KO Reader vs Readarium
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
KO Reader
This app transforms web articles, ebooks, and PDFs into natural-sounding speech using on-device AI. Enjoy private, offline listening with customizable voices and playback speeds. Export audio for later or read anywhere without an internet connection.
- On-device text-to-speech
- Supports web articles, EPUB, PDF, and plain text
- 53 neural voices in 9 languages
- Customizable playback speed
- Audio export to m4a/m4b
- Offline functionality
- Privacy-focused, no tracking
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KO Reader turns web articles, ebooks, and PDFs into natural-sounding speech — entirely on your device. No cloud, no tracking, no subscriptions. Paste a URL or open an EPUB or PDF, and KO Reader reads it aloud with a neural AI voice. Everything runs locally, so your reading stays private and works anywhere — on the train, on a plane, or off-grid. Export your favorite articles or books to m4a or m4b files. WHAT YOU CAN READ • Web articles — Wikipedia, news sites, blogs, and Substack • Fanfiction — Archive of Our Own, Royal Road, and Wattpad, with chapter detection • EPUB ebooks with full chapter navigation • PDF documents • Plain text — paste or type any content • Safari Share Extension — send articles to KO Reader with one tap NATURAL AI VOICES • 53 neural voices across 9 languages: American and British English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin, and Hindi • Preview any voice before selecting it • Mark favorites for quick access • Playback speed from 0.5x to 2.0x • Smart heteronym resolution — the voice knows the difference between "lead" (the metal) and "lead" (to guide), "wound" (injury) and "wound" (past of wind) • Custom pronunciation dictionary — teach the reader how to say names, jargon, or anything you like READ YOUR WAY • Reading queue — line up multiple articles and auto-advance • Bookmarks — save passages to come back to • Reading history — pick up where you left off, across books and articles • Chapter pre-generation — book chapters start instantly, no waiting between them • Audio export — save generated audio for offline listening • Adjustable article font (system, serif, monospaced, rounded) and Dynamic Type support BUILT FOR ACCESSIBILITY • Full VoiceOver support with labeled controls throughout • Haptic feedback on transport controls and sleep timer • Background audio — listen while you use other apps or with the screen off • Sleep timer — stops playback when you drift off • Works with AirPods, Bluetooth speakers, and CarPlay RUNS EVERYWHERE • Universal app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac • macOS keyboard shortcuts (Space to play/pause, Cmd+← and Cmd+→ to skip) • Optimized for Apple Silicon with optional CoreML acceleration • Adjustable CPU thread count for performance tuning PRIVACY FIRST • 100% on-device TTS — your content never leaves your phone • No accounts, no analytics, no tracking, no ads • No internet required after the one-time model download • Reading progress stored locally only KO Reader downloads a ~350 MB neural voice model on first launch. After that, everything works fully offline. Powered by the open-source Kokoro TTS model (Apache 2.0).
Readarium
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Save the whole article. Read it clean, offline, or listen. Readarium is the free, private place for everything you want to read later. Share a page from Safari and it comes back as the article alone: no ads, no pop-ups, no cookie banners, ready to read anywhere — including on a plane. THE COMPLETE ARTICLE, EVEN ON SITES YOU PAY FOR Most read-later apps re-download the page on their own and end up with the preview. Readarium saves the page exactly as Safari shows it to you. If you're signed in to Le Monde, The New York Times, Mediapart, the FT, Medium or a paid Substack, you get the whole article — and Readarium tells you when a save is only the preview, so you know to share it again from Safari. SAVE FROM ANYWHERE Share from Safari or any browser, paste a link, subscribe to RSS feeds, or drop in PDF, EPUB, Markdown, HTML, text and email files. Bringing a library over from Pocket, Instapaper, Raindrop, GoodLinks, wallabag or browser bookmarks takes a single import. READ WITHOUT DISTRACTIONS Serif, sans-serif or rounded fonts, adjustable size and spacing, light, sepia, dark and pure-black themes. Highlight passages, add notes, and find anything in your library with full-text search. READY OFFLINE Text and images stay on your device. Build a self-contained HTML or clean PDF copy of any article for the days without signal. The “Make Clean PDF” shortcut turns any web page into an ad-free PDF straight from the share sheet, and “Listen to Page” starts reading it aloud. LISTEN Play any article aloud, or send it to VocaRead for natural voices, CarPlay and background playback. YOUR NOTES, YOUR TOOLS Export articles and highlights as Markdown to Obsidian or any notes app. Reading reminders, widgets, Spotlight and Shortcuts keep what you saved within reach. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No Readarium account, no ads, no tracking. Your library lives on your devices and syncs through your private iCloud — nobody else can see it. COMPLETELY FREE Everything included, no subscription, no premium tier. Built by a solo indie developer who believes reading should be free, private and beautiful.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Readarium at Free against KO Reader's $3.99. KO Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#7 vs unranked). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Readarium is free to download; KO Reader costs $3.99 up front. Readarium sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. KO Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | KO Reader | Readarium |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.7 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | — | Every 3 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | #7 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 18.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | James Carrell II | Emmanuel BORGES |
In-app purchases
KO Reader
No in-app purchases
Readarium
- Offer a Coffee$0.99









