Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource vs Open
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
Access and read Elsevier textbooks on your iOS device. Download books for offline study, search your entire library, and add notes and highlights. Sync your progress across devices for a seamless learning experience.
- Download books for offline reading
- Search entire library
- Create notes and highlights
- Sync across devices
- Pinch to zoom figures
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Use Elsevier® eBooks to download and access Elsevier textbooks on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Read your books online or offline, search across your full library, and create notes and highlights to help you study. Elsevier eBooks Features: • Download books to your iOS device for easy online or offline reading. • Simple, user-friendly navigation and a clean reading experience. • Search inside your current book or across your full library. • Select text to create notes or highlights from your mobile device. • Tap to open figures, view captions and pinch to zoom. • Sync your bookmarks, last page read and all of your notes and highlights between your iOS device and our desktop or web-based Elsevier eBooks apps. Requirements: • Elsevier eBooks account • Access to one or more Elsevier textbooks • iOS 17+
Open
Access your educational courses and content directly from your mobile device. Download materials for offline use, update your profile, and receive important notifications. Students can track grades and badges, while teachers can grade assignments on the go.
- Access courses on mobile
- Download content for offline use
- Update profile information
- Receive course notifications
- View grades and badges (student)
- Grade assignments (teacher)
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Welcome to the Open LMS Mobile App! With the Open LMS Mobile App, you can: • Access your courses directly from your mobile device • Download content for offline access • Update your profile information • Receive course notifications and messages • As a student: view your course grades and awarded badges on your profile • As a teacher: grade assignments both online and offline • ...and much more! We love feedback! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave us a note and a rating on the Store.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource at 4.7 against Open's 2.7. Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource also leads on ratings volume (9.4K vs 86). Open's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource has 9.4K ratings behind it against 86, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 16% of Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource's written reviews are positive against 21% of Open's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource ships an update every 3 months, Open every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource | Open |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (9.4K ratings) — better | 2.7 (86 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 16.3% of reviews | 21.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 9.4K — better | 86 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 188 MB | 70 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Elsevier Inc. | PeopleFluent, Inc. |
Customer experience
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
Open
Bugs and requests
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
Reported bugs
3 issues- Repeated sentence/paragraph playback
- Highlighted text disappearing across devices
- Inability to download or access purchased books
Requested features
5 requests- Allow handwritten notes and annotations
- Improve page-turning and scrolling functionality
- Enhance diagram and image viewing experience
- Integrate seamless cross-device synchronization
- Provide more customization options (e.g., font, layout)
Open
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
No in-app purchases
Open
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource free?
Is Open free?
Which has better reviews, Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource or Open?
Do Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource or Open have ads?
Which is updated more often, Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource or Open?
Other comparisons
