Comparison

Paper Mode vs Readune

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

Head to head
About

Paper Mode

Features
Read full description

Transform your phone into a paper-like reading experience. Paper Mode is designed for people who love reading but dislike reading on bright digital screens. Instead of staring at harsh white pages and glowing displays, Paper Mode creates a calm, cozy reading environment inspired by the comfort of physical books. Switch instantly between a normal digital reader and an E-Ink style reading mode. Customize everything to match your reading preferences and enjoy long reading sessions with less visual fatigue. Whether you are reading novels, textbooks, research papers, manuals, or study materials, Paper Mode helps you focus on reading, not the screen. WHY PAPER MODE? - Transform your phone into a paper-like reading experience - E-Ink style display mode for comfortable reading - Switch instantly between Normal Mode and Paper Mode - Designed to help reduce eye strain during long reading sessions - Cozy paper-inspired themes - Clean and distraction-free interface - Fully customizable reading experience SUPPORTED FORMATS - PDF - EPUB - TXT More formats are coming soon. READING FEATURES - Continue exactly where you stopped - Automatic reading progress saving - Unlimited bookmarks - Fast document search - Table of contents navigation - Reading progress tracking - Offline reading - Beautiful digital bookshelf - Multiple reading themes ACCESSIBILITY - Dyslexia-friendly reading font support - Adjustable font size - Adjustable line spacing - Adjustable margins - Brightness control - Contrast adjustment - Warm paper color adjustment - Landscape and portrait support CUSTOMIZE EVERYTHING Choose how you want to read. - Normal reading mode - Paper Mode - E-Ink style mode - Dark mode - Sepia mode - Custom paper colors - Custom text colors - Reading animations - Screen orientation lock DESIGNED FOR READERS Paper Mode is not another document viewer. It is built for people who want reading on a phone or tablet to feel calm, natural, cozy, and enjoyable. Future updates will include cloud sync, highlights, notes, AI reading tools, reading statistics, and even more customization.

About

Readune

Features
Read full description

Find the line you remember. Keep reading where it leads. Readune is an EPUB and PDF reader for the books you bring. Import your files, search across their text, or listen with Read Aloud. No Readune account is required. SEARCH ACROSS YOUR LIBRARY Remember a phrase but not the book? Search the indexed text of your library in one place. See matching passages grouped by book and jump into the text. Search and indexing happen on your device. Chinese text is searchable within sentences, too. BRING YOUR OWN BOOKS Read EPUB, PDF and comics in CBZ or CBR. Import TXT, HTML, Markdown, FB2 and unprotected MOBI or AZW3 files; supported conversions happen on your device. Add files from Files, the Share sheet, drag and drop, or Shortcuts. MAKE ROOM FOR READING Choose Light, Dark, Warm or an E-ink-inspired grayscale theme. Adjust text size, line spacing and margins for reflowable books. Use pages or continuous scrolling. The E-ink mode simulates a paperlike screen with reduced animation; it does not turn your display into E Ink hardware. LISTEN AT YOUR PACE Read Aloud uses available system voices, follows sentences and offers playback speed, a sleep timer, background audio and lock-screen controls. Voice availability varies by device and language. KEEP YOUR PLACE Use chapter navigation, bookmarks, in-book search and reading progress. Read comics in either direction. OPTIONAL READUNE PLUS Core importing, reading, library search and system Read Aloud work without Plus. Plus adds optional book-file sync through your own iCloud Drive, reading statistics and individual book themes. Choose a monthly or yearly subscription, or a lifetime purchase. Subscription payments are charged to your Apple Account; subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage or cancel in your account settings. YOUR FILES, YOUR CHOICE No ads or tracking. Reading positions, bookmarks and preferences can sync through Apple’s iCloud key-value storage. Book files sync only when you enable Plus library sync. Readune does not operate a server that receives your books or searches. Bring your own DRM-free files. Books shown in screenshots are original illustrations of an imported library and are not included. Image-only books and scanned PDFs without a text layer are not full-text searchable; no OCR is included. Layout and Read Aloud support depend on the file. Privacy: https://readune.thinksview.com/privacy Terms: https://readune.thinksview.com/terms Open-source licenses are available in Settings.

Screenshots

Paper Mode4 screens
Readune4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Paper Mode at none against Readune's 3. Paper Mode also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Readune's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

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

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

Both are free to download. Readune sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Paper Mode asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paper Mode ships an update every 3 weeks, Readune weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Β· 2 level
Paper Mode versus Readune: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaper ModeReadune
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly β€” better
AdsYesNo β€” better
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 β€” better17.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size30 MB73 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperManoj Shresthaζ―“ι‘« 戴

In-app purchases

None

Paper Mode

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Readune

Subscriptions2
  • Readune Plus β€” Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Readune Plus β€” Yearly3 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Readune Plus β€” Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Paper Mode free?
Paper Mode is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Readune free?
Readune is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Paper Mode or Readune have ads?
Paper Mode shows ads; Readune does not.
Which is updated more often, Paper Mode or Readune?
Paper Mode ships an update every 3 weeks, and Readune weekly. Most recently, Paper Mode was updated on October 15, 2026 and Readune on October 7, 2026.

Other comparisons