# SideBooks vs bREADER

The clearest difference is price: SideBooks at Free against bREADER's $3.99. SideBooks also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (97 vs 1). bREADER's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (95% vs 72%). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

SideBooks is free to download; bREADER costs $3.99 up front. SideBooks sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. bREADER asks for nothing beyond the download.

SideBooks holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SideBooks has 97 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 72% of SideBooks's written reviews are positive against 95% of bREADER's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

SideBooks ships an update every 9 days, bREADER every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SideBooks | bREADER |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $3.99 |
| Rating | **[4.6 (97 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sidebooks/id409777225/reviews)** | [4.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/breader/id411884081/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **97** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 72.4% of reviews | **95.2% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 9 days** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | **Free with in-app purchases** | Paid |
| Size | 32 MB | 48 MB |
| Requires iOS | **9.0** | 10.1 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Tatsumi-system Co., Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/409777230) | [INFOCITY, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/292171564) |

## What reviewers say

### SideBooks

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sidebooks/id409777225)

This app offers a high-performance PDF and comic viewer with realistic paper-turning animations. It supports various viewing directions, enhanced bookshelf management, and secure password protection for your documents. Easily import files from multiple sources and enjoy a customizable reading experience.

**Highlights:** Realistic paper curl animation, Multiple viewing directions, Enhanced bookshelf management, Password protection, Dropbox and iTunes file import, Supports PDF, ZIP, CBZ, RAR, CBR

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Thema extension Add-On | $0.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Smooth page turning
- 📚 Great for reading comics and manga
- 🗂️ Excellent folder organization
- 🔍 Useful search and table of contents features
- 💻 Seamless Dropbox integration

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes when loading large files
- 🚫 Limited file format support (no CBZ/CBR)
- 🔍 Difficult to find and delete books
- 🔒 Requires Dropbox access, no local file support
- 🔍 Small thumbnail size makes it hard to browse

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when opening certain PDF files
- Corrupted files cause repeated crashes
- Dropbox integration issues on some devices

**Requested features**

- Add support for ePub and other popular formats
- Implement iCloud/Google Drive integration
- Allow manual rearrangement of bookshelf
- Add dark mode and customizable background options
- Improve bookmark and annotation features


### bREADER

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/breader/id411884081)

This app is an optimized e-book reader for iPhones, supporting various formats like Aozora Bunko, EPUB, and PDF. It offers customizable reading styles, including vertical/horizontal text, auto-scrolling, and adjustable fonts, for a beautiful and user-friendly experience.

**Highlights:** Supports Aozora Bunko, EPUB, PDF, TEXT, JPEG/PNG-ZIP, Customizable text size, line spacing, and fonts, Vertical/horizontal and auto-scrolling display modes, Bookmark, brightness, day/night mode, screen rotation, Dictionary integration, Create books from clipboard text or URLs, Organize books into groups

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SideBooks free?

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

### Is bREADER free?

bREADER costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, SideBooks or bREADER?

SideBooks is rated higher. SideBooks averages 4.6 out of 5 from 97 ratings, while bREADER averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do SideBooks or bREADER have ads?

Neither SideBooks nor bREADER shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SideBooks or bREADER?

SideBooks ships an update every 9 days, and bREADER every 3 weeks. Most recently, SideBooks was updated on September 29, 2026 and bREADER on September 21, 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.*