Comparison

tsundoku reader vs Bare Reader

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

Head to head
About

tsundoku reader

This app offers a free, universal EPUB reader optimized for quick Japanese reading. It features an integrated, powerful Japanese dictionary and customizable reading settings for an enhanced on-the-go experience.

Highlights
  • Universal EPUB reader
  • Integrated Japanese dictionary
  • Paginated and continuous scroll modes
  • Autosave and progress tracking
  • Customizable font size and themes
  • Toggleable furigana
  • Vertical/horizontal text direction
Features
Read full description

tsundoku reader is the first universal EPUB reader app designed with quick-and-easy Japanese reading at the forefront, for free. Gain access to a powerful Japanese dictionary in milliseconds with the tap of any word. tsundoku is designed to revolutionize on-the-go reading, making any book both quick and convenient. Stop scrolling and start reading today, for free, forever. ______________________ Custom EPUB Reader tsundoku uses a custom EPUB renderer optimized for iOS. Read on your phone similar to a book by using paginated mode, allowing you to swipe between pages as though you’re flipping through, or scroll smoothly through your book with continuous scrolling mode. Powerful Japanese Dictionary Other free reading apps don’t have an integrated dictionary. Specialized reading devices are slow, their dictionaries aren’t thorough, and you always have to carry it with you. With tsundoku, you gain access to JMDict, one of the most complete dictionaries around, in addition to Kanji data from the Kanjidic project, and pitch accents from Wadoku, all in your phone. With the tap of a word, you’ll learn everything there is to know about any word. Autosave and progress tracking tsundoku is designed to be on-the-go. That’s why we prioritize automatic progress saving on every book, always. tsundoku will always track your progress, and wait for you where you last left off. Customizable settings tsundoku is designed to be customizable, to suit your needs for any book in any language. Customize font size, line height, font, paginated and continuous scroll modes, and reader theme. With Japanese, gain access to toggleable furigana, and change between vertical and horizontal text direction. ______________________ Check out the official tsundoku webpage: https://www.evansyu.com/projects/tsundoku Changelog: https://www.evansyu.com/projects/tsundoku/changelog Privacy Policy: https://www.evansyu.com/projects/tsundoku/privacy

About

Bare Reader

Features
Read full description

Bare Reader is a calm, distraction-free way to read your EPUB books on iPhone. No accounts. No ads. No sync nags. No feed pulling you away from the page. Just your library and your books — stored privately on your device. Less than 5MB in size, Bare Reader is as lightweight as it gets. READING, THE WAY IT SHOULD FEEL Open a book and everything else disappears. A clean, paginated reading view lets you move through pages the way that feels natural to you: swipe, tap the edges, or use the on-screen page buttons. PRIVATE BY DESIGN LeafReader works entirely offline. Your books and your reading never leave your device: there's no account to create and no data collected. What you read is nobody's business but yours. Bring your own EPUBs and enjoy a reader that gets out of the way. Bare Reader is completely free to use. If you enjoy the app, you can optionally purchase a one-time license to remove the occasional support reminder. Purchasing doesn't unlock anything or change how the app works; it's simply a way to support ongoing development.

Screenshots

tsundoku reader4 screens
Bare Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: tsundoku reader at none against Bare Reader's 1. Bare Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 5 months). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bare Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. tsundoku reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

tsundoku reader ships an update every 5 months, Bare Reader every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 9, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
tsundoku reader versus Bare Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parametertsundoku readerBare Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size207 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEvans YuNathaniel Rayestu Abdulrachman

In-app purchases

None

tsundoku reader

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Bare Reader

One-time1
  • Support Development$1.99

Questions

Is tsundoku reader free?
tsundoku reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bare Reader free?
Bare Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do tsundoku reader or Bare Reader have ads?
Neither tsundoku reader nor Bare Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, tsundoku reader or Bare Reader?
tsundoku reader ships an update every 5 months, and Bare Reader every 5 days. Most recently, tsundoku reader was updated on October 9, 2026 and Bare Reader on October 9, 2026.

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