Comparison

Absorb vs Klibri

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

Head to head
About

Absorb

This app provides a streamlined mobile experience for listening to audiobooks and podcasts from your self-hosted media server. Enjoy features like offline playback, chapter navigation, and listening statistics. It's a free, open-source solution with no ads or data collection.

Highlights
  • Offline listening
  • Chapter navigation
  • Sleep timer
  • Playback speed control
  • Home screen widgets
  • Listening statistics
  • CarPlay support
Features
Read full description

Absorb is a free, open source audiobook and podcast player built for Audiobookshelf, a self-hosted media server for your personal book library. Connect to your own Audiobookshelf server and enjoy your audiobook collection with a clean, polished mobile experience built specifically for iOS. Features: Stream or download books for offline listening Full playback controls with chapter navigation, sleep timer, and playback speed Home screen widgets for quick playback controls Listening stats and streaks to track your progress Bookmarks with notes Series tracking and discovery Light and dark mode CarPlay support And much more!!! Absorb is built by a solo developer and is completely free with no ads, no subscriptions, and no data collection. Your library stays between you and your server. Requires a self-hosted Audiobookshelf server. Visit audiobookshelf.org to learn more.

About

Klibri

Access and read your personal digital library of comics, manga, and ebooks from your self-hosted server. Enjoy offline reading, customizable viewing options, and seamless progress syncing across devices.

Highlights
  • Reads manga, comics (CBZ, CBR), ebooks (EPUB), and PDFs
  • Offline reading of downloaded content
  • Syncs reading progress with Kavita server
  • Customizable ebook reader with themes and fonts
  • Supports multiple Kavita servers
  • Webtoon continuous scroll mode
Features
Read full description

Klibri is a reader for your own Kavita library. It connects to your self-hosted Kavita server and lets you read your whole collection of manga, comics and books — on your iPhone and iPad. Your library stays on your server. Klibri just reads it. Klibri needs a Kavita server you already run. It doesn't host or sell content of its own. READ EVERY FORMAT Manga and comics (CBZ, CBR), e-books (EPUB) and documents (PDF) — one app for your entire library. BUILT FOR COMICS AND MANGA Pinch to zoom, double-tap, swipe or tap the edges to turn pages. Read left-to-right or right-to-left. Read long strips in continuous webtoon mode. Adjust screen brightness without leaving the page. A REAL BOOK READER The EPUB reader gives you four themes (including a true-black mode for OLED), six fonts, and fine control over size, spacing and margins. Read in scrolling or paged mode, and search the full text of any book. READ OFFLINE Download chapters and read them anywhere — no connection needed. PDFs render fully offline. PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF Klibri syncs your reading progress with your Kavita server in real time. Move from iPhone to iPad, or to Kavita in a browser, and carry on at the exact page. Klibri won't overwrite progress you've made elsewhere. YOUR WHOLE LIBRARY Browse series, collections and reading lists. Search your entire library, even a large one. Mark chapters or whole series as read. ALL YOUR KAVITA SERVERS Add more than one Kavita server and switch between them in a tap. Each server keeps its own libraries and its own reading progress. Your logins sync across your Apple devices through iCloud Keychain, so you set up once. Free. In English and French. iPhone and iPad, iOS 16 and later.

Screenshots

Absorb4 screens
Klibri4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Klibri at every 4 days against Absorb's monthly. Absorb's advantage is ratings volume (111 vs 5). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Absorb against 4.8 for Klibri. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Absorb has 111 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 97% of Absorb's written reviews are positive against 100% of Klibri's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Absorb ships an update monthly, Klibri every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Absorb versus Klibri: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAbsorbKlibri
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (111 ratings) — better4.8 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews97.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings111 — better5
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size72 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNathan PoulsonBenjamin Chianese

Customer experience

Absorb

All ratings111 ratings
Positive98.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive97.1%
Neutral2.9%
Negative0.0%

Klibri

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Absorb

No in-app purchases

None

Klibri

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Absorb free?
Absorb is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Klibri free?
Klibri is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Absorb or Klibri?
Absorb is rated higher. Absorb averages 4.9 out of 5 from 111 ratings, while Klibri averages 4.8 from 5 ratings.
Do Absorb or Klibri have ads?
Neither Absorb nor Klibri shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Absorb or Klibri?
Absorb ships an update monthly, and Klibri every 4 days. Most recently, Absorb was updated on October 17, 2026 and Klibri on October 20, 2026.

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