Comparison

leaf vs ZRead

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

Head to head
About

leaf

This app offers a natural reading experience with customizable scrolling and page-turning options. Access thousands of free ebooks or import your own EPUB and PDF files. Organize your library, take notes, and create a personal reading journal.

Highlights
  • Vertical and horizontal scrolling
  • Import EPUB and PDF files
  • Access Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks
  • Bookmarks, highlights, and notes
  • Exportable Reading Journal
  • Library organization with shelves
  • iCloud syncing
Features
Read full description

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 (not yet with 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/

About

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.

Highlights
  • EPUB, PDF, TXT, FB2, MOBI, AZW support
  • CBZ, CBR, CB7 comic format support
  • Custom source integration
  • Privacy-focused design
  • Clean reading interface
Features
Read full description

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

leaf4 screens
ZRead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ZRead at 5.0 against leaf's 3.8. leaf's advantage is ratings volume (6 vs 1). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ZRead holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: leaf has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

leaf ships an update weekly, ZRead every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
leaf versus ZRead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterleafZRead
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (6 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617 — better
Further details — not scored
Size76 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAbraham Jesri光泽 赖

In-app purchases

2 purchases

leaf

Subscriptions2
  • Leaf Pro7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Leaf Pro7 Days trial$12.991 Year
4 purchases

ZRead

Subscriptions2
  • ZRead Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
  • ZRead Pro Yearly$6.991 Year
One-time2
  • Founding Member$6.99
  • ZRead Pro Lifetime$12.99

Questions

Is leaf free?
leaf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ZRead free?
ZRead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, leaf or ZRead?
ZRead is rated higher. leaf averages 3.8 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while ZRead averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do leaf or ZRead have ads?
Neither leaf nor ZRead shows ads.
Which is updated more often, leaf or ZRead?
leaf ships an update weekly, and ZRead every 9 days. Most recently, leaf was updated on October 7, 2026 and ZRead on October 17, 2026.

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