Scuba vs Leafmark
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Scuba
Discover and read classic books with a modern, mobile-first approach. This app breaks down stories into digestible beats, using vertical swipes for natural phone navigation. Story recaps and offline reading features help you maintain your reading habit.
- Story beats for easier reading
- Recaps to remember story progress
- Vertical swiping for phone reading
- Home screen widget for current book
- Offline reading support
- Curated bookstore
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Scuba is a new way to read books on your phone. Browse a curated bookstore, then read with Story Beats™, natural vertical swiping and Story So Far recaps designed to keep you reading. Your first book is free. Features • Story Beats™ keep you moving deeper into the story • Natural vertical swiping • Story So Far recaps help you pick up where you left off • Adjustable text size, themes and page design • Home Screen widget to jump straight back into your book • Offline reading for flights, travel and commuting • A curated bookstore of timeless classics Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Leafmark
A fast, calm EPUB reader that lets you highlight and take notes on your books. Export your annotations in Markdown format to use with other apps. Enjoy a private reading experience with no accounts or cloud lock-in.
- Reflowable EPUB rendering
- Adjustable font and themes
- Highlighting with notes
- Markdown export
- Reading statistics
- Privacy-focused design
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Leafmark is a calm, fast EPUB reader for people who read closely and take their notes with them. Buy it once. No subscription and no Leafmark account. Your library remains plain EPUB files under your control, while highlights, bookmarks, and reading positions can sync privately through your own iCloud when available. READ THE WAY YOU LIKE • Reflowable EPUB rendering with light, sepia and dark themes • Vertical Japanese text (tategaki) renders as the book declares it • Adjustable font, size, line height and margins • One or two columns, plus a scrolling mode — great on iPad in landscape • Full-text search, table of contents and a built-in dictionary lookup • Your reading position is remembered per book ANNOTATE AND KEEP YOUR NOTES • Highlight in four colors and attach notes • Export every highlight and note to Markdown — drop them straight into Obsidian, Notion or any plain-text vault • Reading statistics: time today, this week and all time, your streak, and time per book PRIVACY BY DESIGN • No Leafmark account and no sign-in • No tracking and no analytics • Highlights, bookmarks, and reading positions sync through your personal iCloud account, not a Leafmark server LEAFMARK PRO Reading is always free. Import your library, render any book and try the feel before you decide. You also get one free Markdown export, so you can see exactly what lands in your notes before paying. A single one-time purchase, Leafmark Pro, unlocks the full annotation workflow: unlimited highlights (the free tier keeps up to three per book), unlimited Markdown export, and reading statistics. Restore your purchase any time. GOOD TO KNOW • Import EPUBs straight from Files — iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or right off your device. • Works with DRM-free EPUB files. DRM-protected books and PDF are not supported. • Public-domain EPUBs are available from Public Domain Library and Standard Ebooks.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Scuba at 100% against Leafmark's 67%. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Scuba sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $24.99 per year and Leafmark sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Scuba | Leafmark |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days | Every 3 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 38 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tim Brown | Akira Taniwaki |
Customer experience
Scuba
Leafmark
In-app purchases
Scuba
- Scuba Reading Pass$24.991 Year
Leafmark
- Leafmark Pro$9.99









