Comparison

Clarify vs BeyondRead

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

Head to head
About

Clarify

Features
Read full description

Difficult books are worth reading. Dense prose, unfamiliar ideas, and older language should not keep great books out of reach. Clarify is an AI ebook reader for iPhone and iPad that helps you understand challenging books without leaving the page. Browse 100+ included classics, follow a guided philosophy path, or import your own EPUB. Read the original—not a summary. Ask for help only when you need it, compare clearer wording with the original, and keep reading. AUTO SIMPLIFY AS YOU READ Turn on Simplify and clearer wording appears directly in the reader as you move through the book. Clarify works progressively, paragraph by paragraph, and is designed to preserve the book’s structure and formatting. The original text is always one tap away. SIMPLIFY A PASSAGE Select a difficult sentence or part of a paragraph to see the same idea in clearer language. Switch between the simplified version and the original whenever you want. EXPLAIN THE IDEA Need more than a rewrite? Select a passage for a short answer followed by a fuller explanation informed by nearby text and book context. Understand the idea—not just the words. 100+ CLASSICS—OR YOUR OWN BOOKS Browse and download more than 100 classics across fiction, science, philosophy, history, poetry, adventure, and drama. Already have something you want to understand? Import your own EPUB files and use the same Simplify and Explain tools. GUIDED PHILOSOPHY PATHS Not sure where to begin? Clarify recommends a starting book and related works to explore next: • Understand Stoicism—six essential works featuring Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca • Ethics & the Good Life • Power & Government MADE FOR FOCUSED READING • Reading progress saved automatically • Table of contents and chapter navigation • Adjustable text size • Light, dark, and system themes • Downloaded and imported books stored on your device • Core reading works offline • No account required Stay with the original. Get help when you need it. Keep reading.

About

BeyondRead

This app is an EPUB and PDF reader that includes a library of over 20,000 public-domain classics. It offers AI-powered features to explain, translate, or discuss any sentence within a book, and can generate concise AI Digests of entire books. All reading data is stored locally for enhanced privacy.

Highlights
  • AI sentence explanation, translation, and chat
  • AI book digests
  • Library of 20,000+ public-domain classics
  • EPUB, PDF, and MOBI support
  • Local-first data storage
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Quote card creation and sharing
Features
Read full description

BeyondRead is a local-first ebook reader for your own EPUB, PDF and MOBI files, now with a built-in library of nearly 20,000 public-domain classics. Listen to any book in a lifelike voice, and keep reading from the exact sentence where listening stopped. Select any sentence and ask AI to explain it, translate it, or keep the conversation going in the context of the book. AI Digest turns a whole book into an article you can read in a few minutes. BROWSE (NEW) • Nearly 20,000 public-domain classics in over 40 languages, free to download and keep • Shelves of great books, browsing by language and genre, and a "Surprise Me" pick • Search by title, author or subject, with several words in any order LISTEN (NEW) • Tap the headphones: the free System Voice reads any book on your device and highlights the sentence being read • Premium Voice: a lifelike female or male voice in 10 languages. Try 5 minutes of any book first • Reading and listening stay in sync: turn pages freely, then jump back to where it is reading or start from the page you are on • Say "Hey Reader" while listening to stop and ask about the book; the answer is read aloud • Speed from 0.5x to 2x, sleep timer, lock-screen controls; what you have heard stays on the device for offline listening, and the whole book can be downloaded • Premium Voice sends the text being read to our narration provider to generate the audio; the text is not stored READ • EPUB, PDF and MOBI (MOBI is converted to EPUB on import), on iPhone and iPad • Full-page bookmarks with notes; every book reopens where you left off • Quote cards in three styles: save them to Photos or share them • In-book search, table of contents, adjustable font size and background • Reading, bookmarks, quotes and search need no account ASK AI ABOUT ANY SENTENCE • Translate, Explain and Chat, with as many follow-up questions as you like • Only the passage you select and about 300 characters around it are sent, never the whole book • Translation, explanation and chat on the same passage merge into one highlight you can reopen AI DIGEST • Built from the title, the author, the real table of contents extracted on your device, and roughly the first 200 characters of each chapter • The full text is never uploaded; scanned PDFs and DRM-protected books cannot be digested • You are notified when a digest is ready PRIVACY • Books, bookmarks, quotes, reading positions and AI history live only on your device; our server stores no book content • AI can be switched off entirely, and then nothing leaves the device PLANS • Reading is free, and so is the public-domain library • AI features require signing in (Sign in with Apple) • AI translation is free and does not use your allowance (a fair-use monthly limit applies) • Free plan: 30 AI chats and 3 AI Digests every month • Pro (new): 15 hours of Premium Voice every month for any supported book, with no per-book purchase, plus 300 AI chats and 30 AI Digests a month, 10 times the free plan. Monthly or yearly; the yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Pro renews automatically, is charged to your Apple ID and can be cancelled at any time in Settings; prices are shown in the app • Premium Voice can also be bought for a single book in one voice, sized to the book's length (5 to 200 hours). It is a one-time purchase, not a subscription LANGUAGES • Interface in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, German and Russian • The AI reply language can be set separately Questions or suggestions? Use "Report a Problem" in the app or visit the support page. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ BeyondRead Terms of Use: https://beyondread.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://beyondread.app/privacy

Screenshots

Clarify4 screens
BeyondRead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Clarify at none against BeyondRead's 10. Clarify also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). BeyondRead's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly). On price, ads and device support 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. BeyondRead sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Clarify asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Clarify ships an update monthly, BeyondRead every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Clarify versus BeyondRead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClarifyBeyondRead
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB17 MB
Age rating4+9+
Developer1553050 B.C. LTD.章 刘

In-app purchases

None

Clarify

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

BeyondRead

Subscriptions3
  • Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Plus Yearly7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time7
  • Premium Voice · 5 hours$2.99
  • AI Top-Up · Large$4.99
  • Premium Voice · 15 hours$6.99
Show 4 more
  • Premium Voice · 25 hours$13.99
  • Premium Voice · 50 hours$27.99
  • Premium Voice · 100 hours$54.99
  • Premium Voice · 200 hours$109.99

Questions

Is Clarify free?
Clarify is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BeyondRead free?
BeyondRead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Clarify or BeyondRead have ads?
Neither Clarify nor BeyondRead shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Clarify or BeyondRead?
Clarify ships an update monthly, and BeyondRead every 5 days. Most recently, Clarify was updated on November 5, 2026 and BeyondRead on November 6, 2026.

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