Comparison

DrawnStrips vs CBZ, CBR Comic 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

CBZ, CBR Comic Reader

This app allows you to read various digital book and comic formats, including CBZ, CBR, PDF, and EPUB. Organize your library, secure your content with a PIN or Face ID, and bookmark your favorite pages. Enjoy a discreet reading mode and a favorites library for quick access.

Highlights
  • Supports CBZ, CBR, PDF, and EPUB formats
  • PIN Lock and Face ID for privacy
  • Instant bookmarking and favorites library
  • Smart organization with custom folders
  • Discreet reading mode
  • Free trial for premium features
Read full description

READ CBZ, CBR, EPUB & PDF. BUILD A LIBRARY THAT FEELS LIKE YOURS. Bring the comics, manga, graphic novels, ebooks, and documents you already own. Uncover turns your files into a beautiful, organized reading library on iPhone, iPad, and Mac—ready whenever you want to read offline. YOUR FILES. FOUR ESSENTIAL FORMATS. • Open CBZ and CBR comic books. • Read EPUB ebooks in a clean, scrollable chapter view. • Open PDF books, comics, magazines, and documents. • Import from Files or Finder, open files with Uncover, drag and drop, or connect folder-backed libraries. COMIC AND MANGA READING, YOUR WAY Choose the clean standard reader for CBZ, CBR, and PDF, flip through an animated 2D book, or open a tactile 3D hardcover with page-curl effects. Read one page or a two-page spread, switch between left-to-right and right-to-left manga navigation, zoom into artwork, jump with the page navigator, and set autoplay to keep the story moving. For EPUB, enjoy a dedicated live chapter reader with selectable, scrollable text. ORGANIZE MORE THAN A FOLDER OF FILES Build multiple libraries from the folders you control. Search titles and notes, browse by folder, and filter by tags, rating, page count, reading status, favorites, comments, or recency. Sort by title, date, rating, pages, file size, or last read. Find duplicates without giving up ownership of your originals. PLAN WHAT TO READ NEXT Mark titles unread, in progress, finished, or Won’t Finish. Add favorites and 1–5 star ratings. Create reading lists with target dates, page progress, and pacing that shows whether you are ahead, on track, or behind. SAVE THE PAGES THAT STAY WITH YOU Keep a visual archive of saved pages. Add named bookmarks, document notes, and threaded page comments. With Uncover Pro, export or share rendered pages and add Apple Pencil markup to supported visual formats. YOUR MAC CAN HOST YOUR SHELF Keep original files on a Mac and use Remote Library to browse and read them from iPhone or iPad over your private local network. Pin remote books for offline reading. The Mac must be open, awake, and running Uncover while it hosts; Remote Library is not cloud storage. LOCAL-FIRST AND PERSONAL Your books stay in libraries and folders you choose. Uncover Pro can add an app PIN, biometric access, and per-library locks to keep selected shelves out of casual view. Locks protect access inside Uncover; they do not encrypt source files. FREE PREVIEW AND UNCOVER PRO The free experience lets you read the first 5 pages of each document and create 1 reading list, 5 tags, 5 saved pages, and 5 bookmarks. Uncover Pro unlocks reading beyond page 5, additional organization, page export and sharing, Apple Pencil markup, app and library security, and premium app icons. Available products, billing periods, prices, and any offers are shown before purchase. Supported document formats: CBZ, CBR, EPUB, and PDF. Privacy Policy: https://luisalvarez12.github.io/privacy.html?id=uncover Terms of Use: https://luisalvarez12.github.io/terms.html?id=uncover

Screenshots

DrawnStrips4 screens
CBZ, CBR Comic Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: DrawnStrips at 4.3 against CBZ, CBR Comic Reader's 4.0. DrawnStrips also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, 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

Both are free to download. DrawnStrips sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and CBZ, CBR Comic Reader sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

DrawnStrips holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 5 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 47% of DrawnStrips's written reviews are positive against 50% of CBZ, CBR Comic Reader's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
DrawnStrips versus CBZ, CBR Comic Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawnStripsCBZ, CBR Comic Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better4.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews47.1% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings35 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision ProiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFabrice LeyneRezonating Apps, LLC

Customer experience

DrawnStrips

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

CBZ, CBR Comic Reader

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

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

CBZ, CBR Comic Reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
6 purchases

CBZ, CBR Comic Reader

Subscriptions5
  • Premium Weekly3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Uncover Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Premium Monthly3 Days trial$1.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Premium - Annual3 Days trial$5.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium - Lifetime$4.99

Questions

Is DrawnStrips free?
DrawnStrips is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CBZ, CBR Comic Reader free?
CBZ, CBR Comic Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, DrawnStrips or CBZ, CBR Comic Reader?
DrawnStrips is rated higher. DrawnStrips averages 4.3 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while CBZ, CBR Comic Reader averages 4.0 from 5 ratings.
Do DrawnStrips or CBZ, CBR Comic Reader have ads?
Neither DrawnStrips nor CBZ, CBR Comic Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DrawnStrips or CBZ, CBR Comic Reader?
DrawnStrips ships an update every 3 weeks, and CBZ, CBR Comic Reader every 3 weeks. Most recently, DrawnStrips was updated on September 19, 2026 and CBZ, CBR Comic Reader on September 22, 2026.

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