NSWL vs Readest
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NSWL
Stream a vast collection of literary masterpieces brought to life through masterful performances. Explore six centuries of literature from various publishers at an accessible price on this pioneering audio service.
- Listen to literary performances
- Access six centuries of masterpieces
- Stream from various publishers
- Affordable audio service
- Pioneering streaming technology
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Listen to first-class performances and sound from a variety of publishers at an affordable price. Masterful presentations vividly bring to life six centuries of literary masterpieces on our pioneering streaming service, the Naxos Spoken Word Library.
Readest
This app is a powerful ebook reader designed for deep thinkers and researchers. It offers advanced annotation tools, seamless device syncing, and robust library management with OPDS and Calibre support. Enjoy a distraction-free reading experience with customizable modes and multi-book viewing for enhanced study and analysis.
- OPDS Online Libraries
- Calibre Integration
- Sync Across Devices
- Bookshelf Management
- Customizable Reading Modes
- Multi-Book View
- Advanced Annotations & Highlights
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Readest is an ebook reader for people who read a lot, and who want their books, notes and reading position on whatever device is nearest. Open EPUB, PDF, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, CBZ, TXT and Markdown in one library. Pull books from OPDS catalogs or from your own Calibre server. Read, annotate, listen, translate. Made for iPhone and iPad • CarPlay, so you can keep listening on the road with playback controls on the dashboard • Download read-aloud voices per book and listen with no connection at all • Add books from Files, Mail or any share sheet, and read them in place instead of copying them into a second library • Open up to four books at once on iPad and arrange them how you like Reading • Paginated or scrolling, with custom fonts, themes, spacing and margins • Vertical text for CJK books • Contrast and refresh tuned for e-ink screens • Full-text search inside a book Your library • Browse, search and download from OPDS catalogs and public libraries • Connect to Calibre or Calibre-Web, covers and metadata included • Organize with bookshelf groups you can rename Notes • Highlights, bookmarks and structured notes • Copy a highlight together with a deep link back to the passage • Export your annotations Listening and languages • Text-to-speech with downloadable offline voices • Translate a sentence, a page, or an entire book • Wikipedia and dictionary lookup without leaving the page Sync • Readest Cloud, or bring your own: iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, WebDAV, S3 • KOReader sync keeps your progress in step with your e-reader • iPhone, iPad, Mac, all other platforms and the web Readest is open source. Support: support@readest.com Privacy Policy: https://readest.com/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Readest at 84% against NSWL's 22%. Readest also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.0) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). NSWL's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Readest sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. NSWL asks for nothing beyond the download.
Readest holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Readest has 191 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 22% of NSWL's written reviews are positive against 84% of Readest's.
NSWL ships an update every 3 months, Readest fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NSWL | Readest |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (14 ratings) | 4.5 (191 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 22.2% of reviews | 84.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14 | 191 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 71 MB | 58 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Naxos Digital Services Ltd. | Bilingify LLC |
Customer experience
NSWL
Readest
In-app purchases
NSWL
No in-app purchases
Readest
- Subscribe to Plus Plan$4.991 Month
- Subscribe to Pro Plan$9.991 Month
- Subscribe to Plus Plan$49.991 Year
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- Subscribe to Pro Plan$99.991 Year
- 1 GB$9.99
- 2 GB$14.99
- Full Customization$19.99
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- 5 GB$29.99
- 10 GB$49.99
