Comparison

Readibu vs Sinolingua Virtual Library

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Readibu

Access a vast library of Chinese web novels, short stories, and children's tales. Enhance your learning with integrated dictionary lookups, text-to-speech, and pinyin display. Premium features offer advanced tools like sentence translation and offline reading for an immersive language learning experience.

Highlights
  • Explore Chinese web novels
  • Tap for character definitions
  • Reader mode for web pages
  • Pinyin/zhuyin display
  • Text-to-speech
  • Offline reading (Premium)
  • Sentence translation (Premium)
Features
Read full description

Discover new stories and worlds in Chinese! Ready to move beyond flashcards and graded readers? Readibu is your portal to the world of popular Chinese web novels, short stories and children stories enjoyed by native readers — or bring your own books and read them the same way. From historical to sci-fi or romance to horror, there's always something good to read. Readibu is a Chinese reading app where you can: 1. Explore popular web novels, short stories, and children stories from native Chinese sites — browse by ranking, category, or search 2. Import your own EPUB, PDF, or TXT files and read them alongside your web library 3. Tap on characters for definitions 4. Open web pages in a reader for immersive reading 5. Absorb the language while you're immersed in gripping adventures Supported features: • Tap for dictionary • Text-to-speech • Simplified and traditional conversion • Pinyin/zhuyin display over words • Add custom url to display in reader • Import EPUB, PDF, and TXT files into your library • Organize your reading with collections, bookmarks, and history • Check the difficulty of any text with HSK-level breakdowns • Look up words in Pleco, MDBG, Yellow Bridge, Baidu Translate, and more • Export saved vocabularies • Auto-detect next chapter • Auto-save last page you were on • Back up and restore your library and vocabulary ================================ ENHANCE YOUR READING EXPERIENCE WITH READIBU PREMIUM • Cloud sync - Sync subscription, library, bookmarks, vocabs and reading progress between devices • Sentence Translation - Unlimited translation by Google Translate • Image Search - Display image search results for selected text • Offline Reading - Download pages for reading offline • Quiz Mode - Quiz your pinyin, tones, and definitions of words you looked up before • Smart Name Recognition - Detect names of people, orgs and places in content • Syntax Analysis - Analyze syntax of sentence Free trials included with all plans! 1-month subscription: $4.99 per month 3-month subscription: $9.99 per month 12-month subscription: $47.99 per year Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at the end of your free trial period. Your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period or trial. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel subscriptions in your Itunes Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://www.readibu.com/privacy Terms & Conditions: https://www.readibu.com/terms Have questions? Feel free to contact us at support@readibu.com.

About

Sinolingua Virtual Library

Access a collection of Chinese language learning ebooks with integrated audio, highlighting, and translation. Explore stories that delve into Chinese language and culture, offering an immersive reading experience.

Highlights
  • Ebook reading support
  • Integrated audio stories
  • Highlighting features
  • Translation tools
  • Chinese language and culture content
  • Collection of ~200 ebooks
Read full description

Sinolingua, a specialist publisher of Chinese language learning materials from China, has developed this APP to support ebook reading via your mobile devices. We hope to enhance your reading experience and bring you a higher level of enjoyment and convenience! Please feel free to browse through our ebooks and experience the joy of reading at the comfort of your palm. Carefully blended from a variety of stimulating genres, we have released about 200 ebooks and more in the coming months. Current ebooks are mostly readers and are well supported with audio, highlighting and translation features. Reading our stories, you will learn about Chinese language and culture developed from 5000 years of civilization. With eyes closed and experience our audio stories, you will feel like you are already in China!

Screenshots

Readibu4 screens
Sinolingua Virtual Library4 screens

Verdict

The call

Readibu and Sinolingua Virtual Library both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 92% of Readibu's written reviews are positive against 0% of Sinolingua Virtual Library's. Readibu also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (159 vs 1). Sinolingua Virtual Library's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price, rating, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Readibu sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Sinolingua Virtual Library asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sinolingua Virtual Library holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Readibu has 159 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 92% of Readibu's written reviews are positive against 0% of Sinolingua Virtual Library's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Readibu ships an update every 8 days, Sinolingua Virtual Library every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Readibu versus Sinolingua Virtual Library: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadibuSinolingua Virtual Library
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (159 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.9% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings159 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB75 MB
Age rating17++4
DeveloperLingyi ChenQueryLoop Inc.

Customer experience

Readibu

All ratings157 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral0.6%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews37 reviews
Positive91.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.1%

Sinolingua Virtual Library

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Readibu

Subscriptions3
  • Readibu Monthly Premium14 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Readibu 3-Month Premium14 Days trial$9.993 Months
  • Readibu Yearly Premium14 Days trial$47.991 Year
None

Sinolingua Virtual Library

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Readibu free?
Readibu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sinolingua Virtual Library free?
Sinolingua Virtual Library is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Readibu or Sinolingua Virtual Library?
Sinolingua Virtual Library is rated higher. Readibu averages 4.8 out of 5 from 159 ratings, while Sinolingua Virtual Library averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Readibu or Sinolingua Virtual Library have ads?
Neither Readibu nor Sinolingua Virtual Library shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Readibu or Sinolingua Virtual Library?
Readibu ships an update every 8 days, and Sinolingua Virtual Library every 3 months. Most recently, Readibu was updated on October 29, 2026 and Sinolingua Virtual Library on October 24, 2026.

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