BookShelves eBook Reader vs Babel Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BookShelves eBook Reader
This app allows you to read EPUB, PDF, and comic books with access to over 1.5 million free public domain books. Organize your library, customize your reading experience with multiple themes and fonts, and sync your progress across devices.
- 1.5 million+ free books
- EPUB, PDF, and comic reader
- Customizable themes and fonts
- iCloud sync across devices
- Smart library management
- Highlighting and note-taking
- Export highlights
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BookShelves is an EPUB, PDF, and comic book reader with a built-in catalog of 1.5 million free books. Discover public domain classics, organize your digital library, and sync seamlessly across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud (Pro). WHAT READERS SAY "Phenomenal book reading and management app, 'just works'." "My everlasting search for the perfect ePub reader might be coming to an end." "Among the best and actively developed." DISCOVER 1.5 MILLION+ FREE BOOKS • 1.5 million+ classic works — Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, more • 1,100+ premium editions from Standard Ebooks • Internet Archive — millions of historical texts and rare books • 1,200+ Spanish classics from the Biblioteca Nacional de España • 16,000+ Japanese classics from Aozora Bunko • Browse OPDS catalogs from external libraries and servers One tap to download. No account required. POWERFUL READING EXPERIENCE • Paginated or continuous scroll — read your way • 10 themes including Sepia, Dark Academia, Night Sky, and more • 10 bundled fonts including OpenDyslexic for accessible reading • Adjustable line spacing, margins, text justification, and font weight • Highlight in 5 colors and add notes to any passage • Export highlights to Markdown, JSON, or CSV • Dictionary look-up with language detection • Full-text search across chapters • Nested table of contents navigation • Bookmarks (iCloud sync with Pro) • Vertical text (tategaki) for Japanese and CJK books • Right-to-left reading for Arabic, Hebrew, and CJK texts • Full keyboard and trackpad support • Multi-window reading on Mac COMIC BOOKS AND MANGA • CBZ, CBR, and CB7 format support • Two-page spreads for landscape reading • Right-to-left mode for manga with reversed tap zones and swipes • Auto-detected from metadata or toggled manually SEAMLESS ICLOUD SYNC (Pro) • Books and cover images • Reading progress and current page • Shelves, tags, and ratings • Highlights, notes, and bookmarks • Reader preferences (font, theme, layout) Start reading on your iPhone, continue on your iPad, finish on your Mac. SMART LIBRARY MANAGEMENT • Edit metadata -- title, author, series, publisher, ISBN, and cover image • Automatic metadata and cover art fetching • System shelves: All Books, Recently Added, Reading, Finished, Favorites • Custom shelves for any collection • Color-coded tags for categorization • Search and filter by title, author, or tag • Grid and list views • 5-star ratings • Drag-and-drop import, Files app sharing, or OPDS catalogs • EPUB repair — auto-fixes broken navigation and missing metadata • Import from Calibre libraries with best-format selection FORMAT SUPPORT • EPUB — professional rendering with beautiful typography • PDF — native viewer with smooth scrolling and search • CBZ / CBR / CB7 — comic book archives • FB2 — FictionBook 2 format (auto-converts to EPUB) • MOBI / AZW3 / KF8 / KEPUB — auto-converts to EPUB for reading • TXT / Markdown — plain text and Markdown files (auto-converts to EPUB) MAC EXTRAS • Calibre wireless sync — connect KOReader or other devices over Wi-Fi • OPDS server — share your library on your local network PRIVACY FIRST • Your data stays on your devices • No personal data collected • No ads — clean, distraction-free reading • iCloud keeps your library private and secure FREE AND PRO Free: 10 books with all reading features. Pro unlocks unlimited books, iCloud sync, email to Kindle/Kobo/reMarkable, highlight export, and OPDS server. Pro is available as a one-time purchase or subscription (monthly/annual, select regions). Subscriptions auto-renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage subscriptions in Apple ID account settings. Privacy Policy: https://getbookshelves.app/privacy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://getbookshelves.app/terms/ All books from discovery sources are public domain or openly licensed.
Babel Reader
Read EPUB books with a customizable, distraction-free experience. Translate any paragraph instantly on-device, supporting over 20 languages. Organize your library and sync across Apple devices.
- Distraction-free reading experience
- On-device translation for 20+ languages
- Customizable typography and themes
- EPUB 2 & 3 support
- Library organization and iCloud sync
- Read Aloud and Share functionality
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Babel Reader is a clean, distraction-free EPUB reader for iPhone and iPad. Import your books, read with beautifully crafted typography, and translate any paragraph with a single tap — all without sending a single byte to any server. READING EXPERIENCE • Page-by-page layout with smooth swipe navigation • Portrait and landscape support (two-column layout in landscape) • Four reading themes: White, Sepia, Night, and Slate • Five typefaces: Georgia, Palatino, Baskerville, Iowan Old Style, and System • Adjustable text size and line spacing • Each book remembers its own display settings — font, size, line spacing, and theme • Optional hyphenation and text alignment (flush left, justified, flush right, centred) • Clock and chapter progress indicator always visible while you read TRANSLATION • Tap any paragraph to translate it in place • Tap again to restore the original • Translation runs entirely on your device — no text leaves your iPhone or iPad • Supports 20+ languages including Arabic (with full RTL support), Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese • Optional Read Aloud & Share: have the original or the translation read aloud, or share either via any app on your device YOUR LIBRARY • Import EPUB files from Files, Mail, Safari, and any other app that supports Share Sheet • Organise your books into Collections • Grid or list view • Sort by date added, title, author, language, or most recently read • Edit book title, author, and language metadata • iCloud sync: keep your entire library and reading progress in sync across all your Apple devices (optional, uses your private iCloud account) AVAILABLE IN 6 LANGUAGES The app interface is fully localised in English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian. PRIVACY FIRST Babel Reader collects no personal data. It contains no advertising, no analytics, and no third-party tracking of any kind. On-device translation never sends your text to a server. iCloud sync uses only your own private iCloud account — your data is never accessible to the developer. EPUB FORMAT Babel Reader supports EPUB 2 and EPUB 3 files. PDF, MOBI, and AZW3 are not supported in this version.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: BookShelves eBook Reader at Free against Babel Reader's $4.99. BookShelves eBook Reader also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Babel Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and review sentiment (100% vs 66%). On ads, 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
BookShelves eBook Reader is free to download; Babel Reader costs $4.99 up front. BookShelves eBook Reader sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Babel Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
BookShelves eBook Reader ships an update weekly, Babel Reader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BookShelves eBook Reader | Babel Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 3.9 (15 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 65.6% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.4 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | CPE Verm. GmbH | Martin Bocker Dr |
Customer experience
BookShelves eBook Reader
Babel Reader
In-app purchases
BookShelves eBook Reader
- Small Tip$2.99
- Medium Tip$3.99
- Large Tip$8.99
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- Unlock Pro$9.99
Babel Reader
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is BookShelves eBook Reader free?
Is Babel Reader free?
Do BookShelves eBook Reader or Babel Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, BookShelves eBook Reader or Babel Reader?
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