Comparison

BookWave vs Flumen

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

Head to head
About

BookWave

Features
Read full description

BookWave is a simple, beautiful way to read and listen to EPUBs, PDFs, and scanned book pagesβ€”no accounts, no clutter, just your books. IMPORT OR SCAN YOUR BOOKS Add any DRM-free EPUB or PDF to BookWave, and it appears on your shelf in seconds. You can also scan pages from a printed book, turn them into text, and create your own EPUB. Your library is yours: organize books into folders and keep everything in one place. LISTEN TO ANY BOOK BookWave reads your books aloud with natural-sounding voices, entirely on your device. When available, words are highlighted as they’re spoken, so you can follow along or switch between reading and listening anytime. Playback continues in the background, so you can listen while walking, commuting, or with the screen off. EVERYTHING STAYS IN SYNC Your library, reading progress, highlights, and bookmarks sync privately between your iPhone and iPad through iCloud. Start reading a chapter on one device and continue from exactly where you left off on another. No registration, no accounts, no third-party servers. SAVE WHAT MATTERS Save important passages as highlights. Your highlights and bookmarks stay with the book across all your devices. TRACK YOUR READING See how much you read and listen each day, and watch your reading habit grow. 20 CLASSICS INCLUDED Start reading right away with a free built-in library of classic EPUB booksβ€”including Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Around the World in Eighty Days, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and many more. PRIVATE BY DESIGN BookWave has no accounts and no tracking. Your books and reading data live on your device and in your personal iCloudβ€”nowhere else. BOOKWAVE PRO Reading and importing books are free, and you can listen to every built-in classic at no cost. BookWave Pro unlocks listening for your imported EPUB and PDF books, along with detailed reading statistics. Monthly and yearly auto-renewable subscriptions are available. Each includes a one-week free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your Apple Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://minimapps.github.io/bookwave/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use: https://minimapps.github.io/bookwave/terms.html

About

Flumen

Features
Read full description

Read your EPUB books on iPhone, iPad, and Mac with Flumen. Import your own files, browse classics, and keep your books together in one library. Organize your books Create collections, sort by title, author, or progress, and filter books by what you've started or finished. Bookmark the book you're reading to keep it at the top of Library and ready to open from Home. Return to your reading Home shows your current book, saved chapter, and reading progress, with a Continue Reading button to take you back. See how many minutes you've read today and return to other books you've started. Set up the page to suit you Choose a reading theme, font, and text size. Use Paper or Sepia for a warmer page, or switch to a dark theme. Flumen remembers your reading preferences for each book. Find something to read Browse genres and authors, search Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks, and download public-domain books straight to your library. Open a book's details to learn more before adding it. Flumen Pro The free version holds up to 15 books and includes EPUB import, Discovery, collections, reader customization, and today's reading time. Flumen Pro is a one-time purchase that adds: β€’ Unlimited books in your library. β€’ Reading goals, streaks, weekly charts, and monthly summaries, including a comparison with the same point last month. β€’ iCloud sync for your books, reading progress, collections, bookmarked book, and reader settings across your Apple devices. To sync, sign in to the same Apple Account with iCloud enabled on each device. Privacy Your library and reading history are stored on your device, with optional iCloud sync through Flumen Pro. Flumen has no ads or third-party analytics tracking.

Screenshots

BookWave4 screens
Flumen4 screens

Verdict

The call

BookWave and Flumen are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters β€” price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them β€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. BookWave sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Flumen sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BookWave ships an update every 6 days, Flumen every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
BookWave versus Flumen: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBookWaveFlumen
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 days β€” betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size47 MB16 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperNazarii StefaniukMathias Jaeger-Pedersen

In-app purchases

2 purchases

BookWave

Subscriptions2
  • BookWave Pro Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • BookWave Pro Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
1 purchases

Flumen

One-time1
  • Flumen Pro$6.99

Questions

Is BookWave free?
BookWave is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Flumen free?
Flumen is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do BookWave or Flumen have ads?
Neither BookWave nor Flumen shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BookWave or Flumen?
BookWave ships an update every 6 days, and Flumen every 9 days. Most recently, BookWave was updated on November 9, 2026 and Flumen on November 10, 2026.

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