# IC vs ICカードリーダー

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ICカードリーダー at none against IC's 5. ICカードリーダー also leads on review sentiment (90% vs 74%) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). IC's advantage is ratings volume (385 vs 2). On price, rating, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. IC sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. ICカードリーダー asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for IC against 5.0 for ICカードリーダー. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: IC has 385 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of IC's written reviews are positive against 90% of ICカードリーダー's.

IC ships an update every 2 months, ICカードリーダー every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | IC | ICカードリーダー |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.9 (385 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ic-reader/id1474445461/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ic-ic/id1605351749/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **385** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 74.2% of reviews | **90.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 4 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 113 MB | 28 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone | **iPhone, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Shintaro Kawamura](https://appshunter.io/developer/1463344574) | [Riana Soumi](https://appshunter.io/developer/1605351751) |

## What reviewers say

### IC

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ic-reader/id1474445461)

This app allows you to read, save, and export the usage history of various Japanese NFC transportation cards. Easily check your card balance and view past transactions, with the option to export data as a CSV file.

**Highlights:** Read IC card balance, View usage history, Export history as CSV, Supports multiple Japanese IC cards, Save card data

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| All CSV Export | $0.99 | one-time |
| One free coffee for Developer. | $0.99 | one-time |
| タコスをご馳走する | $3.99 | one-time |
| 広告非表示 | $4.99 | one-time |
| お寿司をご馳走する | $7.99 | one-time |


### ICカードリーダー

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ic-ic/id1605351749)

Easily check your transit IC card balance and transaction history. View past journeys on a map and add notes to your records. Supports a wide range of popular Japanese transit cards.

**Highlights:** Check IC card balance, View charge history, See travel history on map, Record payment history, Add notes to records, Supports multiple transit cards

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is IC free?

IC is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is ICカードリーダー free?

ICカードリーダー is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, IC or ICカードリーダー?

ICカードリーダー is rated higher. IC averages 4.9 out of 5 from 385 ratings, while ICカードリーダー averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do IC or ICカードリーダー have ads?

Neither IC nor ICカードリーダー shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, IC or ICカードリーダー?

IC ships an update every 2 months, and ICカードリーダー every 4 weeks. Most recently, IC was updated on September 25, 2026 and ICカードリーダー on September 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*