Comparison

MapleRead CX vs Cantook by Aldiko

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

Head to head
About

MapleRead CX

This app offers a unique audio-visual reading experience for EPUB ebooks. Customize book styles, generate pseudo audiobooks with various voices, and enjoy immersive reading with synchronized audio and text. It also functions as a powerful library management tool with extensive customization options.

Highlights
  • Audio-visual EPUB reader
  • Pseudo audiobook generation
  • Immersion reading (sync audio/text)
  • Customizable book styles and themes
  • Word lookup and translation
  • Library management and organization
  • User-defined fonts and highlight colors
Read full description

MapleRead is dedicated to enable unique audio-visual reading experience for everyone. ------------ Our MapleRead app family has 3 members, namely SE, CE and CX. - SE is our flagship product with all features. - CE is SE without PDF reader and built-in Library Server. - CX is CE with some limitation. Free to try. - No recurring subscription fees. No ads. Just buy it once. Gratuity optional. - Moreover, SE and CE can be run side-by-side via split-view multitasking. - Recommend SE for use on multiple devices with easy and fast book sharing via Library Server. - Recommend the SE-CE bundle for the best value. ------------ MapleRead includes a superb audio-visual EPUB e-book reader. - It lets you easily modify publisher's original book style to better suit your aesthetic taste. - It lets you instantly generate pseudo audiobooks with a choice of narrator voices over 40 languages. - It enables immersion reading so that you may read and listen to the same book in sync. - Background listening works well too. Compatible with Lock Screen Music Player and CarPlay. MapleRead UI is friendly to users of all ages. - Books can be read in regular and large print. - A choice of UI text sizes makes reading in non-book views much more comfortable. MapleRead is a great learning tool. - It lets you look up words, translate sentences, search text, highlight text and write notes. - It helps you collect vocabulary and organize notes with various priorities. - It provides hooks to user-defined dictionaries, translators, and other tools. - Immersion reading improves your comprehension, especially of foreign-language books. MapleRead is an effective and fast library management tool. - It is designed for you, a book lover, who may own a huge and/or growing book collection. - It lets you keep all your books in one place and well-organized automatically. - It lets you display your books elegantly in style. - It lets you easily repair individual book metadata. - If supports multiple book sets and multiple tags. - It offers multiple ways to import and export books, and works well with Calibre. MapleRead offers unprecedented user-defined customization options. - They include unlimited user-defined fonts, book themes, cover images and library scenes. - Each book theme includes various types of user-defined highlight colors. - Each book can have its own theme, and each EPUB book can have its own style. [For more technical details, screenshots, FAQ and reviews, please visit our website.]

About

Cantook by Aldiko

This app consolidates all your eBooks, comics, and audiobooks into a single platform. It offers seamless integration with public libraries, access to public domain titles, and the ability to import your own files. Customize your reading experience with various fonts, themes, and organization tools.

Highlights
  • Unified library for eBooks, comics, audiobooks
  • Public library integration
  • Import EPUB, CBZ, PDF files
  • Access public domain books
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Organize bookshelf with categories
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Cantook! The favorite reading app for the true bookworms. Bring all your eBooks, comics and audiobooks in the same place, no matter where they're coming from. Available on iPhone, iPad or macOS. With Cantook, we make it easy to bring all your books in the same place: • Built-in support for public libraries, allowing you to easily browse your library's catalog and borrow books from them • Thousands of public domain books from the Cantook Bookstore • Import your own EPUB, CBZ or PDF files • Add your own catalogs, for example using Calibre Cantook provides an extensive set of features for both casual and power users: • Customize your reading experience with multiple fonts and themes • Full support for dark mode throughout the app • Organize your bookshelf with categories and collections Our philosophy is to contribute to and leverage open standards: • Read EPUB files via a Readium Mobile based reading experience • Explore catalogs using OPDS • Full support for Readium LCP based on EPUB, PDF and audiobooks

Screenshots

MapleRead CX4 screens
Cantook by Aldiko4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cantook by Aldiko at none against MapleRead CX's 1. MapleRead CX's advantage is review sentiment (62% vs 39%). On price, rating, 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. MapleRead CX sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Cantook by Aldiko asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.4 for MapleRead CX against 3.3 for Cantook by Aldiko. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 24 and 32 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 62% of MapleRead CX's written reviews are positive against 39% of Cantook by Aldiko's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MapleRead CX ships an update every 5 weeks, Cantook by Aldiko every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
MapleRead CX versus Cantook by Aldiko: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMapleRead CXCantook by Aldiko
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (24 ratings) — better3.3 (32 ratings)
Positive reviews61.5% of reviews — better38.7% of reviews
Number of ratings2432 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB26 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperMaplepop LLCDe Marque

Customer experience

MapleRead CX

All ratings24 ratings
Positive58.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive61.5%
Neutral10.3%
Negative28.2%

Cantook by Aldiko

All ratings32 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral9.4%
Negative40.6%
Written reviews119 reviews
Positive38.7%
Neutral16.0%
Negative45.4%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

MapleRead CX

One-time1
  • Pro Upgrade$6.99
None

Cantook by Aldiko

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MapleRead CX free?
MapleRead CX is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cantook by Aldiko free?
Cantook by Aldiko is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MapleRead CX or Cantook by Aldiko?
MapleRead CX is rated higher. MapleRead CX averages 3.4 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while Cantook by Aldiko averages 3.3 from 32 ratings.
Do MapleRead CX or Cantook by Aldiko have ads?
Neither MapleRead CX nor Cantook by Aldiko shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MapleRead CX or Cantook by Aldiko?
MapleRead CX ships an update every 5 weeks, and Cantook by Aldiko every 2 months. Most recently, MapleRead CX was updated on October 21, 2026 and Cantook by Aldiko on October 29, 2026.

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