Comparison

Fan Reader vs Trace

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

Head to head
About

Fan Reader

This app offers a streamlined reading experience for web fiction, removing forum clutter to present stories in a clean, book-like format. It allows users to organize their favorite web serials, track reading progress, and search for new content across various platforms.

Highlights
  • Removes forum clutter for focused reading
  • Organizes web fiction stories on a personal shelf
  • Displays cover art, synopsis, and chapter lists
  • Searchable story database
  • Adjustable font size and themes
  • Automatic progress saving
  • Clean chapter navigation
Features
Read full description

Fan Reader is a clean reading app for web fiction fans. If you read stories on SpaceBattles, Sufficient Velocity, Archive of Our Own, Royal Road, FanFiction.Net, or Wildbow's serials, Fan Reader strips away the forum clutter and gives you a focused, book-like reading experience. WHAT IT DOES - Unified library — Add stories from SB, SV, Royal Road, AO3, and FFN to one bookshelf - Beautiful reading — Dark, Light, and Eye Care themes with adjustable font, size, and line spacing - Smart search — Find stories across SB, SV, RR, and AO3 with one search, or browse AO3's full catalog with filters - Full FFN support — Paste any FanFiction.Net URL for a clean, ad-free reading experience on the platform's worst-designed mobile site - Chapter navigation — Quick chapter list, next/prev buttons, reading progress tracking - Paste any URL — Drop a story link from any supported platform and start reading instantly - Chapter preloading — Faster page turns on all platforms - No account required — Everything stored locally on your device Fan Reader doesn't store or cache story content on any server. Stories load directly from their original platforms through your device.

About

Trace

This app helps you track your fanfiction reading progress and organize your favorite stories. It allows you to save works, add notes, and categorize them for easy retrieval. Keep a private record of what you've read, loved, or dropped across supported archives.

Highlights
  • Track reading progress
  • Organize fanfiction by status
  • Add private notes and tags
  • Search and filter by fandom
  • Integrates with AO3 and FanFiction.net
  • Create reading collections
Features
Read full description

Don't settle for storing your fanfiction in open tabs, bookmarks, and your patchy memory. Trace is a private reading library for the fanfiction you read on AO3, FanFiction.net, and elsewhere. It remembers every story you save, the chapter you stopped on, and why you loved it or dropped it. REMEMBER EVERY FIC • Track Saved, Reading, Caught Up, Paused, Finished, and Dropped story status. • Keep chapter progress, ratings, private notes, and personal tags together. • Search by title, author, fandom, relationship, character, status, tag, and more. • Build private or shareable collections for favourites, recommendation lists, and reading projects. WORKS WHERE YOU READ The included Safari extension works on AO3 and FanFiction.net pages. Save stories in a tap, recognise works already in your library, see chapter progress, and change reading status without leaving the archive. FIND IT AGAIN Search and filter your complete library so that you never lose a fic you've read before. SAVE FILTERS Save common filter combinations you use on AO3 so that you can apply them again with a tap. ONE LIBRARY, EVERYWHERE Your library is available on iPhone, iPad, the web, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, so it stays with you wherever you have internet access. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Trace does not ask for your AO3 or FanFiction.net password, does not store story text, and does not sell reader data. Your library is private unless you deliberately share a collection. WANT TO READ OFFLINE? Trace — Offline EPUB Reader is a separate free app for reading downloaded AO3 EPUBs on your device in a reader built for fanfiction. Connect both apps to a free Trace account and they share one library you can access anywhere. FREE TO START Trace is free for libraries of up to 100 stories. Trace Unlimited removes the limit for a cheap monthly or yearly subscription. Your local subscription price is shown before purchase. Trace is an unofficial companion and is not affiliated with Archive of Our Own, the Organization for Transformative Works, FanFiction.net, or FictionPress. The extension is source-available: https://github.com/tracefiction/trace-browser-extension End User License Agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Fan Reader4 screens
Trace4 screens

Verdict

The call

Fan Reader and Trace both sit at 4.2 stars, but that hides the real split: 80% of Fan Reader's written reviews are positive against 0% of Trace's. Fan Reader also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2). Trace's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Trace sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Fan Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Fan Reader against 4.3 for Trace. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 3 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of Fan Reader's written reviews are positive against 0% of Trace's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fan Reader ships an update every 3 weeks, Trace every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 11, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Fan Reader versus Trace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFan ReaderTrace
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (5 ratings)4.3 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings5 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB2 MB
Age rating12+12+
Developer成文 郑ZACHARY SAMUEL LAMBERT

Customer experience

Fan Reader

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

Trace

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Fan Reader

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Trace

Subscriptions2
  • Trace Unlimited Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Trace Unlimited Yearly$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Fan Reader free?
Fan Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Trace free?
Trace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Fan Reader or Trace?
Trace is rated higher. Fan Reader averages 4.2 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Trace averages 4.3 from 3 ratings.
Do Fan Reader or Trace have ads?
Neither Fan Reader nor Trace shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fan Reader or Trace?
Fan Reader ships an update every 3 weeks, and Trace every 5 days. Most recently, Fan Reader was updated on October 11, 2026 and Trace on October 11, 2026.

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