Comparison

Readest vs Issa 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
Currently charting
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

Issa Reader

This app syncs your ebooks with audiobooks from a self-hosted server, allowing seamless transitions between reading and listening. It offers a native reading experience with customizable text and themes, and advanced audiobook playback features.

Highlights
  • Seamless read-to-listen transition
  • Native typesetting engine
  • Customizable reading fonts and themes
  • Variable speed audiobook playback
  • CarPlay integration
  • Offline library access
  • Home Screen widget
Features
Read full description

Issa Reader is a native reader for Storyteller, the self-hosted server that lines an ebook up with its audiobook so you can move between reading and listening without losing your place. REQUIRES A STORYTELLER SERVER Issa Reader is a client, not a bookshop. It has no catalogue of its own and nothing to sell you. Point it at a Storyteller server you run, sign in, and read your own library. Without a server, there is nothing here to show you. READ A real typesetting engine, not a web view. Pages are laid out natively, so turning one is instant and the type is properly set. Six bundled reading faces, including Literata, Source Serif 4 and OpenDyslexic, or add a font of your own. Four page themes for daylight, lamplight and the middle of the night. Size, line spacing and justification are yours to set, per book or for everything. LISTEN Variable speed with pitch correction, chapter and sentence navigation, skip controls, a sleep timer, and full Now Playing support on the Lock Screen and in Control Centre. READ ALONG This is what Storyteller is for. Where a book has narration aligned to its text, the words light up as they are spoken, the page turns itself to follow, and tapping any line starts the narrator there. Stop reading, keep listening, and pick up on the same sentence — the two stay in step. IN THE CAR CarPlay gives you your shelves and chapters as proper lists, with Now Playing and a resume that lands on the sentence you left, not somewhere near it. Steering-wheel buttons, headphone controls and on-screen controls can each be remapped independently, so the same button can do different things in different places. YOUR WHOLE LIBRARY, ON DEVICE The catalogue is fetched once and kept locally, so searching by title, author, narrator, series or tag is instant and works with no signal at all. Shelves are built on your device from what you actually have. Download books to read and listen offline. ON EVERY SCREEN A Home Screen widget with your current book, chapter and progress. Native apps for Apple TV and the Mac are included with the same purchase, and Handoff carries your place between them. BUILT FOR THESE PLATFORMS Written in Swift for iPhone and iPad, using the system's own text engine, audio stack and accessibility support throughout. Dynamic Type, VoiceOver and reduced motion are respected, not retrofitted. Issa Reader is an independent client and is not affiliated with the Storyteller project.

Screenshots

Readest4 screens
Issa Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Issa Reader at none against Readest's 9. Issa Reader also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (100% vs 84%). Readest's advantage is ratings volume (197 vs 3) and chart position (#174 vs unranked). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Readest sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Issa Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Issa Reader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Readest has 197 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Readest's written reviews are positive against 100% of Issa Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Readest ships an update fortnightly, Issa Reader every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Readest versus Issa Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadestIssa Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (197 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews84.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings197 — better3
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#174 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS16.4 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size58 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBilingify LLCBenjamin Issa

Customer experience

Readest

All ratings191 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral5.2%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews288 reviews
Positive84.0%
Neutral5.6%
Negative10.4%

Issa Reader

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

9 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-time5
  • 1 GB$9.99
  • 2 GB$14.99
  • Full Customization$19.99
Show 2 more
  • 5 GB$29.99
  • 10 GB$49.99
None

Issa Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Readest free?
Readest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Issa Reader free?
Issa Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Readest or Issa Reader?
Issa Reader is rated higher. Readest averages 4.5 out of 5 from 197 ratings, while Issa Reader averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Readest or Issa Reader have ads?
Neither Readest nor Issa Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Readest or Issa Reader?
Readest ships an update fortnightly, and Issa Reader every 5 days. Most recently, Readest was updated on October 30, 2026 and Issa Reader on October 31, 2026.

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