Comparison

Flyleaf vs Belstad

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

Head to head
About

Flyleaf

Save articles from the web and read them later in a distraction-free, magazine-like format. Customize your reading experience with themes and typography, and organize your content with tags. Syncs seamlessly across devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Save articles from the web
  • Distraction-free reading view
  • Book-like pagination
  • Customizable themes and typography
  • iCloud sync
  • Article tagging
  • Archive.today integration
Features
Read full description

Flyleaf is a “read-later” app that displays saved articles from the web in a meticulously designed reading view, without popups, ads or other distractions. SAVE ARTICLES FROM THE WEB Use the share sheet from anywhere to save interesting links to Flyleaf. There is also an easy-to-use bookmarklet if you need it. READ LATER WITHOUT DISTRACTIONS Flyleaf takes web pages and removes everything inessential, like popups, ads and trackers, to preserve your privacy and sanity. TURN WEBSITES INTO MAGAZINE ARTICLES With Flyleaf's best-in-class book-like pagination, you can read articles page by page instead of scrolling vertically. READ IT YOUR WAY Flyleaf offers many ways to customize your reading experience, such as color themes and in-depth typography settings. DISCOVER WHAT TO READ NEXT Once your list of saved articles grows, it's easy to lose track. Flyleaf helps you to always discover fresh articles from your list. SYNC WITH ICLOUD Flyleaf uses iCloud to securely sync articles and reading progress between your devices – no additional signups needed. STAY ORGANIZED WITH TAGS You can add your own tags to articles to organize your library. READ ANYWHERE YOU GO Enjoy fully native apps for iPhone, iPad, and macOS, lovingly crafted by indie developer Max Melzer. READ IN FULL SCREEN Remove all distractions and focus on the text by entering fullscreen mode. You can still access all the controls you need through an intuitive gesture interface. LOAD ARTICLES FROM ARCHIVE.TODAY IN ONE TAP Sometimes, an article may not be available in your region or without logging in. Flyleaf lets you effortlessly access many of them from a web archive instead. AUTOMATE ACTIONS WITH SHORTCUTS AND SIRI Flyleaf offers a comprehensive list of Shortcuts actions, so you can add URLs via Siri or build Shortcuts to automatically tag articles. Flyleaf is free to use and offers an optional subscription for advanced features such as themes, tags and the archive.today integration. Privacy Policy: https://flyleafapp.com/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://flyleafapp.com/terms/

About

Belstad

Get personalized, nonpartisan news briefings in real-time with this AI-powered app. Ask follow-up questions, listen to daily recaps, and receive breaking news alerts. Expand on key terms with context cards and view inline citations for information sources.

Highlights
  • Personalized AI news briefings
  • Real-time event updates
  • Web-powered follow-up questions
  • Daily news recap podcast
  • Breaking news notifications
  • Context cards for key terms
  • Inline citations
Read full description

Belstad is a fully automated, personalized AI-powered news app. Users can read digestible, nonpartisan briefings on events in real-time, with the ability to: - Ask web-powered follow-up questions for more information - Listen to the Belstad Daily Recap — a podcast recapping the day's top events - Receive breaking news notifications - Expand on key terms with context cards - See where each piece of information is coming from with inline citations and more. By downloading the app you agree to the Belstad Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Terms of Use: https://www.belstad.com/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://www.belstad.com/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Flyleaf4 screens
Belstad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Belstad at none against Flyleaf's 2. Belstad also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 5 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.4 vs 17.0). Flyleaf's advantage is ratings volume (91 vs 9). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Flyleaf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.00 per month. Belstad asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Flyleaf against 5.0 for Belstad. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Flyleaf has 91 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 99% of Flyleaf's written reviews are positive against 100% of Belstad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flyleaf ships an update every 5 weeks, Belstad daily. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Flyleaf versus Belstad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlyleafBelstad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (91 ratings)5.0 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews98.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings91 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.013.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB33 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperMaximilian MelzerBelstad, Inc.

Customer experience

Flyleaf

All ratings91 ratings
Positive98.9%
Neutral1.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive98.8%
Neutral1.3%
Negative0.0%

Belstad

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Flyleaf

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Tagging feature bug on iPhone (iOS 18.3.2)
  • Paywalled articles sometimes not saved (e.g., FT)
  • "Read now" option in Share Sheet not working (fixed in 2.1.0)

Requested features

11 requests
  • Highlighting function
  • Note-taking functionality
  • One-time payment option
  • Device AI summarization
  • Bulk actions for managing articles
Show 6 more
  • Improved support for non-Apple platforms (e.g., Android)
  • More theme colors (yellow, orange)
  • AnyBox importer
  • Ability to archive different versions of a webpage
  • German localization
  • Export entry as PDF

Belstad

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Flyleaf

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly renewal7 Days trial$2.001 Month
  • Yearly renewal7 Days trial$17.001 Year
None

Belstad

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Flyleaf free?
Flyleaf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Belstad free?
Belstad is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Flyleaf or Belstad?
Belstad is rated higher. Flyleaf averages 4.9 out of 5 from 91 ratings, while Belstad averages 5.0 from 9 ratings.
Do Flyleaf or Belstad have ads?
Neither Flyleaf nor Belstad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flyleaf or Belstad?
Flyleaf ships an update every 5 weeks, and Belstad daily. Most recently, Flyleaf was updated on October 14, 2026 and Belstad on September 28, 2026.

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