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, organize them your way, and keep everything in sync with iCloud. READ YOUR WAY Make every book comfortable to read. Choose from carefully selected fonts—including accessibility-friendly options—and fine-tune the font size, line height, margins, letter spacing, word spacing, and alignment. Choose from a collection of color themes, follow your device’s appearance automatically, or give individual books their own settings. A configurable reader footer can show page count, percentage, chapter progress, chapter title, or book title. A LIBRARY THAT FEELS LIKE YOURS Create custom shelves and let Smart Shelves automatically gather books that are In Progress, Unread, Completed, Did Not Finish, or downloaded to your device. Browse by author, series, and genre; search and sort your collection; and edit titles, authors, covers, descriptions, publication details, and more. Rate books, mark the ones you loved, 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, settings, and reading progress available across your iPhone and iPad. No separate Leaf account is required. Download books for offline reading, remove local copies when you need space, and return to your current book from the Home Screen widget. FIND YOUR NEXT BOOK Connect to a self-hosted Grimmory library, browse Project Gutenberg through the built-in Source, add other compatible OPDS sources, or import EPUB files from Files. Leaf also includes a small collection of beautifully produced public-domain classics, so you can begin reading immediately. For readers who also use KOReader on e-ink devices, Leaf can sync reading progress with a compatible KOReader sync server. BUILT FOR IPHONE AND IPAD Leaf is designed for every screen it runs on: a focused reading experience on iPhone and a spacious library on iPad. Your books feel at home wherever you read. Leaf currently supports DRM-free EPUB books. TERMS OF USE https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Sutra

Access your entire book collection from various sources in one beautiful app. Enjoy a customizable reading experience with synced progress, bookmarks, and highlights across devices. Organize your library with series info, search, and collections.

Highlights
  • Connect Kavita, Calibre, and OPDS servers
  • EPUB and PDF reading with page-curl effect
  • Rich typography and reading themes
  • iCloud sync for progress, bookmarks, and highlights
  • Offline downloads
  • Highlighting and search functionality
  • Series grouping and collections
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 4.4. Leaf also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 85%). Sutra's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and ratings volume (14 vs 4). 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 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 14 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Leaf's written reviews are positive against 85% of Sutra's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Leaf versus Sutra: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLeafSutra
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better4.4 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better84.6% of reviews
Number of ratings414 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.117.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB39 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperDeadpan, LLCKoustav Dasgupta

Customer experience

Leaf

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Sutra

All ratings14 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral7.1%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive84.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative15.4%

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 4 ratings, while Sutra averages 4.4 from 14 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 weekly, and Sutra weekly. Most recently, Leaf was updated on October 14, 2026 and Sutra on October 13, 2026.

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