Comparison

Omoi vs Issa Reader

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

Head to head
About

Omoi

Access a vast library of officially licensed manga, with new chapters added daily across all genres. Read for free with weekly new chapters or unlock the full premium catalog with a subscription. Build your personal collection and support creators.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of licensed manga series
  • New chapters added daily
  • Free reading options
  • Premium subscription for full catalog
  • Purchase individual volumes/chapters
  • Support manga creators
  • Community discussion features
Features
Read full description

Read hundreds of high-quality, officially licensed manga series. NEW MANGA DAILY Over 500 series and counting across every genre from shojo to shonen, romance to horror, with new chapters added every day. Discover new series only on Omoi like Natsume & Natsume and You’re So Sloppy, Hotta-sensei. Explore a massive back catalog of mega-hits and classics like Attack on Titan, Fire Force, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and more. Plus hand-picked indie manga and hidden gems from up-and-coming creators. READ FOR FREE Start reading for free, and stay up to date with new free chapters launching every week. Want to catch up on back chapters? Use chapter passes to unlock chapters for a limited time, all for free! SIMPLE SUBSCRIPTION Just $4.99/month* unlocks the entire Premium catalog, including thousands of chapters and exclusive discounts. Try FREE for two weeks, and cancel anytime. BUILD YOUR LIBRARY Expand your collection beyond the subscription by buying individual volumes or chapters. Premium members get 20% off most purchases, and purchased volumes and chapters remain in your library permanently. SUPPORT MANGA CREATORS All manga on Omoi is 100% legally licensed from publishers like Kodansha, Kadokawa, Futabasha, Manga UP, Square Enix, J-Novel Club, ABLAZE, Kaiten Books, and Star Fruit Books. Subscribing and reading on Omoi supports manga creators and translators! JOIN THE COMMUNITY Leave a comment on chapters on Web or iOS. Or join our Omoi Discord (https://omoi.com/discord/join) to discuss your favorite manga and give feedback! Have a question or just want to chat? Hit us up on our X/Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook @ReadOmoi; on BlueSky @omoi.com; or Mastodon @omoi.com@bsky.brid.gy! * Prices may vary to reflect your local currency. Download Omoi on your iPhone or iPad today for a free trial. Cancel anytime. Terms of Use: https://omoi.com/terms

About

Issa Reader

This app synchronizes your ebooks with audiobooks from a self-hosted server, allowing seamless transitions between reading and listening. It features a native typesetting engine, customizable reading options, and advanced playback controls for an immersive experience.

Highlights
  • Seamless read-to-listen transition
  • Native typesetting engine
  • Customizable reading faces and themes
  • Variable speed audiobook playback
  • CarPlay integration
  • Offline library access
  • Home Screen widget
Features
Read full description

Issa Reader is a native reader for Storyteller, the self-hosted server that lines an ebook up with its audiobook so you can move between reading and listening without losing your place. REQUIRES A STORYTELLER SERVER Issa Reader is a client, not a bookshop. It has no catalogue of its own and nothing to sell you. Point it at a Storyteller server you run, sign in, and read your own library. Without a server, there is nothing here to show you. READ A real typesetting engine, not a web view. Pages are laid out natively, so turning one is instant and the type is properly set. Six bundled reading faces, including Literata, Source Serif 4 and OpenDyslexic, or add a font of your own. Four page themes for daylight, lamplight and the middle of the night. Size, line spacing and justification are yours to set, per book or for everything. LISTEN Variable speed with pitch correction, chapter and sentence navigation, skip controls, a sleep timer, and full Now Playing support on the Lock Screen and in Control Centre. READ ALONG This is what Storyteller is for. Where a book has narration aligned to its text, the words light up as they are spoken, the page turns itself to follow, and tapping any line starts the narrator there. Stop reading, keep listening, and pick up on the same sentence — the two stay in step. IN THE CAR CarPlay gives you your shelves and chapters as proper lists, with Now Playing and a resume that lands on the sentence you left, not somewhere near it. Steering-wheel buttons, headphone controls and on-screen controls can each be remapped independently, so the same button can do different things in different places. YOUR WHOLE LIBRARY, ON DEVICE The catalogue is fetched once and kept locally, so searching by title, author, narrator, series or tag is instant and works with no signal at all. Shelves are built on your device from what you actually have. Download books to read and listen offline. ON EVERY SCREEN A Home Screen widget with your current book, chapter and progress. Native apps for Apple TV and the Mac are included with the same purchase, and Handoff carries your place between them. BUILT FOR THESE PLATFORMS Written in Swift for iPhone and iPad, using the system's own text engine, audio stack and accessibility support throughout. Dynamic Type, VoiceOver and reduced motion are respected, not retrofitted. Issa Reader is an independent client and is not affiliated with the Storyteller project.

Screenshots

Omoi4 screens
Issa Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Issa Reader at 100% against Omoi's 47%. Issa Reader also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 9) and ads (none vs shown). Omoi's advantage is ratings volume (593 vs 3) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). On price 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. Omoi sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Issa Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Issa Reader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Omoi has 593 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of Omoi's written reviews are positive against 100% of Issa Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Omoi ships an update every 3 weeks, Issa Reader every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Omoi versus Issa Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOmoiIssa Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (593 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews47.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings593 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS14.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB23 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperKiraKira Media Inc.Benjamin Issa

Customer experience

Omoi

All ratings593 ratings
Positive91.9%
Neutral2.7%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive47.4%
Neutral13.2%
Negative39.5%

Issa Reader

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Omoi

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Chapters fail to load or load indefinitely
  • Premium subscription status not recognized
  • Password reset emails not received
  • Login credentials rejected on customer support site
  • Subscription charges continue after cancellation attempts
Show 2 more
  • Account recognition issues across platforms
  • App functionality bugs during early development

Requested features

9 requests
  • Search functionality
  • Favorites/library/reading list feature
  • Genre filtering and categorization
  • In-app subscription management
  • PayPal payment option
Show 4 more
  • Next chapter release date information
  • Chapter update notifications
  • Improved download/offline reading with renewal options
  • Better chapter availability indicators

Issa Reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Omoi

Subscriptions4
  • Azuki Premium: Monthly14 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Azuki Premium: Yearly14 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Azuki Premium: Yearly SFS2023$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Azuki Premium: Yearly BF$49.991 Year
One-time5
  • $1.99$1.99
  • Azuki Coins: $9.99 (Test)$9.99
  • $9.99$9.99
Show 2 more
  • $49.99$49.99
  • $99.99$99.99
None

Issa Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Omoi free?
Omoi is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Issa Reader free?
Issa Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Omoi or Issa Reader?
Issa Reader is rated higher. Omoi averages 4.6 out of 5 from 593 ratings, while Issa Reader averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Omoi or Issa Reader have ads?
Omoi shows ads; Issa Reader does not.
Which is updated more often, Omoi or Issa Reader?
Omoi ships an update every 3 weeks, and Issa Reader every 3 days. Most recently, Omoi was updated on October 14, 2026 and Issa Reader on October 18, 2026.

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