Columbia University Press vs ReadPace
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Columbia University Press
Access your purchased ebooks and audiobooks from Columbia University Press. Log in with your purchase email to enjoy content offline with customizable reading and listening features.
- Offline ebook and audiobook access
- Customizable font and background
- Bookmark and auto-save progress
- Full text search
- Sleep timer for audiobooks
- Background playback
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An ebook app designed exclusively for purchases made at https://cup.columbia.edu. Welcome to the Columbia University Press app, powered by Glassboxx. We are delighted to offer you an easy and secure way to enjoy your ebook purchases. No password required – you can either use our social sign on with Apple or Google, or simply log in with the email address used to buy the book and enter the verification code sent to your email – and your content awaits in the ‘My books’ area of the app, with formats clearly labelled. With the content in the cloud, downloading requires an initial internet connection. Once downloaded, you can access your books and enjoy them offline. THE EREADER ALLOWS FOR: • Page book-marking, opening the title at the right place when you pick up, even across multiple devices • Font-size and font face changes, as well as dyslexic-friendly font • Page colour themes (white, dark, and sepia) • Full text search • Highlighting • Annotations
ReadPace
This app measures reading speed and comprehension by timing sessions, scanning pages, and asking questions based on the text. It provides detailed insights into reading habits, helping users find their optimal pace for retention.
- Timed reading sessions
- Page scanning for WPM calculation
- Comprehension testing
- Personalized speed-retention analysis
- Progress tracking and goal setting
- Book-specific reading insights
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Most reading apps count pages. ReadPace counts whether you actually understood them. Start a session, read the way you normally read, then scan the pages you finished. ReadPace turns that into a real words-per-minute number — not an estimate, not a guess. Then it asks you six questions about what you just read, written from those exact pages. Speed means nothing if none of it stuck. ReadPace measures both. TIME IT. SCAN IT. KNOW IT. Hit start, read, hit "Finish & scan." Your session becomes a precise WPM number, logged against the book you're reading. No manual page counts, no stopwatch math. READ IT. THEN PROVE IT. Every session can end with a comprehension test built from the pages you just covered. Real questions about the actual ideas — not trivia. Not sure? Tap "No idea." Honest answers make your data honest. GET SCORED, THEN GET BETTER. See your comprehension percentage, your WPM, and how many you got right — side by side. Then review every question: what you answered, what was correct, and why. Misses get explained, so the test teaches you something too. FIND THE SPEED WHERE YOU REMEMBER MOST. This is the one no other reading app can tell you. ReadPace groups your tested sessions into speed bands and averages your recall in each, revealing your personal sweet spot — the pace where you're fast and you retain it. It also shows you where recall starts to fall off, so you know exactly when you're reading too fast to learn anything. WATCH THE LINE CLIMB. Your WPM trend over 7 days, 30 days, or all time, with your goal line drawn right across it. Weekly session goals, personal bests, and a running average that proves the last three months weren't your imagination. INSIGHTS THAT CHANGE HOW YOU READ. • Your most productive time of day — morning, afternoon, or evening • Which categories you read fastest, and which you remember best • Week-over-week change, personal best, total sessions at a glance EVERY BOOK ON YOUR SHELF, MEASURED. Your library tracks each title separately: lowest, average, and highest speed, average comprehension across every tested session, a speed curve across the whole book, and a full session log with words read, time spent, WPM, and recall score. WHO IT'S FOR Students who need it to stick. Professionals reading to stay sharp. Anyone with a shelf of non-fiction and a nagging suspicion they're not retaining much of it. And anyone who just wants to read faster — with proof they haven't sacrificed understanding to get there. Stop guessing how fast you read. Start knowing what you keep. Terms of use: https://readpace.org/terms Privacy policy: https://readpace.org/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ReadPace at 5.0 against Columbia University Press's 1.7. ReadPace also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 17 months). Columbia University Press's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (6 vs 1). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ReadPace holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Columbia University Press has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Columbia University Press ships an update every 17 months, ReadPace every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Columbia University Press | ReadPace |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.7 (6 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 17 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 35 MB | 100 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Glassboxx Limited | Dominik Mesek |
Customer experience
Columbia University Press
ReadPace
In-app purchases
Columbia University Press
No in-app purchases
ReadPace
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Columbia University Press free?
Is ReadPace free?
Which has better reviews, Columbia University Press or ReadPace?
Do Columbia University Press or ReadPace have ads?
Which is updated more often, Columbia University Press or ReadPace?
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