Comparison

Sutra vs CoreNodeReader

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

Head to head
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.

About

CoreNodeReader

Features
Read full description

CoreNode Reader is a modern e-book reader optimized for iPad but also running on iPhone, built for readers who want full control over their digital library. The app brings together local books, Kavita servers and OPDS catalogs in one clean reading experience. Read EPUBs and PDFs, browse large libraries, filter by title or author, manage favorites, and keep your reading progress in sync across devices. Highlights: • One unified library Combine multiple sources into one library view. Local books, Kavita libraries and OPDS catalogs can be shown together or filtered separately, so your entire collection feels like one organized bookshelf. • Direct Kavita integration Connect your own Kavita server and sync libraries, series, collections, favorites and reading progress. • OPDS catalog support Add compatible OPDS catalogs and use them alongside your local and Kavita libraries. • Local library Import EPUB and PDF files directly to your device or use any Cloud folder for your personal book library. • Cross-device sync Synchronize reading progress, favorites, recently read books, bookmarks, notes, reader profiles and settings between devices. CoreNode Reader supports Apple ecosystem sync and also offers file-based sync for exchanging reading data between iOS, iPadOS and Android devices. • EPUB and PDF reading Read books and magazines with table of contents, bookmarks, notes, metadata, search and a focused reading interface. • Built for self-hosting CoreNode Reader is designed for people who want to manage their own books, catalogs and servers instead of being locked into a single store or platform. • Flexible library views Switch between icon, list and compact views. Filter by title, author, source, file type, series, collections and metadata. • Customizable reading experience Adjust font size, line height, margins, theme, layout and brightness to match your preferred reading style. CoreNode Reader is optimized for iPad and also works on iPhone. It is ideal for EPUBs, PDFs, magazines, OPDS catalogs and self-hosted libraries in one unified app.

Screenshots

Sutra4 screens
CoreNodeReader4 screens

Verdict

The call

Sutra and CoreNodeReader are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Sutra sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and CoreNodeReader sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sutra ships an update every 8 days, CoreNodeReader fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Sutra versus CoreNodeReader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSutraCoreNodeReader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (18 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews73.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings18 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKoustav DasguptaWerner Stiglbauer

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Sutra

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

CoreNodeReader

One-time5
  • Tip small$2.99
  • Tip medium$3.99
  • Tip large$5.99
Show 2 more
  • CoreNodeReader Pro$8.99
  • CoreNodeReader Pro Family$17.99

Questions

Is Sutra free?
Sutra is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CoreNodeReader free?
CoreNodeReader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sutra or CoreNodeReader have ads?
Neither Sutra nor CoreNodeReader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sutra or CoreNodeReader?
Sutra ships an update every 8 days, and CoreNodeReader fortnightly. Most recently, Sutra was updated on November 5, 2026 and CoreNodeReader on October 31, 2026.

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