Comparison

Libra reader vs Gloss

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

Head to head
About

Libra reader

Features
Read full description

Libra is a modern ebook reader and library manager for iPhone and iPad. Read the books you already own — from your device, your cloud storage, or any OPDS catalog — and keep your reading progress, highlights and notes in sync across all your devices. Key features • All major ebook formats • Read from device, cloud storage and OPDS catalogs • Comfortable, fully customizable reading • Highlights, notes and bookmarks • On-device translation • Reading sync across your devices Ebook formats • EPUB • PDF • FictionBook (fb2, fb2.zip) • MobiPocket and Kindle (mobi, azw3) • Comic Book (cbz) • Word (docx) • Markdown, HTML and plain text (md, html, txt) Your books, your storage • Locally on the device • In cloud storage: iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Yandex Disk • From OPDS catalogs and online libraries you choose • Add your own catalog, for example a Calibre content server over OPDS Comfortable reading • Light, Sepia and Dark themes • Paginated (swipe) or continuous scroll • Serif, sans-serif and monospace fonts • Adjustable font size, line height, paragraph spacing, margins, letter spacing and text alignment • Device-independent reading position that transfers correctly across screens and devices • Table of contents navigation Highlights, notes and bookmarks • Highlight passages in four colors • Attach notes to your highlights • Bookmark any page • Share and export your notes and highlights as text Library management • Organize books into custom collections • Browse by folders across all your sources • Search your library • Automatic cover and metadata extraction • Track reading status and progress, and mark books finished • Rate and review your books • Back up and restore your library Translation • Translate selected text right in the reader • Translation runs on your device — nothing leaves it Sync across your devices (Pro) • Sync your library, reading position, progress, highlights, notes, bookmarks, reviews and collections • Syncs privately through your own iCloud account — we run no server and never hold your data ——— Support: support@libra-reader.com Privacy Policy: https://libra-reader.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://libra-reader.com/terms

About

Gloss

Features
Read full description

Gloss turns anything you read into a conversation with its author. Highlight any passage — in a book, a PDF, an article you saved, or your own notes — and a margin note appears, explaining it more deeply in a voice informed by the author's style (or a thoughtful guide when there's no single author). Ask a follow-up and the note answers, staying right beside the text. The AI lives in the margins, never as a chat window — it reads like a thoughtful annotation, beside the text. Read anything: • EPUB books (DRM-free) — your files, Project Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks, author-direct. (Kindle and Apple Books DRM files aren't supported.) • PDFs — papers, manuals, anything you've saved. • Articles — paste a link and Gloss pulls the readable text to annotate. • Your notes — write or paste text and gloss it like a book. • Select text → Gloss, Go deeper, Define, or Ask — the note streams into the margin (a side column on iPad, an anchored card on iPhone). • Distraction-free reading — three themes (light, sepia, dark), adjustable font, size, spacing, and margins. • Your highlights and notes are saved on your device and travel with each document. Reading is free forever. Your first 10 glosses are free; Gloss Unlimited ($5.99/month or $49.99/year) unlocks unlimited notes. Your files stay on your device — only the highlighted passage and a small amount of surrounding text are sent to generate a note. Author "voices" are an AI interpretation, not the real author, and may be inaccurate. Gloss Unlimited is an auto-renewable subscription: $5.99/month or $49.99/year. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at purchase confirmation. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://gloss.nyrai.ai/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://gloss.nyrai.ai/privacy.html

Screenshots

Libra reader4 screens
Gloss4 screens

Verdict

The call

Libra reader and Gloss are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Libra reader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Gloss sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Libra reader versus Gloss: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLibra readerGloss
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.217.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size68 MB13 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperSergei MikhailovNYRAI LLC

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Libra reader

Subscriptions2
  • Libra Pro – Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Libra Pro – Yearly$19.991 Year
2 purchases

Gloss

Subscriptions2
  • Gloss Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Gloss Yearly$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Libra reader free?
Libra reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Gloss free?
Gloss is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Libra reader or Gloss have ads?
Neither Libra reader nor Gloss shows ads.

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