Comparison

Arrcade vs Grim Reader

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

Head to head
About

Arrcade

Features
Read full description

Arrcade is a unified, native interface for managing your self-hosted media library software. Browse your collection, view your release calendar, manage your download queue and stay on top of upcoming releases, all from one app on iPhone, iPad and the web. Arrcade does not provide any media. It is a controller that connects to open-source software you have already installed on your own server. SUPPORTED SERVICES • Sonarr and Radarr for TV and films • Lidarr for music and Listenarr for audiobooks • Prowlarr for indexer management • Bazarr for subtitles • Seerr for requests and discovery • Tautulli for streaming statistics DOWNLOAD CLIENTS • SABnzbd, NZBGet, qBittorrent, Transmission and Deluge FEATURES • A single dashboard for your whole stack • Release calendar and upcoming view • Live download queue and activity • Search across your connected services • Movie and TV discovery powered by TMDB • Connect multiple instances of each service • Push notifications for grabs, downloads and health alerts • Make space: find the old films and TV seasons taking up your disk and delete them safely Arrcade requires Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr or another supported open-source service running on your own hardware to function. It is a companion app for software you host yourself. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Arrcade is free to use with two connections. A one-time Pro purchase adds unlimited connections, push notifications and Make space.

About

Grim Reader

Organize and enrich your personal library of e-books, comics, and audiobooks. This app allows you to manage your collection locally or via your own servers, adding details like covers and author information. Enjoy a seamless reading and listening experience across all your content.

Highlights
  • Library management for e-books, comics, and audiobooks
  • Enrich library with online book and author data
  • Supports local files and personal servers (WebDAV, OPDS)
  • Cross-device reading and listening progress tracking
  • Organize by author, series, and genre
  • Mark favorites
Features
Read full description

Your books. Your library. Your way. Privacy By Design. Made in the EU. Grim Reader is a modern reader and library manager for e-books, comics and audiobooks. Keep your collection on your device, connect to your own servers, and turn even a simple collection of files into a rich, beautifully organised library. A library that feels alive Browse your collection by books, authors, series and more. See covers, reading progress and detailed information at a glance, continue where you left off, mark favourites and quickly find what you want to read next. Grim Reader is designed for both iPhone and iPad, with an interface that adapts to the device you are using. Enrich your books Missing a cover, description or other information? Grim Reader can help enrich your library using online book and author sources. Depending on the available information, Grim Reader can help you find and add details such as: • Covers and book descriptions • Authors and author information • Series information • Publisher and publication details • ISBN and other identifiers • Genres, categories and tags • Additional book metadata You remain in control and can review and edit your library information. More than e-books Grim Reader brings different types of reading together in one library: • Read e-books • Browse and read comics • Listen to audiobooks • Keep track of reading progress • Continue reading or listening across your library • Organise books by author and series • Mark books and authors as favourites Your files, your servers You don’t need to hand your library over to a commercial book platform. Grim Reader can work with books stored locally and supports personal libraries through WebDAV and OPDS, as well as the optional Grimmory server. This makes Grim Reader equally useful for a small collection on your iPhone or iPad and for a large self-hosted library. Made for readers Grim Reader focuses on your books rather than a store. There are no books to sell you and no ecosystem you need to buy into. Build the library you want, enrich it, organise it and enjoy reading it. Grim Reader — your library belongs to you.

Screenshots

Arrcade4 screens
Grim Reader3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Grim Reader at none against Arrcade's 1. Arrcade's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). 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. Arrcade sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Grim Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Arrcade ships an update every 10 days, Grim Reader every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Arrcade versus Grim Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArrcadeGrim Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—4 — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBenjamin MortonMaarten de Kreij

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Arrcade

One-time1
  • Arrcade Pro$5.99
None

Grim Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Arrcade free?
Arrcade is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Grim Reader free?
Grim Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Arrcade or Grim Reader have ads?
Neither Arrcade nor Grim Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Arrcade or Grim Reader?
Arrcade ships an update every 10 days, and Grim Reader every 2 weeks. Most recently, Arrcade was updated on October 4, 2026 and Grim Reader on October 10, 2026.

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