CHMate vs tiReader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CHMate
This app offers a robust reading experience for EPUB and CHM eBooks. Organize your library, add bookmarks and notes, and customize your reading environment. Share passages and easily search within your books.
- Organize eBooks into collections
- Add bookmarks and notes
- Customizable fonts and line height
- Fast scrolling and pagination
- Highlight favorite passages
- Built-in search functionality
- Share quotes with friends
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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. Download free. Unlock multiple books with a single one-time purchase. 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. HONEST PRICING • Free download with complete reading features for your current book. • Unlock multiple books with a single one-time in-app purchase. • No subscriptions and no ads.
tiReader
This app offers a comprehensive reading experience for eBooks, audiobooks, and comics across various formats. Access a vast library of free content and organize your collection with powerful tools. Customize your reading environment and sync across devices.
- Supports eBooks, Audiobooks, and Comics
- Access to 1,000,000+ free eBooks
- Customizable library structure
- Powerful search and filtering
- Bookmarks and annotations
- Sync across devices
- Cloud and OPDS catalog access
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tiReader is the best way to read eBooks, Audiobooks and Comics on iPhone or iPad. Get access to 1000000+ free eBooks in OPDS-catalogs and Calibre servers. Support all popular formats • eBooks (epub, pdf, djvu, fb2, mobi, prc, azw, html, txt) • AudioBooks (M4B, M4A, MP3) • Comics (cbr, cbz) • Photos (jpg, png, bmp, gif, ico, tif, xbm) • Photo Albums (zip, rar) CORE FEATURES • Customizable ebooks and folders structure • Powerful tool set for searching, filtering and working with tags • Multicolor Bookmarks and Annotation • Fully customizable style and color themes for eBooks • Sync across all your devices EXTRA FEATURES • Day and Night modes • Access to Clouds, OPDS-catalogs and Calibre servers • Support of EPUB3 format eBooks with built-in multimedia content • Bookmark and Annotation search across all docs in Library (iPad only) • Open multiple docs at once (iPad only) HELP and FEEDBACK http://tireader.com/help http://tireader.com/contact Please note: tiReader does not support DRM-protected eBooks and comics. The free app version allows you to work with five documents only. Delete unnecessary documents to access others or remove this restriction with an in-app purchase "Unlock Full Version". Privacy policy: http://tireader.com/privacy_policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: tiReader at 4.5 against CHMate's 3.9. tiReader also leads on ratings volume (648 vs 20) and review sentiment (67% vs 55%). CHMate's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. CHMate sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and tiReader sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
tiReader holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: tiReader has 648 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of CHMate's written reviews are positive against 67% of tiReader's.
CHMate ships an update every 2 weeks, tiReader every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CHMate | tiReader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (20 ratings) | 4.5 (648 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 55.3% of reviews | 66.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 20 | 648 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 169 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | 贤安 陈 | Stanislav Polishchuk |
Customer experience
CHMate
tiReader
User reviews
CHMate
From 20 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent UI/UX design and interface
- 📖 Best CHM file reader available
- ⚡ Fast and smooth performance
- 🎨 Customizable text formatting and fonts
- 🔍 Powerful search functionality
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- ⚠️ iCloud sync deletes files irreversibly
- 💰 Expensive pricing for functionality
- 🔄 Highlighting and annotations don't persist
- 📱 Compatibility issues with iOS updates
tiReader
From 648 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and smooth performance
- 📚 Supports wide range of file formats
- 🎨 Highly customizable reading experience
- 💾 Seamless cloud storage integration
- 🔖 Excellent bookmarking and annotation features
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
- 🔒 Limited cloud storage options
- 📁 Difficulty with bulk file management
- 🖥️ Layout issues on newer iPhone models
- ⏱️ Slow loading times for large files
Bugs and requests
CHMate
Reported bugs
13 issues- App crashes when searching CHM files
- Crashes when using tap-hold for bookmarking
- Highlighting functionality broken after iOS updates
- Notes and bookmarks not saving properly
- Highlights disappear or move between chapters
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- App crashes on startup or when opening files
- Table of contents index expansion broken
- Custom fonts blocked after iOS 14.5 update
- Files not accessible via iCloud or Dropbox
- Missing icons after updates
- Images display as half-dark or missing
- Text formatting changes not visible without page reload
- First line spacing issues
Requested features
12 requests- Dark mode and additional color themes (Sepia)
- Book cover display instead of text-only library view
- PDF support
- Text-to-speech functionality
- Better pagination options
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- iPad Pro resolution support
- iOS multi-window support
- Better bookmark functionality
- Separate highlighting and annotation tools
- Support for Cyrillic and Arabic text encoding
- Collection/folder organization for multiple files
- Zip file support for documentation sets
tiReader
Reported bugs
4 issues- Highlighting not working for some books
- Corrupted files not opening properly
- Sync issues with certain cloud services
- Unexpected crashes when handling large libraries
Requested features
6 requests- Vertical continuous scrolling for ePub files
- Export notes and highlights
- Improved PDF annotation tools
- Audiobook playback support
- Automatic cloud backup and sync
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- Enhanced search and filtering options
In-app purchases
CHMate
- CHMate+$9.99
tiReader
- Skin "minima Glass"$0.99
- Skin "minima Glass red"$0.99
- Skin "art Blur"$0.99
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- Unlock Full version$4.99







