Comparison

PlainZen vs Gutenberg Reader PRO

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

Head to head
About

PlainZen

This tutorial explains Zen in simple terms, focusing on its practical application in daily life. It demystifies Zen by avoiding jargon and historical details, emphasizing how it works and improves well-being for anyone, regardless of background. The app includes features to bookmark your progress and navigate through various topics.

Highlights
  • Plain language Zen explanation
  • Focus on practical application
  • Avoids jargon and rituals
  • Bookmark functionality
  • Table of contents navigation
  • Covers core Zen concepts
Features
Read full description

A simple, easy to understand, tutorial of Zen and how to use it in your life. Written in plain language, this hopefully dispels the reputation of Zen as being 'mysterious', 'mystical', 'deep', 'hard to get' because of the difficulty in explaining its practice. Zen is actually very practical and simple if what is explained is what it's for and how to practice it. Other teaching books tend to get bogged down in Zen history, Zen terms and rituals. This tutorial tries to put those things aside first and concentrate on the essence of Zen: how it works, why it works, and how it makes our life better. Not a religion nor a cult nor a philosophy, Zen is a healthy mental attitude that can help anyone of any religious background or philosophy. Remembers your place in the book. Tap on 'Bookmarks' icon to jump to your personal bookmarks. Tap on 'Contents' icon to jump to the different topics: CONTENTS Learning Zen is no big deal How our mind works Realization#1: Thoughts and the thinker are no big deal Meditation/Practice#1:Do an activity... Realization#2: You and perfection The Self Reality: only one self The outside world: The world is out there Reality: no separation Freedom from fear: Two kinds: regular and premium Source of fear What's there to lose? Meaning: Life is a river Outside looking in Getting back in the flow Zen practice: Meditation: calm you down Koans: shake you up Enlightenment vs guilt: aha! Conclusion: Zen is yoga for the mind Meditation/Practice #2: Severing duality Meditation/Practice#3: When waking or before sleeping Q&A Is thinking or thought bad? So how is Zen different from thinking? How do I get that 'insight' or 'enlightenment' and how do I retain it? How are people related, connected? Is it okay to follow a person, a movement, a philosophy, a religion without doubt, without question? How does Zen view money, jobs, unemployment, wars, sex, hate, love?

About

Gutenberg Reader PRO

Access over 100,000 free public domain eBooks from Project Gutenberg. Enjoy a customizable, ad-free reading experience with features like text-to-speech, offline downloads, and note-taking.

Highlights
  • 100,000+ Free eBooks
  • Ad-free reading experience
  • Offline downloads
  • Text-to-Speech (TTS) audio
  • Customizable reading settings
  • Bookmark, highlight, and notes
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Gutenberg Reader PRO – The Ultimate Free eBook & Classic Book Reader - NO ADS Discover 100,000+ Free eBooks with Project Gutenberg If you love books, novels, and classic literature, this is the perfect eBook reader for you! With Gutenberg Reader PRO, you can access over 100,000 free eBooks from Project Gutenberg, including timeless classics, historical texts, philosophy, poetry, and more. Enjoy reading legendary works from Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Victor Hugo, Emily Brontë, and many others—all legally available in the public domain. What is Project Gutenberg? Project Gutenberg is the largest digital library of free public domain eBooks, offering a vast collection of literature, philosophy, history, and poetry—completely free and legally accessible. Whether you're interested in classic novels, educational texts, famous speeches, or timeless stories, you'll find endless reading material at your fingertips. Top Features of Gutenberg Reader PRO ・ 100% Ad-Free Experience – Enjoy distraction-free reading with no ads ・ Unlimited eBook Downloads – Download books for offline reading anytime ・ Customizable Reading Experience – Adjust fonts, themes, colors, margins, and more ・ AUDIO: Text-to-Speech (TTS) Mode – Listen to your favorite books while reading along ・ Auto-Scrolling Mode – Hands-free reading without flipping pages ・ Full-Screen Mode – Distraction-free reading with an immersive experience ・ Bookmark, Highlight & Notes – Save quotes, mark passages, and take notes ・ Big & Bold Fonts – Ideal for easy readability and accessibility ・ Smart Resume Feature – Pick up reading right where you left off ・ Optimized for All Devices – Works smoothly on both phones and tablets Popular Free Books Available in Gutenberg Reader PRO Discover a vast collection of classic literature, novels, and timeless books, including: ・ Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen ・ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll ・ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain ・ A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens ・ The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People – Oscar Wilde ・ The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman ・ Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ・ Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain ・ A Doll's House – Henrik Ibsen ・ Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka ・ The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle ・ Moby-Dick – Herman Melville ・ Dracula – Bram Stoker ・ Grimms' Fairy Tales – Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm ・ The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde ・ Great Expectations – Charles Dickens ・ Ulysses – James Joyce ・ Emma – Jane Austen ・ Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad ・ Jane Eyre: An Autobiography – Charlotte Brontë ・ The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas ・ Siddhartha – Hermann Hesse ・ Dubliners – James Joyce ・ Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson ・ Les Misérables – Victor Hugo ・ Leviathan – Thomas Hobbes ・ Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie ・ Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen ・ The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoyevsky ・ Leaves of Grass – Walt Whitman ・ The Souls of Black Folk – W.E.B. Du Bois ・ Beyond Good and Evil – Friedrich Nietzsche ・ Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë ・ A Study in Scarlet – Arthur Conan Doyle ・ Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky …and thousands more free eBooks! Why Choose Gutenberg Reader PRO? With Gutenberg Reader PRO, you can carry a massive digital library of classic books, novels, and free eBooks wherever you go. Whether you love fiction, history, philosophy, poetry, or educational texts, this app gives you unlimited access to some of the greatest literary works of all time—without ads and completely free! Start Reading Today! Download Gutenberg Reader PRO now and explore the world’s greatest free eBook library. Whether you're a book lover, student, researcher, or casual reader, this app is your gateway to endless knowledge and literary adventures—all from the palm of your hand. Happy Reading!

Screenshots

PlainZen4 screens
Gutenberg Reader PRO4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PlainZen at 5.0 against Gutenberg Reader PRO's 3.1. PlainZen also leads on price ($1.99 vs $5.99). Gutenberg Reader PRO's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 13 months) and review sentiment (29% vs 0%). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

PlainZen costs $1.99 and Gutenberg Reader PRO $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PlainZen holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gutenberg Reader PRO has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of PlainZen's written reviews are positive against 29% of Gutenberg Reader PRO's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PlainZen ships an update every 13 months, Gutenberg Reader PRO every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
PlainZen versus Gutenberg Reader PRO: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlainZenGutenberg Reader PRO
Price$1.99 — better$5.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better3.1 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews28.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings210 — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#81 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB17 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperVicente MalixiHaven Tran

Customer experience

PlainZen

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Gutenberg Reader PRO

All ratings10 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive28.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative71.4%

In-app purchases

None

PlainZen

No in-app purchases

None

Gutenberg Reader PRO

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PlainZen free?
PlainZen costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Gutenberg Reader PRO free?
Gutenberg Reader PRO costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PlainZen or Gutenberg Reader PRO?
PlainZen is rated higher. PlainZen averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Gutenberg Reader PRO averages 3.1 from 10 ratings.
Do PlainZen or Gutenberg Reader PRO have ads?
Neither PlainZen nor Gutenberg Reader PRO shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PlainZen or Gutenberg Reader PRO?
PlainZen ships an update every 13 months, and Gutenberg Reader PRO every 6 weeks. Most recently, PlainZen was updated on September 10, 2026 and Gutenberg Reader PRO on September 24, 2026.

Other comparisons