Comparison

VerseDB vs Plain Reader

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

Head to head
About

VerseDB

Manage your comic book pull list, track your entire collection, and discover new series. Organize issues, monitor reading progress, and find local comic shops. Join a community of fans to share reviews and recommendations.

Highlights
  • Pull list management
  • Collection tracking
  • Reading progress tracker
  • Custom list creation
  • Comic discovery
  • Comic shop locator
  • Community reviews
Features
Read full description

Scan a comic, know what you are holding, and keep track of every issue you own. VerseDB is free to use, with no limit on how many comics you track. Scan the barcode Point your camera at a comic and it is in your collection in seconds. VerseDB reads the extra digits printed beside the barcode, which are what tell issue 3 of a run from issue 30, so a scan lands on the exact issue rather than the series. Scan a stack in one go and confirm each book before it is added. No barcode? Scan or upload the cover and Pro's cover recognition finds the issue. Scan also tells you when a comic is already in your collection. Your last 12 scans stay a tap away under Recent scans. Photograph a CGC, CBCS, PGX or PSA slab and Pro fills in the grader, grade and cert number for a graded copy. Know what is worth something First appearances, deaths and origins are flagged on the issue itself, so a long box stops hiding its best books. See what your whole collection is worth, free. With Pro, see estimated values low, mid and high, prices by grade, values by variant cover, and graded census data. Pro also charts your collection's market value over time and suggests a value for each copy at its grade. Stop buying it twice Check what you already own while you are standing at the back issue bins, and see which issues are still missing from the runs you collect. If you have been keeping your collection in a spreadsheet, this replaces it. Widgets, Apple Watch and Siri Your pull list on your wrist, with a complication for the watch face. Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for iPhone and iPad. Ask Siri what your next release is, whether you own an issue, or to add a series to your pull list. Your series turn up in Spotlight too. Never miss new comic day Browse upcoming releases week by week, filter by publisher or format, and add a series to your pull list with one tap. Live crowdfunding campaigns show up on the series, issues and publishers they belong to, with a screen of every campaign that's live, and once a campaign ends its series still shows whether it funded. The whole catalog Over 1 million issues, 154,000 series, 168,000 characters and 87,000 creators from 9,800 publishers, major and independent. Western comics, manga, manhwa, manhua and bande dessinée, from single issues to omnibuses. Series pages show manga serialization and every series a magazine ran. Track your reading Mark an issue read with one tap, work through a run or a crossover, and set a reading goal for the year. Each series you read gets its own stats, and Pro adds your year in review. Lists, reviews and collectors Build your own lists, keep a wishlist of what you are hunting with its order cutoffs and release dates, and browse reading orders from other collectors. Rate any issue from half a star to five and see what people thought before starting a new series. Like and discuss what other collectors are up to in the community feed. Find a comic shop 5,000 shops across 31 countries on a map, with hours, directions and the ones you save. Plus comic cons near you, and podcasts worth following. What Pro adds Market values by issue and grade, collection and reading statistics, smart lists that build themselves, cover recognition, and the VerseAI assistant. Everything above is free. Built by collectors, because the details matter: the variant cover, the first appearance, the issue you still need. Privacy Policy: https://versedb.com/policy/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Plain Reader

This app provides a distraction-free reading experience for various file formats including EPUB, TXT, PDF, and comics. It allows direct access to files from cloud storage or external drives without importing or creating copies, offering customizable reading settings and text-to-speech functionality.

Highlights
  • Read directly from Files, iCloud Drive, USB
  • Customizable text and theme settings
  • Text-to-speech in 31 languages
  • Supports ZIP and CBZ archives
  • Right-to-left reading for manga
  • PDF text selection and search
  • Distraction-free reading interface
Features
Read full description

Plain Reader opens your books, PDFs, comics and image folders right where they are — in Files, iCloud Drive, or on a USB drive or external SSD. No account, no import, no copies. READ, NOTHING ELSE • Menus stay hidden while you read. Tap the center to bring them back. • Pages fill the screen. Swipe, tap the sides, or drag the slider to jump anywhere. • Turn your iPhone or iPad sideways for two-page spreads, with the cover on its own. • Turn pages with a Bluetooth page turner or a keyboard. TXT AND EPUB • Choose the font, size, line spacing, margins and theme — pages reflow to fit. • Listen: books in 31 languages are read aloud by natural voices made on your device. • Table of contents, search and bookmarks. TXT text encoding is detected automatically. COMICS AND MANGA • Opens ZIP and CBZ archives without unpacking them — even ones with thousands of pages. • Right-to-left reading for manga. • A folder of images opens as one book. PDF • Sharp pages, search, table of contents, thumbnails and text selection. • Two-page spreads on wide screens. YOUR FILES STAY YOURS • Files are read in place and never uploaded anywhere. • Bookmarks and your reading position are kept for every book. • Works with iCloud Drive and external storage through the Files app. PLAIN READER PRO Plain Reader is free with a small banner ad. Watch one short video ad to read without banner ads for 2 hours, or to use Listen for 1 hour. Plain Reader Pro removes all ads and adds unlimited Listen, Auto Page Turn, and blocking the apps you pick while you read. Choose a Monthly or Yearly subscription — Yearly starts with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers — or a one-time Lifetime purchase. Restore it on your iPhone and iPad with the same Apple Account. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel them in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://ourbeom.com/plainreader/terms Privacy Policy: https://ourbeom.com/plainreader/privacy

Screenshots

VerseDB4 screens
Plain Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Plain Reader at every 3 days against VerseDB's every 6 days. VerseDB's advantage is iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. VerseDB sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.00 per month and Plain Reader sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VerseDB ships an update every 6 days, Plain Reader every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
VerseDB versus Plain Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVerseDBPlain Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB45 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperReggio Digital LLCOurBeom

Customer experience

VerseDB

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Plain Reader

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

VerseDB

Subscriptions2
  • VerseDB Pro Monthly$6.001 Month
  • VerseDB Pro Yearly7 Days trial$60.001 Year
4 purchases

Plain Reader

Subscriptions2
  • Plain Reader Pro (Monthly)$0.991 Month
  • Plain Reader Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$6.991 Year
One-time2
  • Plain Reader Pro$2.99
  • Plain Reader Pro (Lifetime)$12.99

Questions

Is VerseDB free?
VerseDB is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Plain Reader free?
Plain Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do VerseDB or Plain Reader have ads?
Both VerseDB and Plain Reader show ads.
Which is updated more often, VerseDB or Plain Reader?
VerseDB ships an update every 6 days, and Plain Reader every 3 days. Most recently, VerseDB was updated on November 5, 2026 and Plain Reader on November 1, 2026.

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