Comparison

Klibri vs Issa Reader

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

Head to head
About

Klibri

Access and read your personal digital library of comics, manga, and ebooks from your self-hosted server. Enjoy offline reading, customizable viewing options, and seamless progress syncing across devices.

Highlights
  • Reads manga, comics (CBZ, CBR), ebooks (EPUB), and PDFs
  • Offline reading of downloaded content
  • Syncs reading progress with Kavita server
  • Customizable ebook reader with themes and fonts
  • Supports multiple Kavita servers
  • Webtoon continuous scroll mode
Features
Read full description

Klibri is a reader for your own Kavita library. It connects to your self-hosted Kavita server and lets you read your whole collection of manga, comics and books — on your iPhone and iPad. Your library stays on your server. Klibri just reads it. Klibri needs a Kavita server you already run. It doesn't host or sell content of its own. READ EVERY FORMAT Manga and comics (CBZ, CBR), e-books (EPUB) and documents (PDF) — one app for your entire library. BUILT FOR COMICS AND MANGA Pinch to zoom, double-tap, swipe or tap the edges to turn pages. Read left-to-right or right-to-left. Read long strips in continuous webtoon mode. Adjust screen brightness without leaving the page. A REAL BOOK READER The EPUB reader gives you four themes (including a true-black mode for OLED), six fonts, and fine control over size, spacing and margins. Read in scrolling or paged mode, and search the full text of any book. READ OFFLINE Download chapters and read them anywhere — no connection needed. PDFs render fully offline. PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF Klibri syncs your reading progress with your Kavita server in real time. Move from iPhone to iPad, or to Kavita in a browser, and carry on at the exact page. Klibri won't overwrite progress you've made elsewhere. YOUR WHOLE LIBRARY Browse series, collections and reading lists. Search your entire library, even a large one. Mark chapters or whole series as read. ALL YOUR KAVITA SERVERS Add more than one Kavita server and switch between them in a tap. Each server keeps its own libraries and its own reading progress. Your logins sync across your Apple devices through iCloud Keychain, so you set up once. Free. In English and French. iPhone and iPad, iOS 16 and later.

About

Issa Reader

This app synchronizes your ebooks with audiobooks from a self-hosted server, allowing seamless transitions between reading and listening. It features a native typesetting engine, customizable reading options, and advanced playback controls for an immersive experience.

Highlights
  • Seamless read-to-listen transition
  • Native typesetting engine
  • Customizable reading faces and themes
  • Variable speed audiobook playback
  • CarPlay integration
  • Offline library access
  • Home Screen widget
Features
Read full description

Issa Reader is a native reader for Storyteller, the self-hosted server that lines an ebook up with its audiobook so you can move between reading and listening without losing your place. REQUIRES A STORYTELLER SERVER Issa Reader is a client, not a bookshop. It has no catalogue of its own and nothing to sell you. Point it at a Storyteller server you run, sign in, and read your own library. Without a server, there is nothing here to show you. READ A real typesetting engine, not a web view. Pages are laid out natively, so turning one is instant and the type is properly set. Six bundled reading faces, including Literata, Source Serif 4 and OpenDyslexic, or add a font of your own. Four page themes for daylight, lamplight and the middle of the night. Size, line spacing and justification are yours to set, per book or for everything. LISTEN Variable speed with pitch correction, chapter and sentence navigation, skip controls, a sleep timer, and full Now Playing support on the Lock Screen and in Control Centre. READ ALONG This is what Storyteller is for. Where a book has narration aligned to its text, the words light up as they are spoken, the page turns itself to follow, and tapping any line starts the narrator there. Stop reading, keep listening, and pick up on the same sentence — the two stay in step. IN THE CAR CarPlay gives you your shelves and chapters as proper lists, with Now Playing and a resume that lands on the sentence you left, not somewhere near it. Steering-wheel buttons, headphone controls and on-screen controls can each be remapped independently, so the same button can do different things in different places. YOUR WHOLE LIBRARY, ON DEVICE The catalogue is fetched once and kept locally, so searching by title, author, narrator, series or tag is instant and works with no signal at all. Shelves are built on your device from what you actually have. Download books to read and listen offline. ON EVERY SCREEN A Home Screen widget with your current book, chapter and progress. Native apps for Apple TV and the Mac are included with the same purchase, and Handoff carries your place between them. BUILT FOR THESE PLATFORMS Written in Swift for iPhone and iPad, using the system's own text engine, audio stack and accessibility support throughout. Dynamic Type, VoiceOver and reduced motion are respected, not retrofitted. Issa Reader is an independent client and is not affiliated with the Storyteller project.

Screenshots

Klibri4 screens
Issa Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Issa Reader at 5.0 against Klibri's 4.8. Issa Reader also leads on device support (4 vs 2). Klibri's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Issa Reader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Klibri ships an update every 4 days, Issa Reader every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Klibri versus Issa Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKlibriIssa Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBenjamin ChianeseBenjamin Issa

Customer experience

Klibri

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Issa Reader

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Klibri

No in-app purchases

None

Issa Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Klibri free?
Klibri is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Issa Reader free?
Issa Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Klibri or Issa Reader?
Issa Reader is rated higher. Klibri averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Issa Reader averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Klibri or Issa Reader have ads?
Neither Klibri nor Issa Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Klibri or Issa Reader?
Klibri ships an update every 4 days, and Issa Reader every 5 days. Most recently, Klibri was updated on October 3, 2026 and Issa Reader on October 2, 2026.

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