Comparison

ZestNovel vs LeafWave

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

Head to head
About

ZestNovel

Features
Read full description

ZestNovel offers you a vast selection of carefully curated novels, covering various genres such as romance, suspense, fantasy, urban life, and youth, ensuring that every book lover can find their favorite works. Rich Content: Popular novel chapters are updated daily, allowing you to immerse yourself in an uninterrupted reading experience. Smooth Experience: The simple interface design provides a smooth and easy reading experience.

About

LeafWave

This app allows you to read and listen to books and documents, offering customizable reading experiences and on-device narration. It supports various file formats and provides tools for annotation and sharing, with a strong focus on user privacy.

Highlights
  • Import EPUB, PDF, text, and more
  • Switch between visual reading and narration
  • On-device narration for privacy and offline use
  • Adjustable text size, spacing, and themes
  • Add bookmarks and highlights
  • Export annotated documents
  • Access free public-domain titles
Features
Read full description

LeafWave helps you read with your eyes, listen at your pace, and keep your place across long books and documents. Import EPUB, PDF, text, RTF, HTML, and Markdown files, then switch naturally between visual reading and narration. LeafWave’s bundled neural voices run on your iPhone or iPad, so your document text stays private and narration works offline. Apple system voices remain available too. READ YOUR WAY • Adjust text size, spacing, theme, and reading layout • Move by chapter, page, paragraph, or book progress • Resume from your saved reading or listening position • Browse more than 75,000 free public-domain titles from Project Gutenberg LISTEN ANYWHERE • Expressive on-device narration with multiple voice styles • Automatic language detection and narration across 31 languages with Premium • Background and lock-screen playback with system media controls • Adjustable narration speed and generated-audio continuity • Teach LeafWave how to pronounce names and tricky words with Premium MARK UP AND SHARE • Add bookmarks and highlights • Attach comments to exact passages • Export annotated PDFs, embedded PDF annotations, or an editable LeafWave Review Package PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No LeafWave account, advertising, analytics, or tracking • Narration and document analysis happen on-device • Optional iCloud sync is off by default and uses your private iCloud account • Imported documents remain local unless you enable sync or share an export LeafWave includes a 14-day Premium trial. After the trial, visual reading, bookmarks, Apple system narration, two natural voice styles, five narration languages (English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German), and a five-book library remain available. Premium unlocks all ten natural voice styles, all 31 narration languages, unlimited books, Teach LeafWave, highlights, comments, annotated exports, and optional iCloud sync. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled in App Store account settings. Lifetime Premium is a one-time purchase. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ZestNovel4 screens
LeafWave4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: LeafWave at none against ZestNovel's shown. LeafWave also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months). ZestNovel's advantage is iOS requirement (13 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ZestNovel ships an update every 2 months, LeafWave every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ZestNovel versus LeafWave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZestNovelLeafWave
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB266 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperGLOBALTECH GAMING GROUP PTE. LTDSamik Banerjee

In-app purchases

None

ZestNovel

No in-app purchases

None

LeafWave

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ZestNovel free?
ZestNovel is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is LeafWave free?
LeafWave is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ZestNovel or LeafWave have ads?
ZestNovel shows ads; LeafWave does not.
Which is updated more often, ZestNovel or LeafWave?
ZestNovel ships an update every 2 months, and LeafWave every 4 days. Most recently, ZestNovel was updated on October 14, 2026 and LeafWave on October 7, 2026.

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