Comparison

Bluefire Reader vs PocketBook Reader

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

Head to head
About

Bluefire Reader

This application allows users to read EPUB and PDF ebooks on their iPhone or iPad. It supports Adobe® Content Server protected content from various retailers, publishers, and libraries, offering features like bookmarking, notes, and search for a customized reading experience.

Highlights
  • Read EPUB and PDF ebooks
  • Supports Adobe Content Server protected content
  • Bookmarking and notes
  • Search functionality
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Collections management
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Bluefire Reader is the best way to read Adobe® Content Server protected ebooks on your iPhone or iPad. With Bluefire Reader you can read EPUB and PDF ebooks from many retailers, publishers and libraries. This full featured ereader app includes bookmarking, notes, search, collections, batch import and export, and settings for fully customizing your reading experience Bookstores, libraries and schools around the world tap Bluefire to design and develop their mission critical apps. Try Bluefire Reader today and see why.

About

PocketBook Reader

This app is a versatile reader supporting 26 book and audio formats, including EPUB, PDF, and audiobooks. It offers features like PDF reflow, text-to-speech, cloud synchronization, and extensive customization options for a comfortable reading experience.

Highlights
  • Supports 26 book and audio formats
  • PDF Reflow function
  • Text-to-speech engine
  • Cloud synchronization service
  • Customizable interface and reading settings
  • Adobe DRM support
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

PocketBook Reader is a free app for reading all formats (books, magazines, textbooks, comic books, etc.) and listening to audiobooks! The application supports 26 book and audio formats, including mobi, epub, fb2, cbz, cbr. Read without ads and with total comfort! Choose any content - any format! • Support of 19 book formats, including the most popular - EPUB, FB2, MOBI, PDF, DJVU, DOCX, RTF, TXT, HTML; • Comic book formats CBR and CBZ; • Open books protected with Adobe DRM (PDF, EPUB); • PDF Reflow function (reflow text in PDF files). Listen to audiobooks! • You can listen to audiobooks and other audio files in MP3, M4B, and take notes in them; • Built-in TTS (Text-to-speech) engine for the voicing of the text files. Download and sync content easily! • Free PocketBook Cloud service for synchronizing all your books, including audiobooks, as well as reading positions, notes and bookmarks on all your devices; • Your files from Dropbox or Google Books services are easily connected to the app to create one consolidated library. You can even connect multiple accounts at the same time; • Support for OPDS catalogs - get access to network libraries; • ISBN scanner, for quick search of electronic versions of books by barcode; • Opportunity to borrow books and periodicals; • If you have a E Ink e-reader PocketBook, you can easily synchronize all your books and accounts just by scanning a QR code. Ready to switch from another app? No problem! Getting started with PocketBook Reader is easy! With an intuitive interface, the application provides you with unprecedented freedom – lots of options for settings and no restrictions. Choose, change, customize, and personalize! • Intuitive interface, easy navigation, and minimalistic design; • Opportunity to choose one of the seven interface color themes, reassign the buttons and display areas; • Two night-reading modes - for better reading comfort anytime; • Adjust the font style, font size, line spacing, and margin size; • Animation of turning pages; • Opportunity to crop margins – make the page look exactly the way you want. Get fast file access and easy search! • All files are quickly found and instantly opened, even with built-in audio and video fragments; • Your books will never be lost in the device’s memory - thanks to the smart search, scanning files on your tablet or smartphone is a matter of seconds. Any file or document can be found in a few clicks! • The app allows you to sort books, create collections, filter and mark files as you like. Your library - your rules; • Convenient managing of audio files - it is easy to sort and play your audiobooks. Make bookmarks, take notes, add comments! • You can quickly find all your notes and share them with friends via email or messengers; • Collect all your notes, bookmarks, and comments into separate files for even greater convenience. PocketBook Reader was created by avid readers for avid readers, and that’s why it’s probably the best e-book reader app.

Screenshots

Bluefire Reader4 screens
PocketBook Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PocketBook Reader at Free against Bluefire Reader's $4.99. Bluefire Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 56) and chart position (#17 vs #149). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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

PocketBook Reader is free to download; Bluefire Reader costs $4.99 up front. PocketBook Reader sells 41 one-off in-app purchases. Bluefire Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Bluefire Reader against 4.5 for PocketBook Reader. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.1K and 9.8K respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 55% and 54% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Bluefire Reader versus PocketBook Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBluefire ReaderPocketBook Reader
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (4.1K ratings) — better4.5 (9.8K ratings)
Positive reviews55.3% of reviews — better54.5% of reviews
Number of ratings4.1K9.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#17 — better#149
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB106 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperBluefire ProductionsPocketbook International SA

Customer experience

Bluefire Reader

All ratings4,078 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral3.9%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews483 reviews
Positive55.3%
Neutral12.4%
Negative32.3%

PocketBook Reader

All ratings9,831 ratings
Positive87.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative8.7%
Written reviews1,336 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral11.8%
Negative33.8%

User reviews

Bluefire Reader

From 4.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Excellent ePub reader
  • 🌙 Useful night mode
  • 📚 Organizes library well
  • 🎨 Customizable font and layout
  • 🔍 Convenient search and navigation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 📍 Loses page position when reopening
  • 🔍 Inconsistent search and bookmark behavior
  • 🔧 Outdated and lacking updates
  • 🔒 Adobe DRM integration issues

PocketBook Reader

From 9.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Convenient reading experience
  • 🚀 Smooth scrolling
  • 💡 Customizable settings (font, margin, etc.)
  • 🔒 Supports DRM-protected content
  • 👍 Intuitive user interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Unreliable cloud sync
  • 🐛 Inconsistent page rendering
  • 🐛 Buggy text highlighting and annotation
  • 🐛 Slow loading times

Bugs and requests

Bluefire Reader

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Incompatible with latest iOS versions
  • Blank pages when opening some books
  • Incorrect page numbering and navigation
  • Unreliable bookmarking and note-taking

Requested features

5 requests
  • Sync reading progress across devices
  • Improved highlighting and annotation tools
  • Vertical scrolling option
  • Customizable highlight colors
  • Integrated dictionary/reference lookup

PocketBook Reader

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Books disappearing from library after login issues
  • Inability to open DRM-protected PDFs
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between portrait and landscape modes
  • Text-to-speech voice quality issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to organize books into custom folders
  • Option to disable quick action zones
  • Improved text-to-speech controls (seek, pause, etc.)
  • Support for handwritten annotations with Apple Pencil
  • Faster page turning and scrolling

In-app purchases

None

Bluefire Reader

No in-app purchases

41 purchases

PocketBook Reader

One-time41
  • eBook3 variants$0.99
  • eBook (class A)$0.99
  • eBook2 variants$1.99
Show 38 more
  • eBook (class B)$1.99
  • eBook$2.95
  • eBook2 variants$2.99
  • eBook (class C)$2.99
  • eBook3 variants$3.99
  • eBook: type 4.79$3.99
  • eBook: type 4.19$3.99
  • eBook (class D)$3.99
  • eBook (class Alt5)$4.99
  • eBook: type 5.39$4.99
  • eBook (class F)$4.99
  • eBook: type 5.89$4.99
  • eBook$4.99
  • eBook: type 5.09$4.99
  • eBook (class G)$5.99
  • eBook2 variants$5.99
  • eBook: type 7.09$5.99
  • eBook: type 7.19$5.99
  • eBook: type 8.29$6.99
  • eBook: type 7.59$6.99
  • eBook3 variants$7.99
  • eBook: type 8.89$7.99
  • eBook (class J)$8.99
  • eBook$8.99
  • eBook$9.90
  • eBook2 variants$9.99
  • eBook (class L)$10.99
  • eBook: type 13.9$11.90
  • eBook$11.99
  • eBook: type 12.99$11.99
  • eBook$12.99
  • eBook (class N)$12.99
  • eBook (class O)$13.99
  • eBook: type 17.9$14.90
  • eBook$14.99
  • eBook (class R)$16.99
  • eBook (class T)$18.99
  • eBook (class W)$21.99

Questions

Is Bluefire Reader free?
Bluefire Reader costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PocketBook Reader free?
PocketBook Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bluefire Reader or PocketBook Reader?
Bluefire Reader is rated higher. Bluefire Reader averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.1K ratings, while PocketBook Reader averages 4.5 from 9.8K ratings.
Do Bluefire Reader or PocketBook Reader have ads?
Neither Bluefire Reader nor PocketBook Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bluefire Reader or PocketBook Reader?
Bluefire Reader ships an update every 2 months, and PocketBook Reader every 2 months. Most recently, Bluefire Reader was updated on September 23, 2026 and PocketBook Reader on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Bluefire Reader or PocketBook Reader?
Bluefire Reader currently peaks at #17 in the App Store charts, and PocketBook Reader at #149. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

Other comparisons