# 菜根谭 vs 联合阅读

菜根谭 and 联合阅读 both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of 菜根谭's written reviews are positive against 50% of 联合阅读's. 菜根谭 also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 7). 联合阅读's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 23 months). On rating, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

联合阅读 is free to download; 菜根谭 costs $1.99 up front. 联合阅读 sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. 菜根谭 asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for 菜根谭 against 5.0 for 联合阅读. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of 菜根谭's written reviews are positive against 50% of 联合阅读's.

菜根谭 ships an update every 23 months, 联合阅读 every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 20, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | 菜根谭 | 联合阅读 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $1.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id1565952174/reviews) | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id6444926701/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Positive reviews | **100.0% of reviews** | 50.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 23 months | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Size | 24 MB | 96 MB |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | **11.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [TxThinking, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1634589596) | [杭州息壤网络科技有限公司](https://appshunter.io/developer/1530321688) |

## What reviewers say

### 菜根谭

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id1565952174)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### 联合阅读

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id6444926701)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (7)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 840书币 | $1.99 | one-time |
| 2100书币 | $3.99 | one-time |
| 3500书币 | $6.99 | one-time |
| 7560书币 | $14.99 | one-time |
| 14560书币 | $29.99 | one-time |
| 21560书币 | $44.99 | one-time |
| 34560书币 | $79.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is 菜根谭 free?

菜根谭 costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is 联合阅读 free?

联合阅读 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, 菜根谭 or 联合阅读?

菜根谭 and 联合阅读 are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.

### Do 菜根谭 or 联合阅读 have ads?

Neither 菜根谭 nor 联合阅读 shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, 菜根谭 or 联合阅读?

菜根谭 ships an update every 23 months, and 联合阅读 every 3 weeks. Most recently, 菜根谭 was updated on August 20, 2026 and 联合阅读 on September 14, 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.*