# CHMate vs i2Reader Cloud

The clearest difference is update cadence: CHMate at every 4 weeks against i2Reader Cloud's every 3 months. i2Reader Cloud's advantage is ratings volume (74 vs 20) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. CHMate sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and i2Reader Cloud sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

i2Reader Cloud holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 74 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of CHMate's written reviews are positive against 48% of i2Reader Cloud's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

CHMate ships an update every 4 weeks, i2Reader Cloud every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | CHMate | i2Reader Cloud |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.9 (20 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chmate-epub-and-chm-reader/id335157929/reviews) | **[4.1 (74 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/i2reader-cloud/id968326317/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 20 | **74** |
| Positive reviews | **55.3% of reviews** | 48.4% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 weeks** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 50 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [贤安 陈](https://appshunter.io/developer/318015371) | [Yuriy Melyushin](https://appshunter.io/developer/943454788) |

## What reviewers say

### CHMate

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chmate-epub-and-chm-reader/id335157929)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CHMate+ | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Excellent UI/UX design and interface
- 📖 Best CHM file reader available
- ⚡ Fast and smooth performance
- 🎨 Customizable text formatting and fonts
- 🔍 Powerful search functionality

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- 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


### i2Reader Cloud

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/i2reader-cloud/id968326317)

This app offers a comfortable reading experience with cloud synchronization across devices. Enjoy customizable layouts, interactive features like footnotes and dictionaries, and the ability to download books from various cloud services. It supports multiple formats and allows family sharing of libraries.

**Highlights:** iCloud synchronization for library and reading progress, Customizable book layout (fonts, colors, spacing), Download books from Dropbox, Google Drive, Yandex Disk, Interactive footnotes and dictionary support, Family sharing and user reading statistics, Supports FB2, EPUB, MOBI, DOC, PDF formats, Auto-scrolling and auto-page turning

**Features:** Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Auto-scroll | $0.99 | one-time |
| Seamless textures | $0.99 | one-time |
| Auto turning | $0.99 | one-time |
| Online translator | $1.99 | one-time |
| Removal of limitations | $3.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is CHMate free?

CHMate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is i2Reader Cloud free?

i2Reader Cloud is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, CHMate or i2Reader Cloud?

i2Reader Cloud is rated higher. CHMate averages 3.9 out of 5 from 20 ratings, while i2Reader Cloud averages 4.1 from 74 ratings.

### Do CHMate or i2Reader Cloud have ads?

Neither CHMate nor i2Reader Cloud shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, CHMate or i2Reader Cloud?

CHMate ships an update every 4 weeks, and i2Reader Cloud every 3 months. Most recently, CHMate was updated on October 4, 2026 and i2Reader Cloud on October 3, 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.*