# Flyleaf vs Belstad

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.

Both are free to download. Flyleaf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.00 per month. Belstad asks for nothing beyond the download.

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.

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

## The numbers

| Metric | Flyleaf | Belstad |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.9 (91 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/flyleaf-read-later/id6475200381/reviews) | **[5.0 (9 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/belstad/id6618159376/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **91** | 9 |
| Positive reviews | 98.8% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | **Daily** |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 37 MB | 33 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **13.4** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Maximilian Melzer](https://appshunter.io/developer/1536263191) | [Belstad, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1761864227) |

## What reviewers say

### Flyleaf

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/flyleaf-read-later/id6475200381)

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:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly renewal | $2.00 | per month |
| Yearly renewal | $17.00 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- ✨ Clean and beautiful design
- 📖 Excellent reading experience
- 🚀 Fast and smooth performance
- 🔄 Seamless cross-device sync
- 🆓 Usable and generous free tier

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💡 Missing highlighting functionality
- 💡 Missing note-taking functionality
- 💡 No one-time payment option
- 💡 No device AI summarization
- 💡 No bulk actions for managing articles

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- Highlighting function
- Note-taking functionality
- One-time payment option
- Device AI summarization
- Bulk actions for managing articles


### Belstad

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/belstad/id6618159376)

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked 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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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*