Comparison

iRead vs EPUB Reader

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

Head to head
About

iRead

Features
Read full description

iRead is a calm reader for people learning a language through real texts. Bring in a book, an article or a PDF in the language you're learning, read at your own pace, translate unfamiliar words with a tap, and keep them in a personal vocabulary. READ ANYTHING - Books in FB2 (including fb2.zip), EPUB and TXT — with the author, italics and bold preserved - Articles and notes in Markdown - PDFs: select text right on the page and translate it. Each PDF remembers its language pair, the page and the zoom you left it at - Pages of paper books: take a photo and the text is recognized automatically - Pasted text and anything shared from other apps TRANSLATION WITHOUT THE INTERNET - Translation runs on your device — fast and private - Any pair of system-supported languages: you choose what you read and what you translate into - Language packs download once; after that everything works offline YOUR READING DAY - The Library opens with your day: how long you read and how many words you saved - A reading diary: each day shows the time you spent, the books you read and the words you kept - Reading rhythm: a gentle plan for each language — say, English on weekdays, 20 minutes. See it fill up in Today and across the week, with an optional reminder that opens the book you're reading. No streaks A PERSONAL VOCABULARY, WITH REVIEW - Save words and phrases together with the sentence you found them in - Categories, favorites and search - Review that goes through your whole vocabulary: every word comes up in turn, and the ones you missed come back a little sooner - Short sessions of up to ten words for each language — you only ever answer "Knew it" or "Didn't know" - Fresh words: what you saved in the last few days gets its own short session, all your languages together - An optional reminder the morning after you save words, at a time you choose - Hard words show how many times you didn't remember each one - Quiet statistics, no streaks - Saved words are gently underlined as you read, so what you've learned shows up in the text itself - Word hints: the translation of words you're still learning can appear right above them in the text, and disappears once you know the word COMFORTABLE READING - Book-style typesetting: justified text, chapter headings, and hyphenation that follows the language of the book - Page breaks: a quiet line about once a screen gives long chapters a rhythm - Six themes: four warm paper tones, a clean White, and E-reader — a calm gray screen with its own book typeface, Literata — plus a dark mode - Seven text sizes on top of the system setting - Tapping a book picks up right where you left off — straight to your last chapter, with the contents one swipe back - Reading Now keeps started books close at hand - In the PDF reader the page lies on paper, and one tap hides the panels ON IPAD - Translation appears in a small popover right next to the word, so the page stays readable around it - Your library, vocabulary and settings sit in a comfortable reading column on a large screen - PDFs in landscape fill the width of the screen and stay sharp; turning the iPad keeps your place SYNC AND PRIVACY - Your library and vocabulary sync across your devices through iCloud - Data lives in your private iCloud database; translation never leaves the device - No accounts, no ads, no tracking

About

EPUB Reader

This app helps you learn languages by reading books. It offers sentence-by-sentence translation, vocabulary building, and the ability to import your own texts. Enjoy a customizable reading experience with various themes and fonts.

Highlights
  • Sentence-by-sentence translation
  • Vocabulary saving with context
  • Import EPUB and TXT files
  • Customizable reading themes and fonts
  • Offline translation after initial download
  • Built-in library of classic texts
Features
Read full description

Duotext translates whole sentences while you read. Keep the original in view and reveal a sentence’s translation with a tap, or keep translations visible with Pro. Read on iPhone and iPad. 24 CLASSIC READS IN YOUR LIBRARY • Three complete starter texts, free to read. • The English language setting starts with three French fables by Jean de La Fontaine, with ready-to-read English translations. • Other language settings start with English stories by Kate Chopin, O. Henry and Oscar Wilde. • Twenty-one more texts with Pro: French stories by Maupassant and fables by La Fontaine for the English language setting; English stories, including stories by Saki, for other settings. TRANSLATION THE WAY YOU WANT IT • Tap to translate — free, in every book: touch the mark after a sentence and its translation appears • Always-on translation under the text, with no tapping at all — with Pro • Choose how the text is split: by line, by sentence, or by paragraph — with Pro • Tap a single word to see what it means in that exact sentence BUILD VOCABULARY FROM REAL BOOKS • Press and hold a sentence to save a word together with the context you met it in • Free: up to 20 saved words. Pro: an unlimited dictionary BRING YOUR OWN BOOKS — WITH PRO • Import EPUB and TXT files • Paste any text • Save an article from the web by link A READER FIRST • Six reading themes, serif, sans serif and rounded fonts, adjustable type size — all free • Covers, reading progress, and your place in the book • Your books stay on your device HOW TRANSLATION WORKS Duotext uses the translation built into iOS, so text is translated on your iPhone. The first time you use a language pair, iOS downloads that language model, which needs an internet connection; after that, translation runs on your device. You can translate into the languages your device supports for translation. No account, no sign-up. WHAT IS FREE AND WHAT IS PRO Free: 3 complete stories, tap to translate in any book, up to 20 saved words, and every theme, font and type size. Duotext Pro adds: 21 more stories, always-on translation under every line, the by line / by sentence / by paragraph layouts, importing your own EPUB and TXT files, pasted text and links, and an unlimited dictionary. SUBSCRIPTION AND PURCHASE Duotext Pro is available as a yearly subscription with a free trial, or as a one-time Lifetime purchase. • Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. • The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renewal is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your Apple Account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. • You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal in your Apple Account settings. • Any unused portion of a free trial period is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. • Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ • Privacy Policy: https://artsaverin-star.github.io/legal/duotext/privacy.html

Screenshots

iRead4 screens
EPUB Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: iRead at none against EPUB Reader's 3. 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. EPUB Reader sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. iRead asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iRead ships an update every 2 days, EPUB Reader every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
iRead versus EPUB Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriReadEPUB Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB35 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMykhailo TykhonovIaroslav Saverin

In-app purchases

None

iRead

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

EPUB Reader

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Yearly3 Days trial$13.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is iRead free?
iRead is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is EPUB Reader free?
EPUB Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do iRead or EPUB Reader have ads?
Neither iRead nor EPUB Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iRead or EPUB Reader?
iRead ships an update every 2 days, and EPUB Reader every 3 days. Most recently, iRead was updated on November 10, 2026 and EPUB Reader on November 1, 2026.

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