Comparison

Calibre View vs EPUB Reader

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

Head to head
About

Calibre View

Browse and manage your Calibre ebook library on iOS devices. Connect to cloud storage or local files for fast searching, sorting, and filtering. Optimized for large collections and works offline once downloaded.

Highlights
  • Connect to cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud, WebDAV)
  • Browse library with metadata only
  • Optimized for large libraries (15,000+ books)
  • Customizable book list columns and sorting
  • Fast search and filtering by tags, authors, series
  • Download books locally for offline reading
  • Supports multiple libraries and quick switching
Features
Read full description

Calibre View lets you browse and manage your Calibre ebook library on iPhone and iPad using cloud storage or local files on your device. Connect your existing Calibre library and explore your entire collection with fast searching, flexible sorting, and powerful filtering, all in a clean, native iOS and iPadOS interface designed for libraries large and small. (Tested with a 15k book library!) Whether you want to quickly find a specific book or explore your collection by tags, authors, or series, Calibre View is built to stay responsive and organized, even with very large libraries. Key Features • Connect to Calibre libraries stored in Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, WebDAV, iCloud, or the Files app • Optionally upload only your metadata.db file to browse your library without downloading covers or books • Smooth performance with very large libraries, tested with collections of 15,000+ books (slightly longer load times for larger libraries, ~1 second per 1000 books) • Customize which columns appear in the book list, similar to Calibre’s desktop view • Sort by any Calibre column, including custom columns • Filter books instantly using tags, authors, series, and other metadata fields • View detailed book information and customize what appears on the book details screen • Tap a tag or author in detail view to immediately narrow results • Choose a column for Quick Filter to refine search results, authors, or tags • Covers are downloaded on demand only when viewing book details, saving bandwidth and storage • Fast, full-library search with instant results • Download books locally and share or open them in other reading apps in any available format • Support for multiple libraries, with quick switching between them, even across different cloud services • Optimized layouts for both iPhone and iPad, including optional horizontal scrolling for portrait phone use • Works fully offline once a library is downloaded (covers and book downloads require connectivity) • Supports both light mode and dark mode

About

EPUB Reader

Customize your reading experience with extensive font and layout options. Effortlessly manage your library, track reading habits, and enjoy eye-care features. Sync your books across devices via cloud storage without proprietary lock-in.

Highlights
  • 200+ built-in fonts and custom font import
  • Adjustable text and layout settings
  • Smart dark mode with intelligent image inversion
  • 20-20-20 eye health reminders
  • Library management for 5,000+ books
  • Cloud sync via iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive
  • Highlighting, notes, and bookmarking
  • Reading progress tracking and goal setting
Features
Read full description

EPUB, PDF, comics, and audiobooks in one native iOS reader. Fast, deeply customizable, and built to disappear so you can simply read. FOUR FORMATS, ONE SHELF Read EPUB 3 and PDF. Read CBZ and CBR comics and manga, with two-page spreads, double-tap zoom, and a reading direction you set per book. Listen to audiobooks with chapters, a sleep timer, Car Mode, and CarPlay. Or follow along with EPUB 3 narration, where the text highlights in time with the voice. READ ALOUD Any book can be read to you, by any Apple voice on your device or by natural neural voices in 31 languages that you download once and then run offline. The sentence highlights as it is spoken and the pages turn on their own, with speed presets, sentence skips, a sleep timer, and Lock Screen controls. Prepare a book in advance and keep listening with the screen off. TYPOGRAPHY YOU CONTROL 200+ fonts, or import your own. Tune size, weight, line and paragraph spacing, alignment, hyphenation, and separate margins for portrait and landscape. Save settings per book so a novel, a textbook, and poetry each look right. Build your own color themes and let them switch at sunset. Choose which buttons the reader toolbar shows and where a tap opens it, and give links their own color and style. Smart dark mode keeps images natural, and in-reader brightness, Line Focus, and eye-care break reminders protect your eyes. NO LOCK-IN, EVER Your books stay ordinary files in an ordinary folder, never a proprietary database. Point justread at any folder: on device, iCloud Drive, or one your cloud app syncs through Files. Import from a Calibre server or any OPDS catalog. Email a book to your Kindle or PocketBook. IN SYNC WITH YOUR E-READER Your reading position follows you to any e-reader running KOReader, a Kobo included, in both directions. Connect a self-hosted Grimmory server to browse and download its books, send books to it, and keep status, ratings, highlights, notes, and bookmarks in step both ways. A LIBRARY THAT SCALES Thousands of books with no lag, and a book opens in about a second. Instant search by title, author, or series. Automatic metadata and series detection, 11 sort modes, saved filters, collections, and tags. Edit any book's details by hand, description included. Spotlight opens any book from your home screen. HIGHLIGHTS, NOTES, BOOKMARKS Highlight, underline, and attach a note. Browse every highlight across your whole library in one place, share a quote as a card, or export to Markdown, PDF, or Readwise. YOUR READING, IN NUMBERS Daily goals, a yearly books goal, streaks, and milestone badges. An hourly heatmap shows when you read best. Monthly and yearly recaps, plus a story-style Reading Wrap that turns your year into cards worth sharing. AND THE REST Home screen and lock screen widgets. Dictionary and translation. Full-text search and a nested table of contents. iCloud sync, so you resume on the exact line on any device. Right-to-left and Japanese vertical text. A page curl, if you want one. Free for 14 days, then a subscription or a lifetime purchase, both with Family Sharing. Available in 18 languages. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://justread.app/en/privacy_policy

Screenshots

Calibre View4 screens
EPUB Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Calibre View at none against EPUB Reader's 7. Calibre View also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). EPUB Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 6 weeks) and review sentiment (89% vs 67%). 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. EPUB Reader sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Calibre View asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Calibre View holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EPUB Reader has 36 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of Calibre View's written reviews are positive against 89% of EPUB Reader's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calibre View ships an update every 6 weeks, EPUB Reader every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Calibre View versus EPUB Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalibre ViewEPUB Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better4.7 (36 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews88.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings436 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.118.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB124 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDANIEL EDWARD LAMSONPETR JAHODA

Customer experience

Calibre View

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

EPUB Reader

All ratings36 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral2.8%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive88.9%
Neutral3.7%
Negative7.4%

In-app purchases

None

Calibre View

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

EPUB Reader

Subscriptions5
  • Monthly Premium14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Monthly Premium$4.991 Month
  • Yearly – Launch Price7 Days trial$12.491 Year
Show 2 more
  • Yearly Premium14 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Yearly Premium$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime – Launch Price$29.99
  • Lifetime Premium$79.99

Questions

Is Calibre View free?
Calibre View is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is EPUB Reader free?
EPUB Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Calibre View or EPUB Reader?
Calibre View is rated higher. Calibre View averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while EPUB Reader averages 4.7 from 36 ratings.
Do Calibre View or EPUB Reader have ads?
Neither Calibre View nor EPUB Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Calibre View or EPUB Reader?
Calibre View ships an update every 6 weeks, and EPUB Reader every 5 days. Most recently, Calibre View was updated on September 20, 2026 and EPUB Reader on September 23, 2026.

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