuguese, English and many more languages with the original text and its translation side by side, and learn languages naturally through the stories you actually want to read. WHY SMARTBOOK - Bilingual, side-by-side reading: the original and its translation together in one parallel-text view. - Tap to translate: tap any word or phrase for an instant translation and a word definition, right on the page. - Context examples: see how the word you tapped is used in real sentences. - AI translation: translation that takes the surrounding context into account. - Automatic paragraph translation: switch it on and the translation of each paragraph appears as you read. - Word and phrase pronunciation: tap a word or phrase to hear it read aloud (text-to-speech). - Your vocabulary: save words and phrases with their context, then export the list as CSV or TXT or send it to a flashcard app. - A library of 75,000+ books: create folders, rate books, and filter, sort and search to find the right book for your level. - Your own books: open EPUB (with images), FB2 and TXT files. HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick a book from the built-in library or add your own. 2. Read in parallel: the original and the translation stay side by side. 3. Tap any word or phrase to translate it and hear how it sounds. 4. Save the words you want to remember. LEARN BY READING Learn Spanish, Italian, French, German or Russian by reading real books. Start with short stories, move on to novels in the original, and let your vocabulary grow page by page, with the translation always one tap away. PERFECT FOR - Language learners who want to read real books, not only textbook drills. - Bilingual readers and polyglots who like to follow the original and the translation together. - Anyone who wants to read foreign texts without switching between apps and dictionaries. Some features require a subscription or an in-app purchase: paragraph translation, the choice of translation engines, AI translation, automatic paragraph translation, context examples, vocabulary export and premium books. Download SmartBook and start reading in two languages today.

Screenshots

Kotobee Reader4 screens
SmartBook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SmartBook at 4.4 against Kotobee Reader's 3.6. SmartBook also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). Kotobee Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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. SmartBook sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Kotobee Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SmartBook holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 23 and 27 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Kotobee Reader's written reviews are positive against 57% of SmartBook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Kotobee Reader ships an update every 2 months, SmartBook weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Kotobee Reader versus SmartBook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKotobee ReaderSmartBook
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (23 ratings)4.4 (27 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews57.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2327 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB107 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVijuaStanislau Kurs

Customer experience

Kotobee Reader

All ratings22 ratings
Positive63.6%
Neutral4.5%
Negative31.8%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative37.5%

SmartBook

All ratings27 ratings
Positive85.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.8%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral9.9%
Negative33.0%

In-app purchases

None

Kotobee Reader

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

SmartBook

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$1.991 Month
  • Annual subscription$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium PRO$24.99

Questions

Is Kotobee Reader free?
Kotobee Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SmartBook free?
SmartBook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Kotobee Reader or SmartBook?
SmartBook is rated higher. Kotobee Reader averages 3.6 out of 5 from 23 ratings, while SmartBook averages 4.4 from 27 ratings.
Do Kotobee Reader or SmartBook have ads?
Neither Kotobee Reader nor SmartBook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Kotobee Reader or SmartBook?
Kotobee Reader ships an update every 2 months, and SmartBook weekly. Most recently, Kotobee Reader was updated on November 2, 2026 and SmartBook on November 3, 2026.

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