Comparison

eBoox vs Scuba

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

Head to head
About

eBoox

This application provides a comfortable and customizable reading experience for a wide variety of e-book formats. It offers features like bookmarks, highlights, dark mode, and offline reading, with seamless online synchronization. Books can be easily uploaded from various sources, including cloud storage and email.

Highlights
  • Supports EPUB, MOBI, FB2, DOC, TXT, and more
  • Customizable fonts, text size, and brightness
  • Dark mode and offline reading
  • Bookmarks, highlights, and notes
  • Online auto-sync of books and progress
  • AD-FREE reading experience
Currently charting
Read full description

eBoox – the most pleasant book reader ever! * *according to my mom :) • Cute, simple and useful UI, • Effective reading tools: bookmarks, 3-colors highlights, interactive links and notes, • Dark mode and offline reading, • Customized settings - Fonts, Fields, Text size, screen Brightness, Page scrolling, ets. • Suppots all your e-books, even in ZIP: EPUB, MOBI, DOC, DOCX, TXT, FB2, PRC, RTF, ODT, HTML, AZW, AZW3 and others text documents, • PDF supported (beta), • !Completely AD-FREE, • !Online auto SYNC of ebooks and reading progress, • !FREE WEB e-reader available! Start reading your e-books right now! Upload books via iTunes, import your files from the email, web browser, cloud storages (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, Yandex.Disk etc) or share via AirDrop. In the app you will find detailed guide How to add ebooks in different ways. And we've already added three classic welcome books so you can appreciate the e-reader right away! This is a upgraded version of eBoox. The old one is no longer supported. In order not to lose your books, progress, quotes and bookmarks, install this app version. Run it on device and wait for the data transfer to finish. When you make sure that all your books appeared in eBoox 2020, you can safely delete eBoox.old. You can turn on the synchronization for backup.

About

Scuba

Discover and read classic books with a modern, mobile-first approach. This app breaks down stories into digestible beats, using vertical swipes for natural phone navigation. Story recaps and offline reading features help you maintain your reading habit.

Highlights
  • Story beats for easier reading
  • Recaps to remember story progress
  • Vertical swiping for phone reading
  • Home screen widget for current book
  • Offline reading support
  • Curated bookstore
Read full description

Scuba is a new way to read books on your phone. Browse a curated bookstore, then read with Story Beats™, natural vertical swiping and Story So Far recaps designed to keep you reading. Your first book is free. Features • Story Beats™ keep you moving deeper into the story • Natural vertical swiping • Story So Far recaps help you pick up where you left off • Adjustable text size, themes and page design • Home Screen widget to jump straight back into your book • Offline reading for flights, travel and commuting • A curated bookstore of timeless classics Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

eBoox4 screens
Scuba4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: eBoox at none against Scuba's 1. eBoox also leads on chart position (#206 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.0). Scuba's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly) and review sentiment (100% vs 88%). On price, 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. Scuba sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $24.99 per year. eBoox asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

eBoox ships an update monthly, Scuba every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
eBoox versus Scuba: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametereBooxScuba
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (3.5K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews88.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.5K — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#206 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS9.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size177 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperREDIT, OOOTim Brown

Customer experience

eBoox

All ratings3,544 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral1.7%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews799 reviews
Positive88.1%
Neutral4.6%
Negative7.3%

Scuba

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

eBoox

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Highlighting and annotations sometimes behave unexpectedly
  • Syncing between devices can be unreliable at times
  • Occasional crashes or freezes when navigating the app

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add more font options, including bold and italic
  • Implement a built-in dictionary or translation tool
  • Allow direct import of books from local device storage
  • Improve page numbering and reading progress display
  • Add support for PDF files and annotations
Show 2 more
  • Introduce a grid-style library view for book covers
  • Implement automatic dark mode based on system settings

Scuba

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

eBoox

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Scuba

Subscriptions1
  • Scuba Reading Pass$24.991 Year

Questions

Is eBoox free?
eBoox is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Scuba free?
Scuba is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do eBoox or Scuba have ads?
Neither eBoox nor Scuba shows ads.
Which is updated more often, eBoox or Scuba?
eBoox ships an update monthly, and Scuba every 3 days. Most recently, eBoox was updated on September 25, 2026 and Scuba on September 21, 2026.

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