Comparison

CHMate+ vs BookThoughts

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

Head to head
About

CHMate+

This app provides a robust reading experience for EPUB and CHM eBooks. Organize your library, add bookmarks and notes, and easily search for text. Customize your reading with adjustable fonts and brightness, and share passages with friends.

Highlights
  • Organize files into personal collections
  • Add bookmarks and notes
  • Customizable fonts and line height
  • Built-in search feature
  • Share quotes with friends
  • Adjustable screen brightness
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Default ebook formatting does not always suit the way you read. CHMate+ turns your personal files into a calm, comfortable reading corner. A customizable wooden bookshelf with an ambient lamp and personal decor. Pay once up front. Read without subscriptions or in-app purchases. A BOOKSHELF OF YOUR OWN • Wooden shelves and ambient lamp: Display your personal collection with warm bookshelf lighting. • Shelf decor: Arrange animated ornaments, plants, paintings, and shelf-edge figures. • Personal memories: Decorate with photos, Live Photos, or silent looping videos (MP4/MOV). • Custom layout: Freely move, resize, and favorite your decor items. TAILORED TYPOGRAPHY • Page colors: Choose from six page colors independently of your typography theme, with light, dark, or automatic appearance. • Precise reading controls: Adjust font size, line height, page margins, and fonts for body, headings, and code. • Custom font import: Read with built-in fonts or import your own font files. • Horizontal and vertical reading: Switch text orientation where supported for Chinese and Japanese text. • iCloud theme sync: Save your custom typography themes and sync them across your devices. TOOLS & LOCAL IMPORT • Supported formats: Read your own EPUB and CHM files with structured table of contents navigation. • Local Wi-Fi transfer: Send files directly from your computer browser over your local network. • Reading tools: Search full text across chapters, add highlights, and review notes in one place. UPFRONT PURCHASE • Full access with multiple books included from day one. • Single upfront purchase with no in-app purchases. • No subscriptions and no ads.

About

BookThoughts

Read full description

An easy-to-use ebook reader that supports popular file formats such as "epub," "mobi," "azw3," and "txt." Enjoy features like marking specific text portions and adding notes. Customize the font size of your books , translate text using openAI . Best of all, all these features are completely free.

Screenshots

CHMate+4 screens
BookThoughts4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: BookThoughts at Free against CHMate+'s $9.99. BookThoughts also leads on iOS requirement (13.4 vs 26.0). CHMate+'s advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks) and chart position (#140 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases 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

BookThoughts is free to download; CHMate+ costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CHMate+ ships an update fortnightly, BookThoughts every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
CHMate+ versus BookThoughts: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCHMate+BookThoughts
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating3.8 (8 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#140 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.013.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer贤安 陈婷雅 李

Bugs and requests

CHMate+

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when searching within documents
  • Table of contents not syncing with current position
  • Highlighting and annotations not working reliably
  • Issues with opening and loading certain CHM files

Requested features

5 requests
  • Full-text search across documents
  • Folder organization for files
  • Improved image handling and zooming
  • Sync with cloud storage services
  • Ability to rename files

BookThoughts

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

CHMate+

No in-app purchases

None

BookThoughts

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CHMate+ free?
CHMate+ costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is BookThoughts free?
BookThoughts is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do CHMate+ or BookThoughts have ads?
Neither CHMate+ nor BookThoughts shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CHMate+ or BookThoughts?
CHMate+ ships an update fortnightly, and BookThoughts every 6 weeks. Most recently, CHMate+ was updated on October 15, 2026 and BookThoughts on October 3, 2026.

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