Comparison

Vizling vs GutenbergListen

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

Head to head
About

Vizling

This app enhances the accessibility of visual texts like comics and maps for users with visual impairments. It offers audio descriptions of page layout, narrative flow, and image composition, enabling deeper engagement with multimodal media for various purposes.

Highlights
  • Accessible reading for visual media
  • Audio descriptions for layout and detail
  • Understanding narrative flow and composition
  • Supports enjoyment, education, and research
  • Designed for blind and low-vision users
Features
Read full description

Accessible Reading for Visual Media Vizling makes comics, maps, and other visual texts more accessible for blind, low-vision, and sighted users. Grounded in narrative theory, Vizling helps readers understand how meaning is built across an entire page (global structure), from panel to panel (narrative flow), and within each image (item composition). With audio modes for both big-picture layout and close-up detail, Vizling supports meaningful engagement with multimodal media—whether for enjoyment, education, or research. The Vizling app was developed at Wichita State University with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Vizling was one of the winners of the Accessible Comics Design Competition, sponsored by The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability in collaboration with Comic Studies and the Program in Visual Impairments at San Francisco State University.

About

GutenbergListen

Features
Read full description

GutenbergListen's raison d'être is to provide simple access to the Project Gutenberg website of 70,000 plus books to blind user or to anyone using a screen reader to by providing a succinct browsing experience (declutered, to use the vernacular) to speed navigation. Everyone is, of course, welcome to use it. It is provided without out charge under the agpl-3.0 license. Selected eBooks and audio books are downloaded to the user's phone or tablet and remain until deleted by the user. Downloaded books can be accessed on or offline. eBooks are spoken in a user select-able voice that can be managed by speed, pitch and other basic controls including a sleep timer. Audio books are played at a user select-able speed and the basic controls also include a sleep timer. No personal data is collected, no account creation is required, no location or device information is collected, your location is not tracked and there are no analytics used.

Screenshots

Vizling4 screens
GutenbergListen3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: GutenbergListen at every 6 weeks against Vizling's every 3 months. Vizling's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Vizling ships an update every 3 months, GutenbergListen every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Vizling versus GutenbergListen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVizlingGutenbergListen
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB2 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperVIZLING LLCFrank D Ducrest

In-app purchases

None

Vizling

No in-app purchases

None

GutenbergListen

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Vizling free?
Vizling is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GutenbergListen free?
GutenbergListen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Vizling or GutenbergListen have ads?
Neither Vizling nor GutenbergListen shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Vizling or GutenbergListen?
Vizling ships an update every 3 months, and GutenbergListen every 6 weeks. Most recently, Vizling was updated on October 24, 2026 and GutenbergListen on October 6, 2026.

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