Comparison

MapleRead CX vs iCalibre

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

iCalibre

Access your Calibre ebook library from any device via iCloud. Search, open, and read books directly within the app, with features like stored queries and cover image viewing. Keep your entire library synchronized across your iPhone, iPad, and PC.

Highlights
  • iCloud library synchronization
  • Open books directly in reader
  • Stored queries and autosuggest search
  • View cover images and descriptions
  • Search Google for book information
  • Mark books for easy searching
Features
Read full description

Keep your Calibre libraries on the iCloud and open them on your iPhone iPad and Mac or Windows pc. Open your library anywhere on the world, search and open books. As many libraries as you like. Open the books directly in the reader, no need for iTunes. Stored querys. Create your own (complex) query.  Autosuggest for the search.  View the cover image and read the description.  Search google for more information without leaving the app.  Mark books for easy search in Calibre. Everything is in the cloud, so all devices have the same information. And everything is availaballe in the whole world.

Screenshots

MapleRead CX4 screens
iCalibre4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MapleRead CX at Free against iCalibre's $4.99. MapleRead CX also leads on rating (3.4 vs 1.0) and review sentiment (62% vs 25%). iCalibre's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.4 vs 15.0). On ads, monetization model 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

MapleRead CX is free to download; iCalibre costs $4.99 up front. MapleRead CX sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. iCalibre asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MapleRead CX holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MapleRead CX has 24 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of MapleRead CX's written reviews are positive against 25% of iCalibre's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MapleRead CX ships an update every 5 weeks, iCalibre every 50 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
MapleRead CX versus iCalibre: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMapleRead CXiCalibre
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating3.4 (24 ratings) — better1.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews61.5% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings24 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 50 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB97 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMaplepop LLCHarmen Reichert

Customer experience

MapleRead CX

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

iCalibre

All ratings3 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

MapleRead CX

One-time1
  • Pro Upgrade$6.99
None

iCalibre

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MapleRead CX free?
MapleRead CX is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is iCalibre free?
iCalibre costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MapleRead CX or iCalibre?
MapleRead CX is rated higher. MapleRead CX averages 3.4 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while iCalibre averages 1.0 from 3 ratings.
Do MapleRead CX or iCalibre have ads?
Neither MapleRead CX nor iCalibre shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MapleRead CX or iCalibre?
MapleRead CX ships an update every 5 weeks, and iCalibre every 50 months. Most recently, MapleRead CX was updated on October 13, 2026 and iCalibre on October 14, 2026.

Other comparisons