leaf vs ZRead
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
leaf
This app offers a natural reading experience with customizable scroll options and an integrated read-aloud feature. Access a vast library of free classics or import your own documents. Enjoy a distraction-free environment with no ads or intrusive elements.
- Natural vertical scroll and page curl
- Read-aloud narration with line highlighting
- Access to 70,000+ free classic books
- Import EPUB, PDF, and Markdown files
- Customizable themes, fonts, and spacing
- Organized library with shelves and filters
- Ad-free and distraction-free reading experience
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Scroll naturally. Read deeply. leaf is a reading app built for your phone. Read on your own, or let leaf read to you. Read with a natural vertical scroll, or turn pages with a page curl when you want a more traditional feel. leaf flows through your book the way your thumb already moves. When your attention keeps sliding off the page, tap play. leaf sets a gentle pace and lights up each line as you go. Turn on the voice and it reads the page aloud while you follow along, or lock your phone and keep listening. Narration uses the voices built into your iPhone, so it's free and unlimited, works offline, and your books never leave your phone. Browse and download over 70,000 free books from Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks: classic literature, philosophy, fiction, and more. Import your own EPUB, PDF, and Markdown files too. No reading streaks. No goals. No ads. No noise. Just you and the book. READ ALONG AND NARRATION - Tap play and leaf sets the pace, lighting each line as you read - Turn on the voice and leaf reads the page aloud as the highlight follows - Free and unlimited: no hours to count, no account to make - Runs on your iPhone, works offline, and never uploads your books - Keeps reading with the screen locked. Pause, play, or skip back 15 seconds from the lock screen or your headphones - Picks a voice in your book's language. Apple's Enhanced and Premium voices are a free download and sound the most natural - Change the speed any time, pause with a tap, or step back a sentence - Works with every reading flow - Also works for PDFs READER - Three reading flows: Page Curl, Slide, or Continuous scroll - Vertical or horizontal page turns - Light, Dark, System, and E-Ink themes - Bookmarks, highlights, and notes - Multi-paragraph highlighting and sharing - Search within any book - Typefaces including Classic, Modern, Lexend, and Atkinson Hyperlegible - Adjust font size, spacing, and text density - Set a reading intention for each book - An exportable Reading Journal is created automatically when you highlight text or write a note PDFs - Read PDFs with the same reading flows as books - Pages follow your theme automatically, in light or dark - Columns are detected and shown one at a time, so the text is bigger and you never scroll sideways to read a line LIBRARY - Organise books into shelves, grouped into sections you can collapse - Filter by shelf, intention, or reading status - Sort by title, author, last opened, or shelf - View books as Grid or List - Search your entire library - Drop supported book files into the leaf folder and they'll appear in your library automatically - Use iCloud to share books between devices - Continue reading from your current book with the Home Screen widget FREE BOOKS - Browse and download from Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks - Over 70,000 free classic and public domain titles - The Call of the Wild is included, so you can start reading straight away - Import your own EPUB, PDF, and Markdown files - Supports multiple file and folder import LEAF PRO - Six more themes: Sepia, Ivory, Mist, Forest, Midnight, and Amber Night - Design up to six custom themes of your own - Three more typefaces (Literata, Spectral, and Merriweather) or import your own - Line, paragraph, and letter spacing - Sync your library across devices - Sync reading progress, highlights, notes, bookmarks, shelves, and Reading Journal entries Privacy Policy: https://readleaf.co/legal Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
ZRead
A versatile reader for ebooks, PDFs, and comics. Supports numerous file formats including EPUB, MOBI, and CBZ. Offers a clean reading experience with privacy in mind.
- EPUB, PDF, TXT, FB2, MOBI, AZW support
- CBZ, CBR, CB7 comic format support
- Custom source integration
- Privacy-focused design
- Clean reading interface
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Read ebooks, PDFs, and comics with ZRead. ZRead supports EPUB, PDF, TXT, FB2, MOBI, AZW, and comic formats including CBZ, CBR, and CB7. Privacy: https://zread.app/privacy Terms: https://zread.app/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: leaf at 3.4 against ZRead's 3.0. leaf also leads on ratings volume (7 vs 2). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. leaf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and ZRead sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
leaf holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 2 respectively.
leaf ships an update weekly, ZRead every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | leaf | ZRead |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (7 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 85 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Abraham Jesri | 光泽 赖 |
In-app purchases
leaf
- Leaf Pro7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Leaf Pro7 Days trial$12.991 Year
ZRead
- ZRead Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
- ZRead Pro Yearly$6.991 Year
- Founding Member$6.99
- ZRead Pro Lifetime$12.99








