Comparison

Leafmark vs BeyondRead

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

Head to head
About

Leafmark

A fast, calm EPUB reader that lets you highlight and take notes on your books. Export your annotations in Markdown format to use with other apps. Enjoy a private reading experience with no accounts or cloud lock-in.

Highlights
  • Reflowable EPUB rendering
  • Adjustable font and themes
  • Highlighting with notes
  • Markdown export
  • Reading statistics
  • Privacy-focused design
Features
Read full description

Leafmark is a calm, fast EPUB reader for people who read closely and take their notes with them. Buy it once. No subscription and no Leafmark account. Your library remains plain EPUB files under your control, while highlights, bookmarks, and reading positions can sync privately through your own iCloud when available. READ THE WAY YOU LIKE • Reflowable EPUB rendering with light, sepia and dark themes • Vertical Japanese text (tategaki) renders as the book declares it • Adjustable font, size, line height and margins • One or two columns, plus a scrolling mode — great on iPad in landscape • Full-text search, table of contents and a built-in dictionary lookup • Your reading position is remembered per book ANNOTATE AND KEEP YOUR NOTES • Highlight in four colors and attach notes • Export every highlight and note to Markdown — drop them straight into Obsidian, Notion or any plain-text vault • Reading statistics: time today, this week and all time, your streak, and time per book PRIVACY BY DESIGN • No Leafmark account and no sign-in • No tracking and no analytics • Highlights, bookmarks, and reading positions sync through your personal iCloud account, not a Leafmark server LEAFMARK PRO Reading is always free. Import your library, render any book and try the feel before you decide. You also get one free Markdown export, so you can see exactly what lands in your notes before paying. A single one-time purchase, Leafmark Pro, unlocks the full annotation workflow: unlimited highlights (the free tier keeps up to three per book), unlimited Markdown export, and reading statistics. Restore your purchase any time. GOOD TO KNOW • Import EPUBs straight from Files — iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or right off your device. • Works with DRM-free EPUB files. DRM-protected books and PDF are not supported. • Public-domain EPUBs are available from Public Domain Library and Standard Ebooks.

About

BeyondRead

This app is an EPUB and PDF reader that includes a library of over 20,000 public-domain classics. It offers AI-powered features to explain, translate, or discuss any sentence within a book, and can generate concise AI Digests of entire books. All reading data is stored locally for enhanced privacy.

Highlights
  • AI sentence explanation, translation, and chat
  • AI book digests
  • Library of 20,000+ public-domain classics
  • EPUB, PDF, and MOBI support
  • Local-first data storage
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Quote card creation and sharing
Features
Read full description

BeyondRead is a local-first ebook reader for your own EPUB, PDF and MOBI files, now with a built-in library of more than 20,000 public-domain classics. Select any sentence and ask AI to explain it, translate it, or keep the conversation going in the context of the book. AI Digest turns a whole book into an article you can read in a few minutes. BROWSE (NEW) • More than 20,000 public-domain classics in over 40 languages, free to download and keep • Shelves of great books, browsing by language and genre, and a "Surprise me" pick • Search by title, author or subject, with several words in any order READ • EPUB, PDF and MOBI (MOBI is converted to EPUB on import), on iPhone and iPad • Full-page bookmarks with notes; every book reopens where you left off • Quote cards in three styles: save them to Photos or share them • In-book search, table of contents, adjustable font size and background • Reading, bookmarks, quotes and search need no account ASK AI ABOUT ANY SENTENCE • Translate, Explain and Chat, with as many follow-up questions as you like • Only the passage you select and about 300 characters around it are sent, never the whole book • Translation, explanation and chat on the same passage merge into one highlight you can reopen AI DIGEST • Built from the title, the author, the real table of contents extracted on your device, and roughly the first 200 characters of each chapter • The full text is never uploaded; scanned PDFs and DRM-protected books cannot be digested • You are notified when a digest is ready PRIVACY • Books, bookmarks, quotes, reading positions and AI history live only on your device; our server stores no book content • AI can be switched off entirely, and then nothing leaves the device PLANS • Reading is free, and so is the public-domain library • AI features require signing in (Sign in with Apple) • AI translation is free and does not use your allowance (a fair-use monthly limit applies) • Free plan: 10 AI chats every month, plus 3 AI Digests to keep • Subscriptions raise your monthly chat and digest allowance. They renew automatically, are charged to your Apple ID and can be cancelled at any time in Settings; prices are shown in the app • AI Top-Up packs (new): buy chats and digests without subscribing. Credits never expire and are only used after your monthly allowance runs out LANGUAGES • Interface in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, German and Russian • The AI reply language can be set separately Questions or suggestions? Use "Report a problem" in the app or visit the support page. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ BeyondRead Terms of Use: https://beyondread.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://beyondread.app/privacy

Screenshots

Leafmark4 screens
BeyondRead4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: BeyondRead at 5.0 against Leafmark's 4.0. On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Leafmark sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and BeyondRead sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BeyondRead holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Leafmark ships an update every 3 days, BeyondRead every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Leafmark versus BeyondRead: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLeafmarkBeyondRead
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB15 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperAkira Taniwaki章 刘

Customer experience

Leafmark

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

BeyondRead

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Leafmark

One-time1
  • Leafmark Pro$9.99
6 purchases

BeyondRead

Subscriptions3
  • Plus Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Max Monthly$8.991 Month
One-time3
  • AI Top-Up · Small$0.99
  • AI Top-Up · Medium$2.99
  • AI Top-Up · Large$4.99

Questions

Is Leafmark free?
Leafmark is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BeyondRead free?
BeyondRead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Leafmark or BeyondRead?
BeyondRead is rated higher. Leafmark averages 4.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while BeyondRead averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Leafmark or BeyondRead have ads?
Neither Leafmark nor BeyondRead shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Leafmark or BeyondRead?
Leafmark ships an update every 3 days, and BeyondRead every 4 days. Most recently, Leafmark was updated on October 5, 2026 and BeyondRead on October 9, 2026.

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