Freading vs Comics Plus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Freading
This app allows users to read EPUB and PDF books downloaded from participating libraries. It supports Adobe DRM and offers a comfortable reading experience with features like page turning and adjustable text size.
- Read EPUB and PDF books
- Adobe DRM support
- Tap or swipe page turning
- Remembers last page read
- Selectable text size
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The Freading application is for reading EPUB books and PDF books. The application was developed for users of the Freading Ebook Service. The Freading (free reading) Ebook Service was developed by Library Ideas, LLC and is sold to libraries of all types around the world. End users are registered cardholders of participating libraries. Check with your local library for participation. The end user should use their browser to navigate the library website, then download the book from a library website into this application. Once in the application, the EPUB or PDF book can be explored and read. The Freading application is designed to lend full support for Adobe DRM and uses Adobe ID for Authentication. The Freading application includes many features that you would expect for a good reading experience such as tap or swipe to turn pages, remembering the last page read, and selectable text size.
Comics Plus
Access thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, manga, and picture books from numerous publishers. Enjoy unlimited reading without wait lists or late fees, and manage your progress across devices. Stream titles online or download them for offline enjoyment.
- Unlimited digital comic access
- No wait lists or borrowing limits
- Cross-device reading progress
- Online streaming and offline downloads
- Diverse publisher selection
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Comics Plus from LibraryPass gives you unlimited access to thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, manga, and picture books from dozens of publishers — exclusively through your school or library. Don’t see your school or library listed? Ask your librarian about #ReadAllTheComics! No wait lists; no borrowing limits; no late fees Manage your shelf and reading progress across devices Maintain your reading progress across devices Stream titles online without using storage space Download titles for offline reading Explore a diverse selection from publishers like ABDO, Andrews McMeel, BOOM! Studios, Capstone, Cherry Lake, Dark Horse, Europe Comics, Fantagraphics, Humanoids, Image Comics, Kodansha, Lerner, Manga Classics, Oni Press, Papercutz, Tokyopop, TOON Books, UDON Entertainment, Yen Press, and dozens more. Comics Plus is created by Joyful Reading Co, where we're dedicated to nurturing a lifelong love of reading through engagement, access, and data-driven insights. Learn more at https://comicsplusapp.com/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Freading at 4.6 against Comics Plus's 2.6. Freading also leads on ratings volume (2.8K vs 99) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). Comics Plus's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 9 months). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Freading holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Freading has 2.8K ratings behind it against 99, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 16% of Freading's written reviews are positive against 21% of Comics Plus's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Freading ships an update every 9 months, Comics Plus every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Freading | Comics Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (2.8K ratings) — better | 2.6 (99 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 16.1% of reviews | 20.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K — better | 99 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Library Ideas, LLC | Library Pass, Inc. |
Customer experience
Freading
Comics Plus
User reviews
Freading
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 📚 Wide selection of books
- 🕰 No late fees
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 📱 Difficult to navigate and use
- 🔍 Poor search and discovery
- 📚 Limited book selection
- 🔒 Login and authentication issues
Comics Plus
From 99 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📚 Massive collection of comics and manga
- 💰 Free access with library card
- ✅ Legal and legitimate reading platform
- 🎨 Wide variety of publishers and genres
- 📖 Ability to store unlimited books on shelf
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and force quits
- ⏳ Extremely slow loading times
- 🔍 Search function broken or non-functional
- 📖 Pages fail to load or display correctly
- ⚫ Black screen issues when opening books
Bugs and requests
Freading
Reported bugs
3 issues- Books fail to download or open
- App crashes when trying to access downloaded books
- Login process is unreliable and inconsistent
Requested features
4 requests- Improve app stability and reliability
- Enhance user interface and navigation
- Expand book selection and search capabilities
- Streamline login and authentication process
Comics Plus
Reported bugs
25 issues- Login screen stuck on library selection
- Search returns blank page with no loading indicator
- Shelf fails to load
- Pages crop off at bottom
- Black screen when opening downloaded books
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- App crashes when opening new comics
- Pages display out of sync in horizontal mode
- Duplicate pages appearing consecutively
- Pages loop back to beginning after certain number
- Thumbnail not showing for resume position
- Dialog boxes cut off or positioned incorrectly
- App forgets reading position when resuming
- Vertical view does not work
- iCloud backup size inflates dramatically
- Screen goes black periodically during reading
- Network error despite active connection
- Download progress bar hangs
- Orientation change causes reading position reset
- App switches to different manga unexpectedly
- Popular page items don't load or unavailable
- Shelf deletion when launching from cloud library
- Zoom functionality unresponsive
- Page turning causes visual flash and blur
- Inconsistent page display in 2-page mode
- Home bar overlay obscures content on iPad
Requested features
18 requests- Favorites/bookmarking system with notifications
- Auto-download while using other apps
- Auto-mark books as finished
- Better search with pagination and page jumping
- Dark mode option
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- Right-to-left reading for manga
- Folder organization for shelf
- Reading history tracking
- Series completion indicators
- Next book in series recommendations
- Auto zoom feature for reading
- Smooth page transition animations
- Ability to manually move books to completion status
- App status/server status page
- Better content filtering and sorting options
- Rating system for comics
- Chapter bookmarks
- Customizable reading settings
In-app purchases
Freading
No in-app purchases
Comics Plus
No in-app purchases
