Comparison

Leaf vs Sutra

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

Head to head
About

Leaf

Organize and read your DRM-free EPUB books with customizable reading settings and smart library management. Sync your progress across devices using iCloud and discover new titles through integrated sources.

Highlights
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Smart library organization
  • iCloud sync for progress and settings
  • Offline reading support
  • Import from various sources
  • Public domain classics included
Read full description

Give your books a home of their own. Leaf brings beautiful EPUB reading and thoughtful library management together on iPhone and iPad. Import the DRM-free books you already own, make yourself comfortable, and pick up where you left off. READ YOUR WAY Choose from carefully selected fonts, including accessibility-friendly options. Adjust your reading theme and font size, or use Leaf Pro to import your own fonts and fine-tune typography and book formatting. Give individual books their own settings. On iPad, choose one column, two columns, or an automatic layout that adapts to the space available. Customize the reader's header and footer to keep the book and progress details you care about in view. KEEP THE PLACES THAT MATTER Save bookmarks as you read and return to them from the book's contents. See the surrounding text to remind yourself why you saved a place. With Leaf Pro, add personal notes to your bookmarks. A LIBRARY THAT FEELS LIKE YOURS Browse by author, series, and genre; search and sort your collection; and edit titles, authors, covers, descriptions, and more. Smart Shelves gather books by reading status and download availability. Leaf Pro adds custom shelves for your own collections. Rate books, mark favorites, and write down your thoughts when you finish. Leaf remembers reading time, completion dates, and the books you have finished this year, then helps you choose what comes next. PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF Optional iCloud sync keeps your books, library details, and reading progress available across your iPhone and iPad using your own Apple Account. Keep a local library if you prefer. No Leaf account is required to import and read your books. Download books for offline reading, remove local copies when you need space, and return to your current book from the Home Screen widget. Read on an e-ink device too? With Leaf Pro, exchange reading positions for matching EPUBs with a compatible KOReader Sync server. Compare chapter titles and text previews before choosing a position. FIND YOUR NEXT BOOK Import EPUBs from Files or send them to Leaf from another app's share sheet. Browse and download public-domain books from the built-in Project Gutenberg Source, or start with the included classics from Standard Ebooks. Connect your own OPDS, Grimmory, or BookOrbit Sources and browse your libraries in Leaf. Downloading from your own Sources requires Leaf Pro. START READING FOR FREE Import and read your DRM-free EPUBs, save bookmarks, and use iCloud sync without a subscription. Leaf Pro adds bookmark note creation, custom shelves, downloads from your own Sources, KOReader progress sync, premium themes, custom font imports, and advanced reading controls. Leaf Pro is an optional annual subscription. Leaf currently supports DRM-free EPUB books. TERMS OF USE https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Sutra

Organize and read all your eBooks and comics in one beautiful, calm reader. Connect to self-hosted libraries, explore online catalogs, and customize your reading experience with various display options. Enjoy seamless progress syncing across devices.

Highlights
  • Unified reader for EPUB, PDF, CBZ, MOBI, comics, and manga
  • Connect to Kavita, Komga, Calibre, and OPDS servers
  • Customizable reading experience (fonts, themes, layout)
  • Organized library with Series and Collection views
  • Progress and finished-book sync across devices
  • Offline reading support for comics
Features
Read full description

Sutra is a warm, thoughtful home for every book and comic you love. Bring together your self-hosted library, your manga, your classic EPUBs, and those “just one more chapter” reads in one beautifully calm reader. Connect Kavita, Komga, or Calibre; explore any OPDS catalogue; or discover a new favourite from Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks. READ YOUR WAY • Enjoy EPUB, PDF, CBZ, MOBI, fixed-layout comics, and manga in one place • Move through comics panel by panel, or take in the whole page • Read right-to-left manga and beautiful iPad two-page spreads • Make the page yours with fonts, text size, spacing, themes, auto-scroll, page turns, and Sutra-only brightness control A LIBRARY THAT FEELS LIKE HOME • Browse dedicated Series and Collection views, with Favorites always close by • Sort by Recently Read, Title, Author, or Date Added while staying in a familiar cover grid • Let Sutra recover missing Calibre series details and keep your library beautifully organised • Pick up where you left off with dependable progress and finished-book sync for Kavita and Komga BUILT FOR SELF-HOSTERS • Connect Kavita, Komga, Calibre, Grimmory, or another OPDS server • Stream comic pages from Kavita and Komga when available, or download for offline reading • Keep your highlights and reading progress with you across your Apple devices Sutra is free to enjoy for EPUB and PDF reading, with no ads and no subscription. Unlock unlimited CBZ, MOBI, and Komga reading once, and keep it forever.

Screenshots

Leaf4 screens
Sutra4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Leaf at 5.0 against Sutra's 4.3. Leaf also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 73%). Sutra's advantage is ratings volume (18 vs 6) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.1). 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. Leaf sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per year and Sutra sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Leaf holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 18 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Leaf's written reviews are positive against 73% of Sutra's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Leaf ships an update every 10 days, Sutra every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 15, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Leaf versus Sutra: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLeafSutra
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better4.3 (18 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better73.3% of reviews
Number of ratings618 — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.117.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB42 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperDeadpan, LLCKoustav Dasgupta

Customer experience

Leaf

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Sutra

All ratings18 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral16.7%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive73.3%
Neutral13.3%
Negative13.3%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Leaf

Subscriptions1
  • Leaf Pro Annual7 Days trial$4.991 Year
4 purchases

Sutra

One-time4
  • Small Tip$1.99
  • Medium Tip$2.99
  • Large Tip$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Sutra Pro$6.99

Questions

Is Leaf free?
Leaf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sutra free?
Sutra is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Leaf or Sutra?
Leaf is rated higher. Leaf averages 5.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Sutra averages 4.3 from 18 ratings.
Do Leaf or Sutra have ads?
Neither Leaf nor Sutra shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Leaf or Sutra?
Leaf ships an update every 10 days, and Sutra every 8 days. Most recently, Leaf was updated on November 15, 2026 and Sutra on November 10, 2026.

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