Comparison

Libra reader vs MargiNotes

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

Head to head
About

Libra reader

This app is a versatile ebook reader and library manager for iPhone and iPad. It supports a wide range of formats and allows reading from various sources, with features like customizable reading settings, note-taking, and cross-device synchronization.

Highlights
  • Supports all major ebook formats
  • Read from device, cloud, and OPDS catalogs
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Highlights, notes, and bookmarks
  • On-device translation
  • Cross-device sync (Pro feature)
Features
Read full description

Libra is a modern ebook reader and library manager for iPhone and iPad. Discover 70,000+ free books, or 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 • 70,000+ free books to browse, search and download • 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

MargiNotes

Features
Read full description

MargiNotes is a calm reader and note-taking app for PDF, EPUB, and paper books. Its difference is simple: a note can keep a path back to the book it came from. Import a highlight from Kindle or Apple Books, or capture a quote from a printed page. If the matching PDF or EPUB is in your library, MargiNotes can search that book on your device and relink the note to its real place. No guessed links. If MargiNotes cannot find a reliable match, it says so clearly. READ AND CAPTURE • Read PDF and EPUB books with adjustable themes, typography, layout, and reading settings. • Highlight while you read and keep each note with its book. • Capture quotes from printed books with on-device OCR. • Scan a barcode to fill in a paper book's title, author, and cover. • Add comments, tags, and voice notes alongside what you read. FIND YOUR WAY BACK Search inside a book and your own notes appear first, next to the book's own sentences. Search quotes, comments, tags, and transcripts across your whole library, or find a note straight from iPhone search. Ask your notes a question and the answer is built only from them — and always shown with the notes it came from. Writing the answer needs Apple Intelligence; without it, MargiNotes still finds the notes closest to your question. YOUR NOTES, PORTABLE Create shareable quote cards, follow your reading with simple statistics and widgets, and export to Markdown, PDF, or an Obsidian vault where every note keeps its links. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account • No ads • No analytics • No cloud AI — text recognition, transcription, and answers run on your device • Sync only through your own iCloud The app never goes online by itself. The one exception is the barcode lookup you start yourself, which sends only the ISBN — and you can switch it off. Your books stay yours. MargiNotes is built to help you remember not only what you saved, but where it came from.

Screenshots

Libra reader4 screens
MargiNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MargiNotes at none against Libra reader's 2. On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Libra reader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. MargiNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Libra reader ships an update fortnightly, MargiNotes every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Libra reader versus MargiNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLibra readerMargiNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.217.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSergei MikhailovEmirhan Ayaz

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Libra reader

Subscriptions2
  • Libra Pro – Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Libra Pro – Yearly$19.991 Year
None

MargiNotes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Libra reader free?
Libra reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MargiNotes free?
MargiNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Libra reader or MargiNotes have ads?
Neither Libra reader nor MargiNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Libra reader or MargiNotes?
Libra reader ships an update fortnightly, and MargiNotes every 2 weeks. Most recently, Libra reader was updated on November 5, 2026 and MargiNotes on November 5, 2026.

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