Comparison

CHMate vs BookLingo

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

Head to head
About

CHMate

Transform your personal ebook files into a comfortable reading experience with a customizable virtual bookshelf. Enjoy tailored typography, import your own fonts, and organize your collection with decorative elements and personal photos. Read EPUB and CHM files offline with powerful search and annotation tools.

Highlights
  • Customizable virtual bookshelf with ambient lighting
  • Decorate shelves with photos, videos, and ornaments
  • Tailored typography with adjustable fonts and page colors
  • Import custom font files
  • Read EPUB and CHM files offline
  • Full-text search and annotation tools
  • Local Wi-Fi file transfer
Features
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. 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.

About

BookLingo

Learn new languages by reading foreign books. Instantly translate words, build custom vocabulary lists, and practice with flashcards and quizzes. Track your progress and learn offline.

Highlights
  • Translate words in foreign books
  • Extract and save new vocabulary
  • Create interactive flashcards
  • Take language quizzes
  • Track learning progress
  • Offline mode for learning
Features
Read full description

Introducing BookLingo - Your Ultimate Language Learning Companion! Embark on an exciting linguistic journey with BookLingo, the innovative app that opens the doors to a world of language learning through reading foreign books. Immerse yourself in captivating stories, expand your vocabulary, and master new languages like never before! Main Features: Read and Translate with Ease: Dive into a vast library of foreign language books. Simply tap on any unfamiliar word, and BookLingo will provide you with an instant translation. Say goodbye to language barriers and embrace the joy of seamless reading! Vocabulary Extraction: Build your language proficiency effortlessly with BookLingo's smart vocabulary extraction feature. Create personalized word lists as you read, capturing new words and phrases to help you remember them later. Flashcards for Effective Learning: Reinforce your learning through interactive flashcards. BookLingo lets you transform your extracted vocabulary into flashcards, perfect for quick and engaging review sessions. Interactive Quizzes: Put your language skills to the test with our interactive quizzes. Challenge yourself to recall translations, practice sentence structures, and enhance your comprehension skills. Learning has never been this fun! Multilingual Support: BookLingo supports a wide range of languages, making it the ideal companion for language learners of all levels. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced learner, our app caters to your unique needs. Personal Progress Tracking: Stay motivated on your language learning journey by tracking your progress. BookLingo provides insights into your word count, quiz scores, and vocabulary retention to keep you motivated and on track. User-Friendly Interface: BookLingo boasts a user-friendly and intuitive interface, making it easy for learners of all ages to navigate through the app and discover new worlds of knowledge. Offline Mode: Learning on the go? No worries! BookLingo offers offline access to your vocabulary and saved books, ensuring you can continue your language learning adventure wherever you are. Discover the joy of learning new languages through the captivating stories you love. Download BookLingo now and unlock a world of linguistic wonders at your fingertips! Note: BookLingo is continuously improving, and we value your feedback. We welcome you to share your suggestions and ideas to make your language learning experience even more rewarding. Happy reading and learning with BookLingo!

Screenshots

CHMate4 screens
BookLingo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: CHMate at Free against BookLingo's $5.99. CHMate also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 weeks). BookLingo's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 55%) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On 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

CHMate is free to download; BookLingo costs $5.99 up front. CHMate sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. BookLingo asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CHMate ships an update every 2 weeks, BookLingo every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
CHMate versus BookLingo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCHMateBookLingo
PriceFree — better$5.99
Rating3.9 (20 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews55.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings20 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017 — better
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB61 MB
Age rating+417+
Developer贤安 陈henri gil

Customer experience

CHMate

All ratings20 ratings
Positive70.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews197 reviews
Positive55.3%
Neutral12.7%
Negative32.0%

BookLingo

Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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
Show 8 more
  • 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
Show 7 more
  • 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

BookLingo

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

CHMate

One-time1
  • CHMate+$9.99
None

BookLingo

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CHMate free?
CHMate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BookLingo free?
BookLingo costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do CHMate or BookLingo have ads?
Neither CHMate nor BookLingo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CHMate or BookLingo?
CHMate ships an update every 2 weeks, and BookLingo every 5 weeks. Most recently, CHMate was updated on November 6, 2026 and BookLingo on November 7, 2026.

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