Panels vs KedaReader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Panels
Enhance your comic and manga reading with a clean, customizable interface. Enjoy universal file compatibility, cross-device syncing, and advanced reading presets. Organize your library, secure your content, and import from various cloud services and local networks.
- Universal file compatibility (CBR, CBZ, PDF, ePUB)
- Cross-device reading progress sync
- iCloud Drive integration
- Customizable reading presets
- Right-to-left reading for manga
- OPDS server support
- Content security with password/Face ID
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Improve your comic reading experience with Panels. Enjoy reading your favorite titles in a clean and delightful interface, with plenty of customization and advanced features — fully DRM-free, with first-class support for OPDS, your own library, and your own files. Key features: - Universal Compatibility: Support for most common comic types: CBR, CBZ, CB7, PDF and comic ePUB (not text eBook). Support for multiple image formats, including WebP. - Cross-Device Sync: Synchronize your reading progress across iPhone, iPad and Mac and resume reading exactly where you left off. - Full iCloud Drive support: store your entire library on iCloud and access it from different devices. - Library Organization: Effortlessly manage your comic library with intuitive tools for easy navigation, custom folder colors, logos and cover images. * Themes: support for Light and Dark modes, and many others. * Reading Presets: Choose from a multitude of reading presets or create your own, including horizontal, vertical, or panel-by-panel guided view. - Right to Left reading (manga): read any comic with Panels. * OPDS support: Stream, search and download comics from your OPDS compatible server (Komga, Kavita, Codex, Ubooquity and others). * Secure your content: Keep files locked using a password or Face ID for your collections and files. Use Incognito mode to keep your reading sessions hidden. * Live Text and Subject detection. * Experimental Features: Access experimental features like panel-by-panel navigation. Panels Store — DRM-free comics from independent creators: - Browse and buy comics directly inside Panels, no extra apps or accounts. - 100% DRM-free: every purchase is yours to keep, read offline and back up. - Creators keep 80% of revenue, so your purchases directly support the people making the comics. - Purchased issues are added to your library and sync across your devices automatically. Native support for importing files from: * iCloud Drive * Dropbox * Microsoft OneDrive - Substack * OPDS: Komga, Kavita, Codex and others * Local network shared files and folders via SMB and Embedded web server - iTunes - External drives - Airdrop - Drag&Drop from other apps Page Filters: * Reduce Noise * Increase Sharpness * Reduce Moiré * Crop Borders * Require an active subscription or a one-time purchase. • You may purchase an Auto-Renewing Subscription to unlock all the premium features while it\'s active; or a one-off purchase to unlock the current major version features forever. • Your subscription will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and will automatically renew (at the duration selected) unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Current subscription may not be cancelled during the active subscription period; however, you can manage your subscription and/or turn off auto-renewal by visiting your iTunes Account Settings after purchase • Read our privacy policy and terms of use: https://panels.app/privacy / https://panels.app/terms
KedaReader
Read your DRM-free digital comic collections on iOS devices with a rich experience. Supports various archive formats, nested files, and cloud storage integration. Offers advanced reading modes and streaming capabilities for seamless access to your library.
- Supports PDF, ZIP, RAR, CBZ, CBR, EPUB, MOBI, AZW3
- Reads archives without decompression
- Supports nested archives and folders
- Cloud sync via iCloud, Box, Dropbox, OneDrive
- Connects to Komga, Kavita, Calibre via OPDS
- Streaming reading from WebDAV/SMB servers
- AI-based image enhancement
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This is an image reader dedicated to your DRM-free image collections. If you love comics, you probably have tons of digital comic files sitting on your disk, they may be zip or rar, cbz or cbr, epub, mobi or pdf,or just Folder and image files. Now with KedaReader, you can read all these files on your iOS devices with great experience! The app supports all kinds of files listed above, and it even allows you to nest your files, you can put a Zip file inside a folder, then put another RAR file inside that zip, KedaReader can open them right away, you don't need to flatten them manually. The app also comes with a handy index view to help you jump between folders/archives, just like WinRar on windows! ******Features***** Features: - iCloud is supported, sync files & histories across your devices automatically - Connect to Komga, Kavita or Calibre with OPDS protocol - Controllable by game controllers - Directly access your files on Box, Dropbox and Onedrive - "Texture" rendering will make you feel holding an real book - Special "Zen" read mode, set up your headphone, and read comics in the wonderful virtual world! - Support PDF, ZIP, ZIP64, encrypted ZIP, RAR, encrypted RAR, CBZ, and CBR files - Support Comic Book in EPUB, MOBI, AZW3 formats - Open archive file without decompression - Support nested archive and folders - Split large image, merge small images - Support paging mode and smooth mode - Chose any reading direction you like - Support keyboard control, hold the command key ⌘ to checkout shortcuts - Import comic files in many ways: - A embed HTTP Server - Connect to a WebDAV server - Connect to a SMB server - Directly copy from Files app - Support common img formats: - jpg, png, webP, gif, apng, bmp, avif, heic - Password book to let you manage archive passwords - Guess archive password base on password book - AI based image enhancement (Powered by waifu2x) The most exciting thing about KedaReader is it supports "Streaming Reading", if your server is set up with WebDAV or SMB protocol, then all Zip, Mobi, Epub, RAR files on that server can be open instantly without downloading the whole archive, KedaReader only downloads the part you need! If the network condition is good, you probably won't realize these archive files is store on the server :P Thanks for these authors provide their beautiful icons: Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com Icon made by DinosoftLabs from www.flaticon.com Icon made by Pixel perfect from www.flaticon.com Icon made by mavadee from www.flaticon.com Icon made by smalllikeart from www.flaticon.com Icon made by Those Icons from www.flaticon.com Icon made by Swifticons from www.flaticon.com Icon made by srip from www.flaticon.com Thanks for the preview music provided by: Music by Ray Janssen-Timmen from Pixabay
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Panels at 12K against KedaReader's 200. Panels also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 weeks). KedaReader's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 70%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Panels sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month and KedaReader sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Panels holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Panels has 12K ratings behind it against 200, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Panels's written reviews are positive against 85% of KedaReader's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Panels ships an update every 8 days, KedaReader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Panels | KedaReader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (12K ratings) — better | 4.5 (200 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 70.2% of reviews | 85.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 12K — better | 200 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #191 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 165 MB | 247 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Produkt Studio | 晖铠 陈 |
Customer experience
Panels
KedaReader
User reviews
Panels
From 12K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth and responsive
- 👍 Clean and modern UI
- 💡 Useful features like panel view and vertical scrolling
- 🔒 No ads in paid version
- 👍 Good import and organization options
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔒 Useful features locked behind paywall
- 🔒 Subscription model instead of one-time purchase
- 🐛 Issues with page navigation and zoom
- 🐛 Problems with reading right-to-left content
KedaReader
From 200 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Best manga reader
- 👍 Excellent features
- 🔒 Secure and private
- 💡 Innovative upscaling
- 👍 Seamless NAS integration
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🔒 Concerns about paywall and monetization
Bugs and requests
Panels
Reported bugs
5 issues- Crashes when opening large files
- Issues with page order and navigation
- Problems with zooming and scrolling
- Syncing and importing bugs
- Compatibility issues with older devices
Requested features
6 requests- Ability to create sub-folders and nested collections
- Automatic sorting and organization of comics
- Option to lock reading direction
- Double-tap to zoom functionality
- Progress tracking and bookmarking features
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- Support for more file formats like ePub
KedaReader
Reported bugs
3 issues- Issues with page orientation and rotation
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions
- Inconsistent behavior when switching Apple IDs
Requested features
6 requests- Add reading mode with eye-friendly display
- Support for EPUB format and text-based books
- Implement Apple TV and macOS support
- Add bookmark and favorite features
- Improve page orientation and rotation handling
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- Enhance OPDS and WebDAV functionality
In-app purchases
Panels
- Panels+ Monthly7 Days trial$1.491 Month
- Panels+ Yearly7 Days trial$14.991 Year
- Panels 3 Upgrade$9.99
- Panels 2$19.99
- Panels 3$19.99
KedaReader
- Buy me an ice cream~$0.99
- Buy me a milk tea$1.99
- Buy me a coffee$2.99
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Lifetime (Early supporter)$3.99
- Buy me a happy day~$3.99
- Buy me a happy week~$8.99
- Lifetime$9.99
- Buy me a happy month~$14.99








