The Comic Book Reader vs Longbox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Comic Book Reader
Organize and read your digital comic book collection with custom-designed bookshelves. Import comics and other items, then arrange them freely with a drag-and-drop system. Customize the appearance of your shelves and individual items for a personalized reading experience.
- Custom digital bookshelves
- Drag-and-drop item placement
- Template editor for customization
- Supports PDF, CBZ, ZIP files
- Organize with built-in file browser
- Import via Drag&Drop or iTunes
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Don't just read your comic books. Create your own digital comic bookshelves. Take your collection out of their folders and place them inside your own, uniquely designed racks to gape and read them. This app is perfect for you if you want to read comic books and/or have a place to visibly store all your digital comic books. The Comic Book Reader lets you freely design your own bookshelves and customize them down to the last detail. Main Features • Comic book reader • Create your own digital bookshelves and fill them with your imported comic books or other types of things • Custom-made drag and drop system that allows you to freely move and place items and rows where ever you want • There are many types of items you can place inside your rack (more will come) •• Create titles, color blocks, notes items, separators, etc. •• You can even put a rack inside a rack to play Inception • Every item can be customized • Template editor: Create and assign templates to your items that change their looks • Every comic book can be placed in as many racks as you want (each comic book item inside a rack has its own reading progress) • Set page ranges on your comic book items to only include the pages you want •• e.g. you can break a volume into their underlying issues • Supports PDF, CBZ, and ZIP comic book files (more will come) • Import all your comic books via Drag&Drop or iTunes File Sharing • Organize your collection using the app's built-in file browser The app is continuously being improved and there are many more things to come in the future! If you have any questions, ideas or if you have found bugs or glitches, please contact me: d3mueller@me.com!
Longbox
This app allows you to read your existing comic book files, including CBZ, CBR, and PDF formats, directly on your device. It offers various reading modes, library management, and offline access to your collection. Premium features unlock server connections, cloud browsing, and advanced reading tools.
- Reads CBZ, CBR, and PDF files
- Offline reading support
- Customizable reading modes (fit to width/height, two-page view)
- Right-to-left reading for manga
- Library management with search and favorites
- Optional cloud server integration
- EPUB novel support
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Longbox is a comic reader for people who already have the comics. Point it at your CBZ, CBR and PDF files and it opens them. No account, no upload, no waiting for a library to sync before you can read anything. READING • Fit to width, height or whole page — whichever suits the book • Turn your phone or iPad sideways to read two pages at once, and art drawn across a spread still gets the screen to itself • Pinch to zoom anywhere, double-tap to snap • Right-to-left for manga, set per series and remembered • Night and sepia filters, plus in-app brightness that leaves your system setting alone • Opens on the page you left, every time • Entirely offline — nothing is streamed unless you ask for it YOUR LIBRARY • Import from the Files app — anything on your iPhone or in iCloud Drive • However many comics you own — a hundred or ten thousand, there's no limit • Issues group into series on their own • Search, favourites and reading history • Up to eight libraries, any of them behind a passcode • Reading streaks and a leaderboard, if you want to be on it ALL OF THAT IS FREE The reader is never behind a paywall. Not the filters, not the fit modes, not the reading direction, not reading offline. There's no cap on how many comics you keep, either. If it opens a comic, it costs nothing. LONGBOX PREMIUM • Connect a Komga, Kavita or OPDS server — browse it, read from it, download for offline • Hide comics you'd rather not see, without touching the server • Browse your Dropbox from inside Longbox: a single issue or a whole folder, without leaving the app • Sharpening and upscaling for scans that need it • Beta features first – Panel by panel (alpha) — splash pages and complicated layouts often won't detect • Automatic metadata — publisher, year, creators and characters • EPUB novels — contents, adjustable type, themes and highlighting • Unlimited libraries • Smart Lists that keep themselves current • Your place follows you — across your devices, and in step with your server both ways • Your own picture as the app background • Seven accent colours, each with its own app icon Comics you have already downloaded from a server stay readable forever, even if Premium lapses. Paying us was never what made them yours. PREMIUM PRICING Longbox Premium is available as a one-time purchase, or as a subscription billed monthly or yearly with a 7 day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and can be managed in Settings › Apple Account › Subscriptions. Privacy Policy: https://getlongbox.app/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://getlongbox.app/terms.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Longbox at 100% against The Comic Book Reader's 0%. Longbox also leads on rating (4.0 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). The Comic Book Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.5). On price, ratings volume 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. Longbox sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. The Comic Book Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
Longbox holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of The Comic Book Reader's written reviews are positive against 100% of Longbox's.
The Comic Book Reader ships an update every 2 weeks, Longbox every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Comic Book Reader | Longbox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.0 (2 ratings) | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 74 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dennis Mueller | NOAH REILLEY BEARUP |
Customer experience
The Comic Book Reader
Longbox
In-app purchases
The Comic Book Reader
No in-app purchases
Longbox
- Longbox Premium Monthly$1.991 Month
- Longbox Premium Yearly$14.991 Year
- Longbox Premium Lifetime$24.99
Questions
Is The Comic Book Reader free?
Is Longbox free?
Which has better reviews, The Comic Book Reader or Longbox?
Do The Comic Book Reader or Longbox have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Comic Book Reader or Longbox?
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