Comparison

PuRead vs BookWave

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

Head to head
About

PuRead

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PuRead is a clean, lightweight book reader designed to help you read books comfortably, discover great content, and keep your personal library in one place. DISCOVER GREAT BOOKS: Explore a free ebook library filled with timeless classics and influential works. Find new favorites through recommendations, popular books, and easy-to-browse categories. SHORT READS, BIG IDEAS: Quicks offers short stories, interesting knowledge, illustrated reads, brain teasers, and other engaging content you can enjoy in just a few minutes. READ YOUR OWN BOOKS: Import books from your device and use PuRead as an EPUB reader or PDF book reader while enjoying a focused reading interface that keeps unnecessary controls out of the way. READ FROM CLOUD DRIVE: Connect your cloud drive to download books and continue reading across phones and tablets. Reading progress and bookmarks can be stored securely in your own cloud and synced across your devices. OFFLINE READING: Enjoy offline reading anywhere, even without an internet connection. PuRead works as a convenient offline reader for downloaded and imported books. PRIVATE BY DESIGN: Your personal reading materials stay on your device rather than being uploaded elsewhere. Imported and downloaded books remain private, giving you the convenience of a modern ebook reader without giving up control of your personal library. PuRead delivers a refined reading experience designed to be a simple, reliable companion for everyday reading.

About

BookWave

Features
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BookWave is a simple, beautiful way to read and listen to EPUBs, PDFs, and scanned book pages—no accounts, no clutter, just your books. IMPORT OR SCAN YOUR BOOKS Add any DRM-free EPUB or PDF to BookWave, and it appears on your shelf in seconds. You can also scan pages from a printed book, turn them into text, and create your own EPUB. Your library is yours: organize books into folders and keep everything in one place. LISTEN TO ANY BOOK BookWave reads your books aloud with natural-sounding voices, entirely on your device. When available, words are highlighted as they’re spoken, so you can follow along or switch between reading and listening anytime. Playback continues in the background, so you can listen while walking, commuting, or with the screen off. EVERYTHING STAYS IN SYNC Your library, reading progress, highlights, and bookmarks sync privately between your iPhone and iPad through iCloud. Start reading a chapter on one device and continue from exactly where you left off on another. No registration, no accounts, no third-party servers. SAVE WHAT MATTERS Save important passages as highlights. Your highlights and bookmarks stay with the book across all your devices. TRACK YOUR READING See how much you read and listen each day, and watch your reading habit grow. 20 CLASSICS INCLUDED Start reading right away with a free built-in library of classic EPUB books—including Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Around the World in Eighty Days, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and many more. PRIVATE BY DESIGN BookWave has no accounts and no tracking. Your books and reading data live on your device and in your personal iCloud—nowhere else. BOOKWAVE PRO Reading and importing books are free, and you can listen to every built-in classic at no cost. BookWave Pro unlocks listening for your imported EPUB and PDF books, along with detailed reading statistics. Monthly and yearly auto-renewable subscriptions are available. Each includes a one-week free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your Apple Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://minimapps.github.io/bookwave/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use: https://minimapps.github.io/bookwave/terms.html

Screenshots

PuRead4 screens
BookWave4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: BookWave at none against PuRead's shown. BookWave also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly). PuRead's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases 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. PuRead sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and BookWave sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PuRead ships an update fortnightly, BookWave every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
PuRead versus BookWave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPuReadBookWave
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 6 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB47 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperQiuhang TanNazarii Stefaniuk

In-app purchases

3 purchases

PuRead

One-time3
  • 7 Days Full Access$0.29
  • 30 Days Full Access$0.99
  • 90 Days Full Access$1.99
2 purchases

BookWave

Subscriptions2
  • BookWave Pro Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • BookWave Pro Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is PuRead free?
PuRead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BookWave free?
BookWave is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PuRead or BookWave have ads?
PuRead shows ads; BookWave does not.
Which is updated more often, PuRead or BookWave?
PuRead ships an update fortnightly, and BookWave every 6 days. Most recently, PuRead was updated on October 24, 2026 and BookWave on October 25, 2026.

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