Comparison

Ghost Reader Live vs Open Citadel

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

Head to head
About

Ghost Reader Live

This app transforms documents and web content into spoken audio using on-device voices. Listen privately while following along with highlighted text, with options to adjust speed, navigate, and use lock-screen controls. A free tier offers limited daily listening, with premium options for unlimited access.

Highlights
  • On-device TTS narration
  • Focus mode with highlighting and auto-scroll
  • Adjustable listening speed (0.5x to 2x)
  • Document navigation and resume playback
  • Lock-screen and headphone controls
  • Sleep timer and MP3 export
  • Privacy-focused, no account required
Features
Read full description

Turn reading into listening — privately. Ghost Reader narrates PDFs, EPUBs, web articles, Markdown, and plain-text files with natural on-device voices. Import a document or paste a link, then listen while following the text in Focus mode. YOUR DOCUMENTS STAY WITH YOU Narration is generated on your iPhone. Your documents, extracted text, and audio are not sent to our servers. No account is required. MADE FOR LISTENING • Follow along with sentence highlighting and auto-scroll • Pick a voice and adjust listening speed from 0.5× to 2× • Navigate to any part of a document and resume where you stopped • Use lock-screen and headphone play/pause controls when narration is ready • Set a sleep timer or export narration as an MP3 FREE TO START Enjoy 30 minutes of narration each day for free. Upgrade through the App Store for unlimited listening with Monthly or Lifetime Access. Requires iPhone 12 or newer. Privacy Policy: https://bighippolabs.com/page-ghostreader/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://bighippolabs.com/page-ghostreader/terms.html

About

Open Citadel

Features
Read full description

A book only changes you when you act on it. Most reading apps end when you close the book. Open Citadel starts there. It is your citadel of knowledge and self-development: one Library for the books, podcasts and blogs you learn from, and a way to act on what you learn. One Library for everything you learn from Books, podcasts and blogs sit side by side. Move between them in one tap. Free books from Project Gutenberg Browse Gutenberg's shelves, search its catalogue, and download books in the public domain in the United States. Readers outside the US should check the law where they live before they read. Podcasts you can finish Follow shows, search podcast charts and directories, and download episodes. The player has speed control, a sleep timer, chapters and show notes with seekable timestamps. Import your AntennaPod library and keep your place in every episode. Blogs, read in the reader Follow a blog by its feed or web address, or choose from a curated directory. Each post opens in the reader, so you can highlight it, tag it and talk it through with Samwell, just as you would a book. Highlight it. Keep it. Use it. Every highlight, note and tag is saved to your Timeline, a dated record of what you have learned. Samwell, your reading companion Samwell helps you set up your Library, talks through what you read, and turns what you want to change into a goal made of small steps. He checks in using your logs and highlights, so his advice is about your life, not someone else's. On-device Samwell runs on your phone, so he works without a connection. Compass counts consistency, not streaks Log a few minutes a day. Compass measures how often you show up, so one missed day never wipes out the rest. The whole cycle, in one app Read. Highlight. Set a goal. Log it. When the goal ends, Samwell writes down what it taught you, so the next one starts smarter. We assume you can decide what matters. Open Citadel helps you act on it. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.open-citadel.online/privacy

Screenshots

Ghost Reader Live3 screens
Open Citadel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Open Citadel at none against Ghost Reader Live's 2. On price, update cadence, 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. Ghost Reader Live sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Open Citadel asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Ghost Reader Live versus Open Citadel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGhost Reader LiveOpen Citadel
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size343 MB95 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJan AncajasThamsanqa Ncube

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Ghost Reader Live

Subscriptions1
  • Ghost Reader$1.991 Month
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$19.99
None

Open Citadel

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ghost Reader Live free?
Ghost Reader Live is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Open Citadel free?
Open Citadel is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Ghost Reader Live or Open Citadel have ads?
Neither Ghost Reader Live nor Open Citadel shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ghost Reader Live or Open Citadel?
Ghost Reader Live ships an update fortnightly, and Open Citadel fortnightly. Most recently, Ghost Reader Live was updated on October 31, 2026 and Open Citadel on October 31, 2026.

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