Kanman Reader vs Analects Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kanman Reader
This comic reader helps Chinese language learners immerse themselves in manhua. Easily look up definitions for unfamiliar words by scanning the page, and manage your library of DRM-free comics.
- Supports ZIP, RAR, CBR, CBZ formats
- Horizontal or vertical scrolling
- On-page word definition lookup
- Manhua library management
- Resume reading from last point
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Kanman Reader is a comic reader designed for Chinese learners who want a smooth experience when reading Chinese comics (also known as manhua). Upload DRM-free manhua in ZIP/RAR/CBR/CBZ format and start reading to immerse yourself more deeply in the language. If you come across a word you don’t know while reading a manhua on Kanman Reader, you can quickly hold the page to scan it and extract the text. Tapping on a word you don’t recognize will effortlessly pull up the definition for that word. Spend less time trying to look up unfamiliar characters, and spend more time immersing yourself in the Chinese language! Features: - Supports multiple file formats: Manhua can be opened in ZIP/RAR/CBR/CBZ formats - Customizable reading experience: Choose whether you want to flip through manhua horizontally or scroll downwards - Easily look up definitions: Scan manhua to pull up English definitions for unfamiliar Chinese words - Manhua management: Stores previously accessed manhua in a library and lets you easily pick up from where you last left off
Analects Reader
Explore Confucius's Analects with interactive features. Read in original Chinese and English, with tappable characters for detailed meanings, readings, and usage. Offers multiple reading modes and integrated podcast commentary.
- Original Chinese and English text
- Tappable characters with detailed meanings
- Multiple reading modes (Study, Translation, Chinese, Classical)
- Integrated podcast commentary with episode guides
- Notes saved as Markdown in iCloud Drive
- Offline access to Chinese text
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The complete Analects of Confucius: all twenty books and 512 passages, in the original Chinese and in English, built for actually reading it. Every character is tappable. The card that opens shows what the character means here, in this passage — not a dictionary's one-size answer — along with its reading, the terms it belongs to, and how it is used across the whole book. Pinyin sits over the characters when you want it and disappears when you don't. READ IT YOUR WAY • Study — the full apparatus: text, translation, pinyin, tappable words, per-passage tone coloring. • Translation — the English as a book. The original waits one tap away under each passage. • Chinese — the received text alone, unglossed, with the English one tap away. • Classical — the text as old editions set it, in columns right to left. Four pages to choose from: one typeset, and three photographed from real copies held in Tokyo, Taipei, and Kyoto — a Qing manuscript, a Ming block print, and a 1550 scholar's copy — with every character mapped, so the glosses work even on a photograph. Scroll the book as one column, or turn it one passage per page, like a printed book. THE COMMENTARY GROWS WITH THE PODCAST The app carries the episode guides from the Exploring the Analects podcast — passage by passage: the philosophical discussion, the historical context, the language notes, with the audio a tap away. New episodes arrive as they are published. YOURS, IN THE FULLEST SENSE Notes you take live in your own iCloud Drive as Markdown — readable anywhere, and they outlive the app. The Chinese text is built in and always works offline. There are no accounts, no ads, no analytics, and no tracking: nothing about your reading is collected. Everything is free — the text, both translations, the glosses, the classical pages, the commentary. A tip jar exists for those who want to keep the project going; nothing is unlocked, because nothing is locked.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Kanman Reader at none against Analects Reader's 3. Analects Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 9 months) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.4). On price, rating, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Analects Reader sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Kanman Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Kanman Reader against 5.0 for Analects Reader. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
Kanman Reader ships an update every 9 months, Analects Reader every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kanman Reader | Analects Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.4 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 276 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Akash Cherian | Elliott Bernstein |
Customer experience
Kanman Reader
Analects Reader
In-app purchases
Kanman Reader
No in-app purchases
Analects Reader
- Through the Gate$3.00
- Up to the Hall$10.00
- Into the Chamber$30.00
Questions
Is Kanman Reader free?
Is Analects Reader free?
Which has better reviews, Kanman Reader or Analects Reader?
Do Kanman Reader or Analects Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Kanman Reader or Analects Reader?
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