Comparison

iCalibre vs EPUB Reader

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

Head to head
About

iCalibre

Access your Calibre ebook library from any device via iCloud. Search, open, and read books directly within the app, with features like stored queries and cover image viewing. Keep your entire library synchronized across your iPhone, iPad, and PC.

Highlights
  • iCloud library synchronization
  • Open books directly in reader
  • Stored queries and autosuggest search
  • View cover images and descriptions
  • Search Google for book information
  • Mark books for easy searching
Features
Read full description

Keep your Calibre libraries on the iCloud and open them on your iPhone iPad and Mac or Windows pc. Open your library anywhere on the world, search and open books. As many libraries as you like. Open the books directly in the reader, no need for iTunes. Stored querys. Create your own (complex) query.  Autosuggest for the search.  View the cover image and read the description.  Search google for more information without leaving the app.  Mark books for easy search in Calibre. Everything is in the cloud, so all devices have the same information. And everything is availaballe in the whole world.

About

EPUB Reader

Customize your reading experience with extensive font and layout options. Effortlessly manage your library, track reading habits, and enjoy eye-care features. Sync your books across devices via cloud storage without proprietary lock-in.

Highlights
  • 200+ built-in fonts and custom font import
  • Adjustable text and layout settings
  • Smart dark mode with intelligent image inversion
  • 20-20-20 eye health reminders
  • Library management for 5,000+ books
  • Cloud sync via iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive
  • Highlighting, notes, and bookmarking
  • Reading progress tracking and goal setting
Features
Read full description

EPUB, PDF, comics, and audiobooks in one native iOS reader. Fast, deeply customizable, and built to disappear so you can simply read. FOUR FORMATS, ONE SHELF Read EPUB 3 and PDF. Read CBZ and CBR comics and manga, with two-page spreads, double-tap zoom, and a reading direction you set per book. Listen to audiobooks with chapters, a sleep timer, Car Mode, and CarPlay. Or follow along with EPUB 3 narration, where the text highlights in time with the voice. READ ALOUD Any book can be read to you, by any Apple voice on your device or by natural neural voices in 31 languages that you download once and then run offline. The sentence highlights as it is spoken and the pages turn on their own, with speed presets, sentence skips, a sleep timer, and Lock Screen controls. Prepare a book in advance and keep listening with the screen off. TYPOGRAPHY YOU CONTROL 200+ fonts, or import your own. Tune size, weight, line and paragraph spacing, alignment, hyphenation, and separate margins for portrait and landscape. Save settings per book so a novel, a textbook, and poetry each look right. Build your own color themes and let them switch at sunset. Choose which buttons the reader toolbar shows and where a tap opens it, and give links their own color and style. Smart dark mode keeps images natural, and in-reader brightness, Line Focus, and eye-care break reminders protect your eyes. NO LOCK-IN, EVER Your books stay ordinary files in an ordinary folder, never a proprietary database. Point justread at any folder: on device, iCloud Drive, or one your cloud app syncs through Files. Import from a Calibre server or any OPDS catalog. Email a book to your Kindle or PocketBook. IN SYNC WITH YOUR E-READER Your reading position follows you to any e-reader running KOReader, a Kobo included, in both directions. Connect a self-hosted Grimmory server to browse and download its books, send books to it, and keep status, ratings, highlights, notes, and bookmarks in step both ways. A LIBRARY THAT SCALES Thousands of books with no lag, and a book opens in about a second. Instant search by title, author, or series. Automatic metadata and series detection, 11 sort modes, saved filters, collections, and tags. Edit any book's details by hand, description included. Spotlight opens any book from your home screen. HIGHLIGHTS, NOTES, BOOKMARKS Highlight, underline, and attach a note. Browse every highlight across your whole library in one place, share a quote as a card, or export to Markdown, PDF, or Readwise. YOUR READING, IN NUMBERS Daily goals, a yearly books goal, streaks, and milestone badges. An hourly heatmap shows when you read best. Monthly and yearly recaps, plus a story-style Reading Wrap that turns your year into cards worth sharing. AND THE REST Home screen and lock screen widgets. Dictionary and translation. Full-text search and a nested table of contents. iCloud sync, so you resume on the exact line on any device. Right-to-left and Japanese vertical text. A page curl, if you want one. Free for 14 days, then a subscription or a lifetime purchase, both with Family Sharing. Available in 18 languages. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://justread.app/en/privacy_policy

Screenshots

iCalibre4 screens
EPUB Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: EPUB Reader at 83% against iCalibre's 25%. EPUB Reader also leads on price (Free vs $4.99) and rating (4.7 vs 1.0). iCalibre's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 7) and iOS requirement (12.4 vs 18.1). On 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

EPUB Reader is free to download; iCalibre costs $4.99 up front. EPUB Reader sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. iCalibre asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

EPUB Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EPUB Reader has 48 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of iCalibre's written reviews are positive against 83% of EPUB Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iCalibre ships an update every 50 months, EPUB Reader every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
iCalibre versus EPUB Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriCalibreEPUB Reader
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating1.0 (3 ratings)4.7 (48 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews82.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings348 — better
Update frequencyEvery 50 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.4 — better18.1
Further details — not scored
Size97 MB202 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHarmen ReichertPETR JAHODA

Customer experience

iCalibre

All ratings3 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

EPUB Reader

All ratings48 ratings
Positive89.6%
Neutral6.3%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews40 reviews
Positive82.5%
Neutral10.0%
Negative7.5%

In-app purchases

None

iCalibre

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

EPUB Reader

Subscriptions5
  • Monthly Premium14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Monthly Premium$4.991 Month
  • Yearly – Launch Price7 Days trial$12.491 Year
Show 2 more
  • Yearly Premium14 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Yearly Premium$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime – Launch Price$29.99
  • Lifetime Premium$79.99

Questions

Is iCalibre free?
iCalibre costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is EPUB Reader free?
EPUB Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iCalibre or EPUB Reader?
EPUB Reader is rated higher. iCalibre averages 1.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while EPUB Reader averages 4.7 from 48 ratings.
Do iCalibre or EPUB Reader have ads?
Neither iCalibre nor EPUB Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iCalibre or EPUB Reader?
iCalibre ships an update every 50 months, and EPUB Reader every 5 days. Most recently, iCalibre was updated on October 14, 2026 and EPUB Reader on October 16, 2026.

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