SORARI vs Hoshi Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SORARI
Access and read Japanese literature from Aozora Bunko. Customize font size, color, and layout for a comfortable reading experience. Discover new and popular books with daily updates and monthly rankings.
- Access Aozora Bunko library
- Customizable font size and color
- Adjustable margins and line spacing
- Beautiful ruby and wordwrap layout
- Daily book additions
- Monthly popular book rankings
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◆Let me present to you SORARI "SORARI" is an application that you can read books published in Aozora Bunko. It corresponds to the latest iPhone · iPad, and layouts ruby and wordwrap beautifully. You can also set font size, color, margin and line spacing. ◆Let's search for your favorite books In Aozora Bunko, new books are added every day. Also, books that were popular every month are ranked. If you use "SORARI", you will surely find a book of your choice. ◆About advertisement We will display advertisements in each part of the application. Please understand that development and administration are covered by advertisement revenue. In addition, it is also possible to delete advertisements in in-app billing. 【Latest information】 We inform you of the latest information at this URL. You can also inquire about points and bug information you care about here. Please do not hesitate to contact us. https://sorariblog.wordpress.com/
Hoshi Reader
This app is a lightweight Japanese EPUB reader designed for immersion learning. It features a pop-up dictionary with deinflection and supports Anki integration for vocabulary mining. Organize your library with bookshelves and track your reading progress.
- Vertical and horizontal reading modes
- Yomitan-like pop-up dictionary
- Anki mining support
- Customizable Anki card format
- Reading statistics
- Bookshelves for library organization
- Customizable themes and fonts
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Hoshi Reader is a lightweight Japanese EPUB reader with a built-in pop-up dictionary and Anki mining support, made for immersion learning. Main Features: - Vertical (縦書き) and horizontal (横書き) reading modes - Yomitan-like pop-up dictionary with proper deinflection support - Support for all Yomitan term, frequency and pitch dictionaries - Dictionary audio support - AnkiMobile mining support - Fully configurable Anki card format, with most handlebars targeting Lapis implemented - Sasayaki (Audiobooks): Sync audiobooks to book text to read along - Reading statistics - ッツ Reader sync - Bookshelves to organize your library - Customizable theme, font and layout
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hoshi Reader at none against SORARI's 2. Hoshi Reader also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (100% vs 71%). SORARI's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). On price, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. SORARI sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Hoshi Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
Hoshi Reader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 39 and 20 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of SORARI's written reviews are positive against 100% of Hoshi Reader's.
SORARI ships an update every 2 months, Hoshi Reader weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SORARI | Hoshi Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (39 ratings) | 5.0 (20 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 39 — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | satoshi kumagai | Manh-Hao Steffen Pham |
Customer experience
SORARI
Hoshi Reader
In-app purchases
SORARI
- Front cover$0.99
- DeleteAds$1.99
Hoshi Reader
No in-app purchases
