Comparison

UniReader vs iRead

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

Head to head
About

UniReader

Features
Read full description

UniReader 1.16.2 UniReader opens what other apps refuse. PDF, EPUB, DjVu, CHM, MOBI, AZW3, PRC, FB2, LIT, CBZ/CBR, DOC, DOCX, RTF, TXT and Markdown: 15 formats in one library. No more juggling apps. --- READ WITHOUT FRICTION --- The real problem isn't reading. It's everything that interrupts it: the wrong format, an awkward import, a lost page. UniReader exists to remove that friction. Open. Read. Pick up exactly where you left off. --- WHAT YOU GET --- A real library 20 books or 20,000: the library stays fast and organized. Grid or list, covers, folders, collections, search. Filter by format and import over your local network. Comfortable reading Light, Night, Sepia and Paper themes; adjustable fonts and margins. EPUB in two columns, PDF full screen, your exact place restored. Markdown, read and written Markdown files open fully formatted: headings, tables, task lists, syntax-highlighted code, footnotes and formulas, in your reading theme. Create a new document in any folder and write it in the app. Serious annotations Highlights, bookmarks, handwritten notes, export to PDF or PNG. Optional cloud sync for your progress and bookmarks. Catalogs and import OPDS catalogs (Gutenberg, Wikisource and more), import from a browser on the same Wi-Fi network. Shortcuts actions, and your books show up in system search. --- WHO IT IS FOR --- For anyone with hundreds of books in ten formats who just wants to read them. For the person who annotates technical manuals in the morning and novels at night, and refuses to run two separate apps. For researchers, students and avid readers: anyone who reads seriously and wants a tool that keeps up. --- ACCESS --- Free plan DRM-free PDF, EPUB and TXT reading, plus the first 7 pages of FB2 books, with the essential library tools. Free forever: try it with no commitment. Premium Every format, cloud sync, advanced annotations, reading statistics and sync with UniReader on your computer. Try Premium free for 10 days: you won't be charged when the trial ends. --- PRIVACY --- Your documents stay on your device. No account required, no server. No tracking, no analytics, no data collection. UniReader doesn't know what you read. By design. Less friction. More reading. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

iRead

Features
Read full description

iRead is a calm reader for people learning a language through real texts. Bring in a book, an article or a PDF in the language you're learning, read at your own pace, translate unfamiliar words with a tap, and keep them in a personal vocabulary. READ ANYTHING - Books in FB2 (including fb2.zip), EPUB and TXT โ€” with the author, italics and bold preserved - Articles and notes in Markdown - PDFs: select text right on the page and translate it. Each PDF remembers its language pair, the page and the zoom you left it at - Pages of paper books: take a photo and the text is recognized automatically - Pasted text and anything shared from other apps TRANSLATION WITHOUT THE INTERNET - Translation runs on your device โ€” fast and private - Any pair of system-supported languages: you choose what you read and what you translate into - Language packs download once; after that everything works offline YOUR READING DAY - The Library opens with your day: how long you read and how many words you saved - A reading diary: each day shows the time you spent, the books you read and the words you kept - Reading rhythm: a gentle plan for each language โ€” say, English on weekdays, 20 minutes. See it fill up in Today and across the week, with an optional reminder that opens the book you're reading. No streaks A PERSONAL VOCABULARY, WITH REVIEW - Save words and phrases together with the sentence you found them in - Categories, favorites and search - Review that goes through your whole vocabulary: every word comes up in turn, and the ones you missed come back a little sooner - Short sessions of up to ten words for each language โ€” you only ever answer "Knew it" or "Didn't know" - Fresh words: what you saved in the last few days gets its own short session, all your languages together - An optional reminder the morning after you save words, at a time you choose - Hard words show how many times you didn't remember each one - Quiet statistics, no streaks - Saved words are gently underlined as you read, so what you've learned shows up in the text itself - Word hints: the translation of words you're still learning can appear right above them in the text, and disappears once you know the word COMFORTABLE READING - Book-style typesetting: justified text, chapter headings, and hyphenation that follows the language of the book - Page breaks: a quiet line about once a screen gives long chapters a rhythm - Six themes: four warm paper tones, a clean White, and E-reader โ€” a calm gray screen with its own book typeface, Literata โ€” plus a dark mode - Seven text sizes on top of the system setting - Tapping a book picks up right where you left off โ€” straight to your last chapter, with the contents one swipe back - Reading Now keeps started books close at hand - In the PDF reader the page lies on paper, and one tap hides the panels ON IPAD - Translation appears in a small popover right next to the word, so the page stays readable around it - Your library, vocabulary and settings sit in a comfortable reading column on a large screen - PDFs in landscape fill the width of the screen and stay sharp; turning the iPad keeps your place SYNC AND PRIVACY - Your library and vocabulary sync across your devices through iCloud - Data lives in your private iCloud database; translation never leaves the device - No accounts, no ads, no tracking

Screenshots

UniReader4 screens
iRead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: iRead at none against UniReader's 3. iRead also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 8 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. UniReader sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. iRead asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UniReader ships an update every 8 days, iRead every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
UniReader versus iRead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUniReaderiRead
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 8 daysEvery 2 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size17 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGuglielmo PasaMykhailo Tykhonov

In-app purchases

3 purchases

UniReader

Subscriptions2
  • UniReader Premium Monthly$2.991 Month
  • UniReader Premium Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • UniReader Premium Lifetime$59.99
None

iRead

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is UniReader free?
UniReader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is iRead free?
iRead is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do UniReader or iRead have ads?
Neither UniReader nor iRead shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UniReader or iRead?
UniReader ships an update every 8 days, and iRead every 2 days. Most recently, UniReader was updated on November 7, 2026 and iRead on November 10, 2026.

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