Vellum vs Gutenberg eBooks Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Vellum
Access and read thousands of classic books for free offline. Organize your reading, take personal notes, and save favorite quotes. Enjoy a distraction-free, ad-free experience with beautiful typography.
- Offline reading
- Ad-free experience
- Library management
- Personal notes and quotes
- Thousands of classic titles
- Distraction-free reader
- EPUB export
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Read the World's Greatest Books for Free. Vellum is a completely free, offline-first library designed for lovers of classic literature. Access hundreds of masterpieces from the Project Gutenberg archives without paying a cent, viewing ads, or needing an internet connection. Why Vellum? 100% Free & No Ads: Enjoy a premium reading experience without paywalls, subscriptions, or annoying banners. Manage Your Library: Keep your reading life organized. Easily track your journey by marking books as "To Read," "Currently Reading," or "Completed." Personal Notes: capturing your thoughts has never been easier. Save favorite quotes, study notes, or personal reflections directly inside every book. Download & Keep: Save books to your device instantly. Build your personal library and read anywhere, even in airplane mode. Thousands of Titles: From Pride and Prejudice to Sherlock Holmes and The Great Gatsby, if it’s a classic, it’s here. Premium Reader: A distraction-free interface with beautiful typography optimized for comfortable reading, day or night. Open Formats: Prefer your own reader? You can export the raw EPUB files directly to other apps on your device. Private & Secure: Your reading habits and notes are stored locally on your device. We track nothing. About the Developer: Vellum was built by Imran Khan, a Senior Product Engineer and Founding Engineer at a YC startup. "I built Vellum because I believe great literature should be accessible to everyone for free. I love Project Gutenberg, but I wanted a mobile experience that felt modern and fast. I made this app to give these classic books the beautiful home they deserve, at zero cost to the reader." In his spare time, Imran researches AI and LLMs and contributes to open-source developer tools. Vellum is a labor of love, built to ensure that literature remains free and accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Gutenberg eBooks Reader
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Discover over 75,000 classic books, enjoy a comfortable reading experience, and build a daily reading habit with Gutenberg eBooks Reader. Explore timeless literature from Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks, from beloved novels and mysteries to adventures, romance, science fiction, history, philosophy, and poetry. DISCOVER 75,000+ CLASSIC BOOKS Find great books by some of the world's most celebrated authors: • Pride and Prejudice — Jane Austen • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes — Arthur Conan Doyle • Frankenstein — Mary Shelley • Dracula — Bram Stoker • Jane Eyre — Charlotte Brontë • Wuthering Heights — Emily Brontë • A Tale of Two Cities — Charles Dickens • Great Expectations — Charles Dickens • The Picture of Dorian Gray — Oscar Wilde • The Time Machine — H. G. Wells • The Count of Monte Cristo — Alexandre Dumas READING FOCUS — BLOCK DISTRACTIONS Want to read more and scroll less? Reading Focus helps you protect your reading time. Select distracting apps on your iPhone, set a daily reading goal, and block access to those selected apps until you complete your reading goal. Spend more time reading and less time switching between apps. BUILD A DAILY READING HABIT • Set a daily reading goal. • Track your reading time and progress. • Build and maintain reading streaks. • Use daily reading reminders to make reading a routine. • See your reading journey over time. A READER MADE FOR YOU • Enjoy a clean, distraction-free reading experience. • Customize fonts, text size, themes, and reading layout. • Explore books by author, subject, and collection. • Save books to your personal library. • Continue reading where you left off. READ OFFLINE WITH PREMIUM Download supported books with Premium and enjoy reading even without an internet connection. EXPLORE CLASSIC LITERATURE Whether you enjoy literary fiction, detective stories, adventure, romance, philosophy, or poetry, discover books worth reading and authors worth remembering. Start exploring your next great book and make reading part of every day. Reading Focus requires a compatible iOS device and the necessary permissions. Book availability and public-domain status may vary by country. Some features require Premium. Gutenberg eBooks Reader is an independent reading app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Project Gutenberg or Standard Ebooks.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Vellum at none against Gutenberg eBooks Reader's 1. Vellum also leads on ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement 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. Gutenberg eBooks Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Vellum asks for nothing beyond the download.
Vellum ships an update every 5 weeks, Gutenberg eBooks Reader every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.
| Parameter | Vellum | Gutenberg eBooks Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 38 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Imran Khan | Vaneet Gupta |
In-app purchases
Vellum
No in-app purchases
Gutenberg eBooks Reader
- Premium Lifetime$19.99
Questions
Is Vellum free?
Is Gutenberg eBooks Reader free?
Do Vellum or Gutenberg eBooks Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Vellum or Gutenberg eBooks Reader?
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