Comparison

Narrable vs Codex Books

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

Head to head
About

Narrable

Experience audiobooks with a full cast of distinct voices for each character. Import your own EPUB or PDF files and have them read aloud with synchronized text highlighting. Enjoy offline listening and adjustable playback speeds.

Highlights
  • Full-cast narration with distinct character voices
  • Import and read EPUB and PDF files
  • Synchronized text highlighting with audio
  • Adjustable playback speed (0.5x to 2x)
  • Offline listening with downloaded books
  • Tap any word to start listening
Features
Read full description

Read Aloud Books, PDFs & Text Books where every character has their own voice. Narrable is an audiobook app with a catalogue of full-cast recordings, and it will read your own books too. Open Discover and start listening, or bring an EPUB or PDF and have it voiced. A full cast, not one voice Most audiobooks are one narrator doing everybody. Narrable gives each character their own voice, so dialogue sounds like people talking to each other rather than one person reading both halves. And you choose. Every book is made both ways, so you can switch between the full cast and a single narrator while you listen, mid-sentence, and it picks up exactly where you were. Your own books Import an EPUB or a PDF and Narrable reads who speaks in it, gives each character a voice, and plays you a scene before it makes the rest. Your files stay private to you. While you listen Text highlights in time with the audio, so you can follow along or put the phone down. Speed from 0.5x to 2x with the pitch held, so voices keep their character. Tap any word to start there, skip, rewind, and pick up where you left off. Books download to the phone, so listening doesn't need a connection. Over a thousand voices. Nothing is recorded in a studio, and nothing is read by a person.

About

Codex Books

Features
Read full description

Codex helps you build and organize a personal book library from the books around you. Scan a book cover with your camera, pick a photo from your library, scan an ISBN barcode, or search by title, author, or ISBN. Codex retrieves book details such as title, author, year, cover, description, and ISBN, then saves them into your library for quick browsing and lookup. Your collection can be sorted by author, year, or category, and books can be grouped into genres and adjusted manually when needed. You can also export your full library as JSON for backup or sharing. Features: - Scan book covers with OCR-based search - Scan ISBN barcodes with the camera - Search manually by title, author, or ISBN - Save title, author, year, category, description, cover, and ISBN - Organize books by author, year, and category - Edit categories and remove books from the library - Export your collection as JSON - Sync your library through iCloud - Codex is designed for readers who want a fast way to catalog physical books without maintaining a spreadsheet by hand.Note:In order to function, the app needs Google API with Books API access which can be configured via the app settings.

Screenshots

Narrable4 screens
Codex Books4 screens

Verdict

The call

Narrable and Codex Books are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters โ€” price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Narrable sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Codex Books sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Narrable versus Codex Books: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNarrableCodex Books
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews0.0% of reviewsโ€”
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesโ€”
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size36 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAzam SuleimanShinro OU

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Narrable

Subscriptions4
  • Basic$7.991 Month
  • Narrable Reader Pro Plan$12.991 Month
  • Basic$69.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Pro Plan - Yearly$109.991 Year
1 purchases

Codex Books

One-time1
  • Unlimited Library (Lifetime)$5.99

Questions

Is Narrable free?
Narrable is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Codex Books free?
Codex Books is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Narrable or Codex Books have ads?
Neither Narrable nor Codex Books shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Narrable or Codex Books?
Narrable ships an update every 5 days, and Codex Books every 5 days. Most recently, Narrable was updated on October 6, 2026 and Codex Books on October 7, 2026.

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