# CustomBooks vs Bare Reader

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CustomBooks at none against Bare Reader's 1. Bare Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Bare Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. CustomBooks asks for nothing beyond the download.

CustomBooks ships an update every 2 weeks, Bare Reader every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | CustomBooks | Bare Reader |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | **Every 5 days** |
| Size | 3 MB | 3 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **16.6** |
| Devices | iPhone | **iPhone, iPad** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [永隆 郝](https://appshunter.io/developer/6781715723) | [Nathaniel Rayestu Abdulrachman](https://appshunter.io/developer/6785020837) |

## What reviewers say

### CustomBooks

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/custombooks/id6781718998)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Bare Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bare-reader/id6787130680)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Support Development | $1.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is CustomBooks free?

CustomBooks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Bare Reader free?

Bare Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do CustomBooks or Bare Reader have ads?

Neither CustomBooks nor Bare Reader shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, CustomBooks or Bare Reader?

CustomBooks ships an update every 2 weeks, and Bare Reader every 5 days. Most recently, CustomBooks was updated on October 1, 2026 and Bare Reader on October 9, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*