Comparison

Folio vs Libra reader

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

Head to head
About

Folio

Features
Read full description

Meet Ollie, your reading companion — and discover 75,000+ free books inside the most beautiful reading app on iOS. Folio makes reading feel like holding a real book. Warm cream pages, elegant serif fonts, realistic page turns, and a cozy reading experience designed for people who love books — not just screens. FREE BOOKS, BUILT RIGHT IN Browse 75,000+ public domain classics from Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks. Frankenstein, Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, Romeo and Juliet — all free, all beautifully formatted, all yours to keep. - Browse by genre: Fiction, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Romance, Philosophy, History, and more - One-tap download to your personal library - New books added regularly - No subscriptions. No hidden fees. Just great books. READING THAT FEELS REAL Every detail is designed to bring back the joy of physical books: - Warm cream, parchment, night, and midnight themes - Choose your font: Lora, Merriweather, Georgia, Literata, and more - Realistic page curl, smooth slide, or gentle fade transitions - Adjustable font size, spacing, and margins - Import your own EPUB and PDF files HIGHLIGHTS & NOTES YOU'LL ACTUALLY USE Never lose a great passage again: - Color-coded highlights (2 free, 7 with Premium) - Add notes to any highlight - Notes Hub: browse all highlights across all books in one place - Export to Notion, Obsidian, Apple Notes, or Markdown (Premium) SAVE ARTICLES FOR LATER Read web articles in Folio's beautiful reading view: - Save from Safari with the Share Sheet - Articles stripped clean — no ads, no clutter - Read offline, highlight, and take notes just like books MEET OLLIE Ollie the owl is your friendly reading companion. He'll help you find your next book, celebrate your milestones, and keep your reading life organized — without ever guilt-tripping you. FOLIO PREMIUM — $4.99, ONE TIME Unlock everything with a single purchase. No subscription. No recurring charges. - All 7 highlight colors - Smart highlight collections and tags - Export notes - Custom reading themes - Shelf view (wooden bookshelf) - Advanced reading stats and annual report - Custom OPDS catalog support - Unlimited Read It Later articles Download Folio free. Read beautifully. Keep your ideas forever.

About

Libra reader

Features
Read full description

Libra is a modern ebook reader and library manager for iPhone and iPad. Read the books you already own — from your device, your cloud storage, or any OPDS catalog — and keep your reading progress, highlights and notes in sync across all your devices. Key features • All major ebook formats • Read from device, cloud storage and OPDS catalogs • Comfortable, fully customizable reading • Highlights, notes and bookmarks • On-device translation • Reading sync across your devices Ebook formats • EPUB • PDF • FictionBook (fb2, fb2.zip) • MobiPocket and Kindle (mobi, azw3) • Comic Book (cbz) • Word (docx) • Markdown, HTML and plain text (md, html, txt) Your books, your storage • Locally on the device • In cloud storage: iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Yandex Disk • From OPDS catalogs and online libraries you choose • Add your own catalog, for example a Calibre content server over OPDS Comfortable reading • Light, Sepia and Dark themes • Paginated (swipe) or continuous scroll • Serif, sans-serif and monospace fonts • Adjustable font size, line height, paragraph spacing, margins, letter spacing and text alignment • Device-independent reading position that transfers correctly across screens and devices • Table of contents navigation Highlights, notes and bookmarks • Highlight passages in four colors • Attach notes to your highlights • Bookmark any page • Share and export your notes and highlights as text Library management • Organize books into custom collections • Browse by folders across all your sources • Search your library • Automatic cover and metadata extraction • Track reading status and progress, and mark books finished • Rate and review your books • Back up and restore your library Translation • Translate selected text right in the reader • Translation runs on your device — nothing leaves it Sync across your devices (Pro) • Sync your library, reading position, progress, highlights, notes, bookmarks, reviews and collections • Syncs privately through your own iCloud account — we run no server and never hold your data ——— Support: support@libra-reader.com Privacy Policy: https://libra-reader.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://libra-reader.com/terms

Screenshots

Folio4 screens
Libra reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

Folio and Libra reader are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Folio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Libra reader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Folio versus Libra reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFolioLibra reader
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Every 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.2
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLaxman ShahSergei Mikhailov

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Folio

One-time1
  • Folio Plus Lifetime$4.99
2 purchases

Libra reader

Subscriptions2
  • Libra Pro – Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Libra Pro – Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Folio free?
Folio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Libra reader free?
Libra reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Folio or Libra reader have ads?
Neither Folio nor Libra reader shows ads.

Other comparisons