CHMate vs PDF Reader
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
Read full descriptionHide 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.
PDF Reader
This app allows you to read various document formats like PDF, EPUB, and CHM on your iPhone and iPad. It supports file import, text search, annotation, and even previewing MS Office files and videos. A simple to-do list and auto-save reading progress are also included.
- Reads PDF, CHM, EPUB, TXT files
- PDF annotation and text search
- File import via Files, Airdrop, iTunes, web
- MS Office and video file preview
- Simple To-Do list functionality
- Auto-save reading progress
Read full descriptionHide full description
PDF Reader - Mini Version is an amazing reader App on iPhone and iPad Main Fatures: 1. support read pdf、chm、epub、txt file 2. support pdf annotation and text search 3. support import file via Files、Airdrop、iTunes、web browser 4. support MS office Word、Excel、PPT、Video and many other file types preview 5. support simple Todo list 6. support auto save reading progress 7. support Baidu Net Disk
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: PDF Reader at 4.9 against CHMate's 3.9. PDF Reader also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 55%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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 PDF Reader sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
PDF Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of CHMate's written reviews are positive against 71% of PDF Reader's.
CHMate ships an update every 2 weeks, PDF Reader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CHMate | PDF Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (20 ratings) | 4.9 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 55.3% of reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 20 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 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 | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 贤安 陈 | 绪强 任 |
Customer experience
CHMate
PDF Reader
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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- 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
PDF Reader
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
CHMate
- CHMate+$9.99
PDF Reader
- Reader App donate$0.99
- Dropbox Support$0.99
- Remove Ad$4.99
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Todo donate$7.99
- Todo donate$14.99
