Comparison

QuiverBooks vs PDF Reader

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

Head to head
About

QuiverBooks

Features
Read full description

Every book you own, in one library. QuiverBooks reads the formats your library is actually made of โ€” EPUB, MOBI, AZW, PDF, and CBZ comics โ€” with no account, no store, and no lock-in. Bring your own files and start reading. READ IT YOUR WAY Paginated or scrolling. Eight fonts, adjustable size, margins, line height, paragraph and letter spacing, justification, hyphenation, and a content width you set yourself. A brightness overlay and warm filter for late nights. THIRTEEN THEMES From clean daylight to true dark, plus high-contrast and a spread of premium palettes. Pick one, or let the app follow your system appearance automatically. COMICS AND PDFS, PROPERLY CBZ gets panel-by-panel zoom, double-page spreads, and right-to-left manga mode. PDFs get real annotation, including Apple Pencil, plus display modes that suit the page. ON-DEVICE READING TOOLS Ask about any passage and get an answer in context. Come back to a book after a month and get a recap of the story so far. An X-Ray index tracks characters, places, and terms as they appear. All of it runs on your device. All of it works on any book you import โ€” not a curated catalogue. And all of it is spoiler-aware: nothing tells you about a chapter you haven't reached yet. MARK IT UP Bookmarks and highlights in five colors, with notes. Export your annotations as Markdown, or send them straight to Readwise. FIND ANYTHING Search across an entire book, tap any word for a definition, and jump by chapter from a table of contents that actually works. READ ALOUD Built-in text-to-speech with background playback and Lock Screen controls, so a book carries on while you do something else. BRING YOUR OWN LIBRARY Import from Files or iCloud Drive, drag and drop on Mac, or connect an OPDS catalogue โ€” including a Calibre server. Fanfiction imports directly from a URL. MAKE IT A HABIT Daily quests, reading streaks, achievements, and a character sheet that levels up as you read. Every bit of it is free, and you can switch it off entirely if it isn't for you. SYNCS ACROSS YOUR DEVICES Your library, reading positions, bookmarks, and highlights follow you between iPhone, iPad, and Mac over iCloud. Books live in your own iCloud Drive, where you can reach them. ASK FOR IT Open any book with Siri, from Shortcuts, or straight from Spotlight search. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No tracking. No analytics. No data collection. Book metadata lookups go to Open Library, and highlight export goes to Readwise only if you connect it yourself. Nothing else leaves your device. FREE, PRO, AND PATRON Reading every format is free, forever, along with bookmarks, highlights, search, read-aloud, sync, and the whole gamification system. A one-time Pro unlock adds unlimited annotations, highlight notes, export, the premium themes, and the full font set. Patron adds exclusive themes and alternate app icons. No subscription, ever. Available in nine languages, on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Your library. Your files. Your quiver.

About

PDF Reader

Features
Read full description

PDF Reader โ€” your clean, distraction-free companion for reading and annotating PDF documents on iPhone and iPad. Whether you're studying, reviewing contracts, or reading books, PDF Reader gives you the tools to engage with your documents โ€” not just scroll through them. POWERFUL ANNOTATIONS - Highlight text in 6 colors โ€” yellow, green, blue, orange, purple, and teal - Add notes anywhere on the page, with or without a text selection - Drop bookmarks to mark important pages instantly - Tap any annotation to view, edit, or delete it SMART LIBRARY - All your PDFs in one organized library - Automatic cover thumbnails generated from each document - See your last reading position at a glance - Swipe to remove documents you no longer need CLEAN READING EXPERIENCE - Smooth page-by-page navigation with swipe gestures - Full dark mode support โ€” easy on the eyes at night - Remembers exactly where you left off in every document - Fast loading even for large PDF files PRIVATE BY DESIGN - All documents and annotations are stored locally on your device - No account required, no sign-in, no cloud uploads - Your reading data never leaves your phone BUILT FOR iOS - Optimized for iPhone and iPad - Supports iOS safe areas and dynamic text sizes - Available in English and Turkish PDF Reader is perfect for students, professionals, and anyone who works with documents every day.

Screenshots

QuiverBooks4 screens
PDF Reader3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PDF Reader at none against QuiverBooks's 2. PDF Reader also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support 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. QuiverBooks sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. PDF Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

QuiverBooks ships an update every 5 weeks, PDF Reader weekly. Both last shipped on September 17, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
QuiverBooks versus PDF Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuiverBooksPDF Reader
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksWeekly โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size35 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShadowForge Limited Liability CompanyMehmet Tark Ozdemir

In-app purchases

2 purchases

QuiverBooks

One-time2
  • QuiverBooks Pro$8.99
  • QuiverBooks Patron$14.99
None

PDF Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is QuiverBooks free?
QuiverBooks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PDF Reader free?
PDF Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do QuiverBooks or PDF Reader have ads?
Neither QuiverBooks nor PDF Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, QuiverBooks or PDF Reader?
QuiverBooks ships an update every 5 weeks, and PDF Reader weekly. Most recently, QuiverBooks was updated on September 17, 2026 and PDF Reader on September 17, 2026.

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