Comparison

Dear Reader vs Girokers

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

Head to head
About

Dear Reader

Read full description

Dear Reader is a quiet reading reflection journal for people who want to remember books by what they made them think, not by how many pages they finished. You do not need to complete a book to keep something meaningful from it. One sentence that stopped you, and one thought in your own words, can be enough. Dear Reader helps you save that moment as a discovery and revisit it later. β–  One sentence, one thought Save a sentence from a book and add the thought it sparked. The original sentence and your reflection stay together on one discovery card. β–  Reading without completion pressure Dear Reader is not built around finished books, page counts, timers, or productivity goals. It is built around the small moments when a book makes you pause. β–  Prompts when the blank page feels hard Gentle prompts and quick reaction chips help you begin your reflection. You can write a sentence, a paragraph, or just enough to remember why the moment mattered. β–  Revisit what you saved A saved sentence can meet you again later. Return to past discoveries and notice how the same words feel different with time. β–  A bookshelf shaped by discoveries Your bookshelf is not only a list of books. It quietly shows the thoughts and discoveries each book left behind. β–  Connect reflections across books Use tags to find discoveries that share a theme, even when they came from different books. Over time, scattered sentences begin to show the shape of your thinking. β–  A private, local-first space Dear Reader starts without an app account. Your sentences, thoughts, books, and settings are stored primarily on your device. There is no public feed, follower count, or reading competition. Dear Reader is for readers who: - save good sentences but rarely return to them - want a reading journal without writing long entries every day - care more about reflection than finishing more books - want to keep book sentences and personal thoughts together - prefer a calm private space over a social reading feed Keep what books made you think. One sentence and one thought can become a reading habit that lasts.

About

Girokers

Features
Read full description

Can you still find that line you underlined? The sentences you mark in a print book vanish the moment you close it. Girokers is a reading journal that keeps them where you can come back to them. Scan it, and it's text Point your camera at the page and Girokers types out the lines you underlined. Pick the ones worth keeping, and you're done. It reads books in Korean, English, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese β€” including Japanese and Chinese written vertically. You can also type sentences in by hand. Your sentences come back to you At a time you pick, you'll get a notification with a sentence you saved. The line you keep today will find you again one day, out of the blue. Collect on your phone, write on your computer Open your journal at girokgirok.com and weave your quotes into your own writing. Export your draft as a Markdown file, and its headings and quotes keep their formatting in Notion, Obsidian, and other writing apps. Your books and quotes, all in one place β€’ Library: see what you're reading, what you've finished, and what you've dipped into, at a glance β€’ Projects: group books together for work that spans many titles β€” a thesis, an essay, a script β€’ Share cards: turn a favorite sentence into a card and share it β€’ Footnotes: add a number to a word, then scan the footnote at the bottom of the page to keep them together β€’ Export as a table: download your journal as a spreadsheet (CSV) Subscription Girokers is free to start. Subscribe for unlimited scans. Monthly and yearly plans are available. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings β€Ί Apple Account β€Ί Subscriptions. Terms of Service: https://girokgirok.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://girokgirok.com/privacy

Screenshots

Dear Reader4 screens
Girokers4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Girokers at none against Dear Reader's shown. Girokers also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Dear Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dear Reader ships an update every 2 weeks, Girokers monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
Dear Reader versus Girokers: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDear ReaderGirokers
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks β€” betterMonthly
AdsYesNo β€” better
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” better
Requires iOS18.015.1 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size51 MB102 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperMoonsun YangHyeong Yoon Kim

In-app purchases

None

Dear Reader

No in-app purchases

None

Girokers

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dear Reader free?
Dear Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Girokers free?
Girokers is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Dear Reader or Girokers have ads?
Dear Reader shows ads; Girokers does not.
Which is updated more often, Dear Reader or Girokers?
Dear Reader ships an update every 2 weeks, and Girokers monthly. Most recently, Dear Reader was updated on October 2, 2026 and Girokers on October 3, 2026.

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