Comparison

ScrollWizard vs Prose Reader

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

Head to head
About

ScrollWizard

Features
Read full description

Your books deserve a better home. ScrollWizard is a full EPUB and PDF reader for people who care how they read -- not just what. Tune the type to taste -- font, size, line height, spacing, reading width, margins, alignment, hyphenation -- and override any of it per book. Speed-read with a built-in focus engine. No subscription, ever. Pay once, own it forever. READING, YOUR WAY -- 12 fonts including OpenDyslexic, with size, line height, and letter and word spacing -- Text alignment, paragraph indent and spacing, hyphenation -- Reading Width control sets your line length and centres the column on wide screens, plus top and bottom margins -- 5 built-in themes (Light, Dark, Sepia, Solarized Dark, Nord) plus unlimited custom themes -- Page-turn animations: slide, fade, or none -- Per-book overrides -- some books just read better in a different font -- A Lock Screen Live Activity shows your reading progress at a glance FOCUS READING (RSVP SPEED READER) -- Words appear one at a time at the pace you set, from 100 to 1500 WPM -- A focus mode: fewer distractions, one word at a time, your pace -- Adjustable word highlighting and a tunable pause curve -- Sentence navigation: swipe back or forward with full context -- Eases back up to speed after a pause, so you never lose the thread SPLIT READER (iPad) -- Two books side by side with a draggable divider -- Paragraph-proportional sync keeps both sides aligned -- Reference pane: open footnotes or an appendix beside the text without losing your place VOCABULARY & ANNOTATIONS -- Select any word for an instant dictionary definition -- Save words with their sentence and book attached, then export them to a flashcard file (Anki, TSV, or JSON) -- Highlight in 5 colors, with optional notes -- Export every annotation to Markdown, Obsidian, Notion, Logseq, or JSON -- no caps, no publisher limits -- Full-text search within any book YOUR LIBRARY -- Smart collections that sort themselves by your rules -- Browse free books from Project Gutenberg, ManyBooks, and Feedbooks, plus Standard Ebooks for Patrons Circle members -- Connect your own Calibre server -- iCloud sync for books and reading position, in a folder you can actually see -- Cover grid with sorting, filtering, metadata editing, and batch actions READING STATISTICS -- Daily reading charts with 7- and 30-day views, goals, pages, and time -- See how far you have come -- not how far you have to go No ads. No analytics. No feed pulling you somewhere else. No account to make. Just you and the book. The base reader is completely free. Advanced Wizard Mode -- the RSVP Speed Reader, the iPad Split Reader, and custom font import -- is a one-time purchase. No subscription. No recurring charges. One wizard, one price, forever. Reflowable EPUB and PDF. App available in 12 languages.

About

Prose Reader

Features
Read full description

Prose is a clean, local-first reader for ePub and PDF books. Designed with a focus on speed, privacy, and simplicity, Prose works completely offline to keep your personal library secure on your device. Key Features: - Multi-format support: Read ePub 2, ePub 3, and PDF files. - Offline library: View your books in a custom cover grid or detail list. Search, filter, and sort by title, author, last read, or reading progress. - Tailored reading experience: Customize fonts, font size, margins, and line spacing for reflowable ePub books. Zoom and fit controls are available for PDF files. - Reading themes: Switch between light, dark, and sepia themes to match your environment. Themes apply across the entire application interface. - Local-first sync: Connect your own WebDAV server to sync books, reading positions, bookmarks, highlights, and settings. Sync runs in the background and resolves conflicts by keeping your furthest reading position. - Annotation and reference: Create bookmarks, highlight text, and look up definitions using the built-in offline dictionary. - Privacy and security: Your data is never sent to third-party services. WebDAV credentials are saved securely in your operating system keychain. There is no telemetry, analytics, or tracking.

Screenshots

ScrollWizard4 screens
Prose Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Prose Reader at none against ScrollWizard's 1. ScrollWizard's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). 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. ScrollWizard sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Prose Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ScrollWizard ships an update every 2 weeks, Prose Reader every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
ScrollWizard versus Prose Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScrollWizardProse Reader
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks โ€” betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS16.215.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size50 MB125 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMerijn DouwesElia Salerno

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ScrollWizard

One-time1
  • Advanced Wizard Mode$4.99
None

Prose Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ScrollWizard free?
ScrollWizard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Prose Reader free?
Prose Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ScrollWizard or Prose Reader have ads?
Neither ScrollWizard nor Prose Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ScrollWizard or Prose Reader?
ScrollWizard ships an update every 2 weeks, and Prose Reader every 2 months. Most recently, ScrollWizard was updated on October 7, 2026 and Prose Reader on October 8, 2026.

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