Comparison

DrawnStrips vs Comics Book Reader

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

Head to head
About

DrawnStrips

Experience comics and manga with a fast, elegant reader designed for immersive and customizable reading on iPhone and iPad. Supports a wide range of formats and offers flexible navigation and live image enhancements.

Highlights
  • Universal format support (CBR, CBZ, PDF, EPUB, etc.)
  • OPDS server access
  • Smooth iOS performance with native gestures
  • Flexible navigation for various reading styles
  • Live image enhancements
  • Built-in conversion tools
  • Customizable shortcuts and themes
Features
Read full description

DrawnStrips Reader – The Best Comic Experience on iPhone & iPad Read comics the way they were meant to be enjoyed. DrawnStrips Reader is a fast, elegant iOS app designed for smooth, immersive, and fully customizable reading on iPhone and iPad. Why You’ll Love It • Universal Format Support: CBR, CBZ, CB7, CBT, ZIP, RAR, TAR, PDF, EPUB, folders • OPDS Access Anywhere: Connect to your OPDS servers system-wide • Built for iOS: Smooth performance with native gestures and multitasking support • Flexible Navigation: Swipe, scroll, or use keyboard – supports Manga, Western, vertical, horizontal reading styles • Live Image Enhancements: Adjust brightness, contrast, sharpness, and more in real time • Built-in Tools: Convert to ZIP, CBZ, PDF, EPUB or folders • Fully Customizable: Shortcuts, themes, auto-next issue, and more ===== SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS • Monthly: Just $1.99 USD/month • Yearly: Just $7.99 USD/year, after the 3-day free trial Prices may vary by location LIFETIME LICENSE • One-time purchase for $14.99 USD Prices may vary by location Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled. — Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account upon confirmation — You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renew in your account settings — No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active period — Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period — All subscription costs are listed above DrawnStrips Reader is not a free app. It uses Apple’s In-App Purchase system. Privacy Policy: https://drawnstrips.com/privacy/ Terms of Service: https://drawnstrips.com/tos/ =====

About

Comics Book Reader

This application is a robust viewer for various comic book formats, including CBZ, CBR, CB7, and CBT. It offers a highly optimized visualization system for mobile devices, ensuring maximum productivity and comfort. Enjoy an elegant design, extended functionality, and high speed for a pleasurable reading experience.

Highlights
  • Supports CBZ, CBR, CB7, CBT formats
  • Integrates with cloud services (Google Drive, Dropbox)
  • Supports network services (SMB, FTP, SFTP)
  • File manager with sorting and search
  • Wi-Fi and FTP transfer options
  • Page layout and effects customization
  • Bookmarks and quick preview
Features
Read full description

The BEST application for reading cbz, cbr, cb7 and cbt comics. All formats are thoroughly elaborated and are 100% supported by the application. The visualization system takes into account the specific character of the formats functioning on mobile devices (memory capacity, the number of general processor units etc.), Providing a maximum productivity and comfort when working with large documents. Elegant design, extended functionality, high speed and stability of work will make reading of your favorite literature a pleasurable experience. You can contact technical support and leave a comment without quitting the application. Comic Book Reader’s special features: ■ Compatible with all popular archive formats (rar, zip, 7z, gz, tar ...) ■ Integration with popular cloud services(Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, Yandex.Disk) ■ Integration with popular network services(SMB, FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, DLNA) ■ Open documents directly from cloud services and network services ■ Hight application stability ■ Automatic recovery bad and non standard files ■ User friendly navigation ■ Page layout option in documents(single page, double pages, double pages with cover) ■ Effects for documents(sepia, monochrome, color controls) ■ Brightness control ■ Rotation lock ■ Bookmarks ■ Quick preview ■ Page scaling ■ Auto scaling for adjacent pages ■ Opening documents from external applications ■ Last open document list ■ Web Browser and download manager ■ Wi-Fi transfer ■ FTP transfer File Manager Features: ■ Intuitive interface ■ iTunes integration ■ File sorting(by name, by extension, by size, by date) ■ Searching files in subfolders ■ Create, move, copy, rename, pack/unpack, delete file/folder options ■ File/folder search ■ Preview book cover Wi-Fi Transfer Features: ■ Intuitive interface ■ Create, move, rename, delete file/folder options ■ Downloading/uploading few media files with one click ■ Display upload progress Feel free to ask questions, report bugs or request new features: support@develsoftware.com

Screenshots

DrawnStrips4 screens
Comics Book Reader3 screens

Verdict

The call

DrawnStrips and Comics Book Reader both sit at 4.3 stars, but that hides the real split: 75% of Comics Book Reader's written reviews are positive against 47% of DrawnStrips's. Comics Book Reader also leads on ratings volume (214 vs 3) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 18.0). DrawnStrips's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. DrawnStrips sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Comics Book Reader sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for DrawnStrips against 4.3 for Comics Book Reader. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Comics Book Reader has 214 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 47% of DrawnStrips's written reviews are positive against 75% of Comics Book Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DrawnStrips ships an update every 3 weeks, Comics Book Reader every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
DrawnStrips versus Comics Book Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawnStripsComics Book Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings)4.3 (214 ratings)
Positive reviews47.1% of reviews75.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3214 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB158 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperFabrice LeyneLTD DevelSoftware

Customer experience

DrawnStrips

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews85 reviews
Positive47.1%
Neutral14.1%
Negative38.8%

Comics Book Reader

All ratings214 ratings
Positive83.6%
Neutral3.3%
Negative13.1%
Written reviews369 reviews
Positive75.1%
Neutral8.1%
Negative16.8%

User reviews

DrawnStrips

From 3 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and clean interface
  • 👍 Good for reading comics/manga
  • 👍 Supports various formats (CBZ, PDF)
  • 👍 Good integration with Apple APIs
  • 👍 Polished, minimalistic feel

Room to improve

  • 😞 Subscription required for basic use
  • 😞 App closes if subscription not selected
  • 😞 Paywall for settings
  • 😞 Crashes frequently
  • 😞 Slow performance

Comics Book Reader

From 214 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth performance
  • 📚 Supports various comic formats
  • 💾 Cloud storage integration
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🔍 Good file management

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • ⏰ Frequent ads interrupting reading
  • 💰 Expensive premium version
  • 📱 Compatibility issues with newer devices
  • 🔗 Cloud storage integration problems

Bugs and requests

DrawnStrips

Reported bugs

29 issues
  • App closes if subscription not selected
  • Paywall for settings
  • App crashes immediately upon opening
  • Cannot download or install on Mac Sequoia
  • Incapable of opening some CBR files without crashing
Show 24 more
  • Arrow keys are backwards
  • Resizing function does not work
  • Export function in CBZ creation mode does not work
  • Pages are not in order when exporting
  • Crashing constantly
  • Can only turn one page at a time
  • App forgets window size
  • App crashes when exiting fullscreen mode
  • App quits unexpectedly when opening files
  • Page turning is random and skips pages
  • Double pages appear at the end of the book
  • Zoom does not work with dual displays
  • Touch gestures for scrolling and zoom aren't smooth
  • Scrolling doesn't default to system default
  • Swiping doesn't work as expected
  • Up and down keys don't scroll
  • Page turning with scrolling doesn't work
  • App doesn't load clicked comics consistently
  • Plays a noise every time trackpad is used to switch pages
  • Cannot turn off page flip sound
  • Not working on Mountain Lion
  • Update not taken into account
  • Interface issues on older displays (grainy images)
  • Issues with dual monitors and scaling

Requested features

27 requests
  • Add Apple Vision Pro support
  • Continuous vertical scrolling support
  • Remember last window size and position
  • Left mouse click to forward, right click to backward
  • Integration with iBooks
Show 22 more
  • Support for .zip and .rar files directly
  • Settings tab for non-Retina displays
  • Comprehensive toolbar tucked away when not in use
  • Loupe tool
  • Ability to export a page
  • Quick access to change reading direction
  • Smoother touch gestures for scrolling and zoom
  • Regular updates and maintenance
  • Gallery feature
  • Automatic recognition of files on Mac
  • Better organization of comics
  • Library system
  • Dark mode option
  • Zoom to fit option
  • Remember position in each comic
  • Customize page turning keys
  • Mouse wheel support for page turning
  • Optimize comic load time
  • Caching of next and previous pages
  • Double-tap for zooming
  • Keyboard controls
  • Better library management

Comics Book Reader

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Corrupted comic file downloads
  • Slow performance on older devices
  • Inability to access cloud storage
  • Incorrect page rendering

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to organize comics into folders
  • Seamless page-to-page navigation
  • More cloud storage providers support
  • Customizable reading experience

In-app purchases

3 purchases

DrawnStrips

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$1.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription3 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime License$14.99
4 purchases

Comics Book Reader

One-time4
  • Thank the Developer$0.99
  • Appearance Customization$1.99
  • Additional Formats$3.99
Show 1 more
  • Pro Version$5.99

Questions

Is DrawnStrips free?
DrawnStrips is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Comics Book Reader free?
Comics Book Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, DrawnStrips or Comics Book Reader?
DrawnStrips and Comics Book Reader are both rated 4.3 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 214 ratings respectively.
Do DrawnStrips or Comics Book Reader have ads?
Neither DrawnStrips nor Comics Book Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DrawnStrips or Comics Book Reader?
DrawnStrips ships an update every 3 weeks, and Comics Book Reader every 4 months. Most recently, DrawnStrips was updated on October 12, 2026 and Comics Book Reader on October 17, 2026.

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