Comparison

Readest vs Libra reader

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

Head to head
About

Readest

This app is a powerful ebook reader designed for deep thinkers and researchers. It offers advanced annotation tools, seamless device syncing, and robust library management with OPDS and Calibre support. Enjoy a distraction-free reading experience with customizable modes and multi-book viewing for enhanced study and analysis.

Highlights
  • OPDS Online Libraries
  • Calibre Integration
  • Sync Across Devices
  • Bookshelf Management
  • Customizable Reading Modes
  • Multi-Book View
  • Advanced Annotations & Highlights
Features
Read full description

Readest is an ebook reader for people who read a lot, and who want their books, notes and reading position on whatever device is nearest. Open EPUB, PDF, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, CBZ, TXT and Markdown in one library. Pull books from OPDS catalogs or from your own Calibre server. Read, annotate, listen, translate. Made for iPhone and iPad • CarPlay, so you can keep listening on the road with playback controls on the dashboard • Download read-aloud voices per book and listen with no connection at all • Add books from Files, Mail or any share sheet, and read them in place instead of copying them into a second library • Open up to four books at once on iPad and arrange them how you like Reading • Paginated or scrolling, with custom fonts, themes, spacing and margins • Vertical text for CJK books • Contrast and refresh tuned for e-ink screens • Full-text search inside a book Your library • Browse, search and download from OPDS catalogs and public libraries • Connect to Calibre or Calibre-Web, covers and metadata included • Organize with bookshelf groups you can rename Notes • Highlights, bookmarks and structured notes • Copy a highlight together with a deep link back to the passage • Export your annotations Listening and languages • Text-to-speech with downloadable offline voices • Translate a sentence, a page, or an entire book • Wikipedia and dictionary lookup without leaving the page Sync • Readest Cloud, or bring your own: iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, WebDAV, S3 • KOReader sync keeps your progress in step with your e-reader • iPhone, iPad, Mac, all other platforms and the web Readest is open source. Support: support@readest.com Privacy Policy: https://readest.com/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Libra reader

Features
Read full description

Libra is a modern ebook reader and library manager for iPhone and iPad. Read the books you already own — from your device, your cloud storage, or any OPDS catalog — and keep your reading progress, highlights and notes in sync across all your devices. Key features • All major ebook formats • Read from device, cloud storage and OPDS catalogs • Comfortable, fully customizable reading • Highlights, notes and bookmarks • On-device translation • Reading sync across your devices Ebook formats • EPUB • PDF • FictionBook (fb2, fb2.zip) • MobiPocket and Kindle (mobi, azw3) • Comic Book (cbz) • Word (docx) • Markdown, HTML and plain text (md, html, txt) Your books, your storage • Locally on the device • In cloud storage: iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Yandex Disk • From OPDS catalogs and online libraries you choose • Add your own catalog, for example a Calibre content server over OPDS Comfortable reading • Light, Sepia and Dark themes • Paginated (swipe) or continuous scroll • Serif, sans-serif and monospace fonts • Adjustable font size, line height, paragraph spacing, margins, letter spacing and text alignment • Device-independent reading position that transfers correctly across screens and devices • Table of contents navigation Highlights, notes and bookmarks • Highlight passages in four colors • Attach notes to your highlights • Bookmark any page • Share and export your notes and highlights as text Library management • Organize books into custom collections • Browse by folders across all your sources • Search your library • Automatic cover and metadata extraction • Track reading status and progress, and mark books finished • Rate and review your books • Back up and restore your library Translation • Translate selected text right in the reader • Translation runs on your device — nothing leaves it Sync across your devices (Pro) • Sync your library, reading position, progress, highlights, notes, bookmarks, reviews and collections • Syncs privately through your own iCloud account — we run no server and never hold your data ——— Support: support@libra-reader.com Privacy Policy: https://libra-reader.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://libra-reader.com/terms

Screenshots

Readest4 screens
Libra reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Readest at 16.4 against Libra reader's 18.2. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Readest sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Libra reader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Readest ships an update fortnightly, Libra reader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Readest versus Libra reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadestLibra reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (178 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews83.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings178 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.2
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBilingify LLCSergei Mikhailov

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Readest

Subscriptions4
  • Subscribe to Plus Plan$4.991 Month
  • Subscribe to Pro Plan$9.991 Month
  • Subscribe to Plus Plan$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Subscribe to Pro Plan$99.991 Year
One-time4
  • 1 GB$9.99
  • 2 GB$14.99
  • 5 GB$29.99
Show 1 more
  • 10 GB$49.99
2 purchases

Libra reader

Subscriptions2
  • Libra Pro – Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Libra Pro – Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Readest free?
Readest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Libra reader free?
Libra reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Readest or Libra reader have ads?
Neither Readest nor Libra reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Readest or Libra reader?
Readest ships an update fortnightly, and Libra reader every 3 weeks. Most recently, Readest was updated on October 2, 2026 and Libra reader on September 21, 2026.

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