# Cinder Reader vs Afterglow

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Afterglow at none against Cinder Reader's 1. Afterglow also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks). Cinder Reader's advantage is ratings volume (8 vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.4). On price, rating, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Cinder Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Afterglow asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Cinder Reader against 5.0 for Afterglow. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cinder Reader has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Cinder Reader ships an update every 3 weeks, Afterglow every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Cinder Reader | Afterglow |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (8 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cinder-reader/id6761286580/reviews) | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/afterglow-epub-reader/id6767642581/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **8** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | **Every 6 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 73 MB | 14 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.4** | 26.4 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [JESSE LAMAR MARTIN](https://appshunter.io/developer/1888667782) | [Mohammad Qureshi](https://appshunter.io/developer/1856351525) |

## What reviewers say

### Cinder Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cinder-reader/id6761286580)

A modern, ad-free app for reading ebooks, comics, manga, and PDFs. Organize your personal library, import files from various sources, and customize your reading experience with flexible tools and appearance settings.

**Highlights:** Read ebooks, comics, manga, and PDFs, Import and manage personal library, Connect to content sources, Customize reader appearance, Track reading progress, Create highlights and notes, Organize with folders and filters

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cinder Pro Lifetime | $8.99 | one-time |


### Afterglow

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/afterglow-epub-reader/id6767642581)

Experience ebooks with a personalized ambiance. This reader intelligently creates unique themes from book cover art, offering a clean interface with customizable typography and layout for comfortable reading.

**Highlights:** Ebook reading interface, Cover Tone themes, Custom ambiance per book, Typography controls, Layout controls, Light and dark modes

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Cinder Reader free?

Cinder Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Afterglow free?

Afterglow is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Cinder Reader or Afterglow?

Cinder Reader and Afterglow are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 8 and 1 ratings respectively.

### Do Cinder Reader or Afterglow have ads?

Neither Cinder Reader nor Afterglow shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Cinder Reader or Afterglow?

Cinder Reader ships an update every 3 weeks, and Afterglow every 6 days. Most recently, Cinder Reader was updated on October 8, 2026 and Afterglow on October 17, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*