Infobase eBooks vs Cengage Read
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Infobase eBooks
Access a vast library of exclusive reference and nonfiction eBooks from renowned imprints. Enjoy a comfortable reading experience with features like offline access, note-taking, and powerful search capabilities, all available 24/7.
- Access eBooks anytime, anywhere
- Download eBooks for offline access
- Extensive nonfiction and reference titles
- Easy navigation and reading modes
- Contextual notes and highlighting
- Full-text search within eBooks
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The comprehensive Infobase eBooks library includes exclusive reference and nonfiction titles from esteemed Infobase imprints such as Facts On File, Chelsea House, Ferguson’s, Bloom’s, and Chelsea Clubhouse. No matter what subject you're looking for--from history, literature, and science to biographies, careers, and more--we've got you covered! And the convenient Infobase eBooks app lets you access our eBooks 24/7, with an intuitive interface and powerful features, for a comfortable reading experience wherever you go. Library Journal Best Reference Source App features: • Access Infobase eBooks anytime, anywhere • Download your eBooks and access them offline • Enjoy a wealth of acclaimed nonfiction and reference titles in a range of subjects, including history, literature, science, biographies, careers, and many more • Easy navigation • Portrait and landscape view with thumbnail-based navigation • Make contextual notes, highlight text and see them in a centralized section for easy reviewing • Fulltext based search capability to search any content within the eBook • Jump to any page with folio Id in thumbnail view • Displays book size on disk • Auto Image Magnification Users must have a subscription to Infobase eBooks in order to access the eBooks on the Infobase eBooks app.
Cengage Read
Access and study your digital textbooks from anywhere. This app allows students to read, take notes, highlight, bookmark, and use text-to-speech for a flexible learning experience on the go.
- Read eTextbooks on the go
- Take notes and highlight
- Bookmark important sections
- Text-to-speech functionality
- Search keywords
- Navigate via table of contents
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Read your eTextbook and study on the go with the Cengage Read app. Cengage Read lets students study whenever – and wherever – they want. Take notes, highlight and bookmark info, have the text read out loud with text-to-speech and easily search keywords and jump to pages with the table of contents. Just log in with your Cengage username and password to get started.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Infobase eBooks at 67% against Cengage Read's 20%. Infobase eBooks also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 18). Cengage Read's advantage is monetization model (free vs subscription) and rating (4.2 vs 3.9). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Cengage Read holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cengage Read has 4.2K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of Infobase eBooks's written reviews are positive against 20% of Cengage Read's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Infobase eBooks ships an update every 6 months, Cengage Read every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Infobase eBooks | Cengage Read |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (8 ratings) | 4.2 (4.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better | 19.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 4.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 18 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 96 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Infobase Holdings INC. | Cengage Learning |
Customer experience
Infobase eBooks
Cengage Read
Bugs and requests
Infobase eBooks
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Cengage Read
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent crashes and sign-outs
- Inconsistent highlighting and note-taking functionality
- Inability to view full pages and content
- Text-to-speech feature not working properly
Requested features
4 requests- Improve text formatting and layout
- Add split-screen support for note-taking
- Enhance accessibility features like text-to-speech
- Integrate assignment and due date tracking
In-app purchases
Infobase eBooks
No in-app purchases
Cengage Read
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Infobase eBooks free?
Is Cengage Read free?
Which has better reviews, Infobase eBooks or Cengage Read?
Do Infobase eBooks or Cengage Read have ads?
Which is updated more often, Infobase eBooks or Cengage Read?
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