Comparison

Readmon vs Plain Reader

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

Head to head
About

Readmon

Features
Read full description

Readmon reads the books you already own, out loud, in a voice that sounds like a person. On a night when your eyes are tired, or with your hands in the sink, the story keeps going. ■ Ten AI voices that sound like people Not a robot. Choose from five female and five male voices. Pick a reading style for the moment — Calm, Sleep, Study — and Readmon remembers which voice you used for each book. The AI voices support 32 languages: English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, German, Greek, Spanish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Hindi, Croatian, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese. Chinese is read by the Chinese AI voices — a separate download that reads both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Languages other than these 32 cannot be read by the AI voices. If the language you read is not on the list, please do not buy the AI voices. You can listen in that language with the system voices built into iOS, and everything else in the app is free. Dialogue is read in a different voice from the narration. When lines run back and forth, two voices take turns, so it sounds like a conversation. Speed it up and the voice keeps its pitch. ■ On your iPhone, with no internet The narration is generated entirely on your iPhone. It keeps working when the connection drops, and on a plane. You download a voice once. After that, no internet is needed. ■ The files you already have TXT, EPUB and PDF, and comics too. 7z, CBZ, CBR, ZIP and RAR all open. Bring books in from Calibre-Web, OPDS, WebDAV, Dropbox or OneDrive. PDFs and scanned books in English or Korean are recognized on the device and read aloud as well. ■ Reading Notes for the books you've read Keep a star rating, a review and the dates you read each book, and see what you've finished and what you're still reading at a glance. You can keep a note even for a book whose file you don't have. Highlights — turn on Highlights in the reader and swipe across TXT or EPUB text. Pick one of four colors, add a note, or quote it in your review. Reading Statistics — time spent reading and listening, by day and by book, viewed by period. Google sync — carry your reading position, bookmarks, highlights and notes to your other devices through your own Google account. ■ Comfortable while you read Find in book — search TXT and EPUB books and jump straight to the passage Sleep timer — it stops on its own if you fall asleep Lock screen controls — turn pages and pause without taking it out of your pocket Repeat a passage — go back over the part you missed Pronunciation dictionary — make names and unusual words sound the way you want Page-turn animation — pages that turn like paper The app is available in 33 languages and follows your device language. ■ Subscribe monthly, or buy once There are two ways to use the AI voices. Monthly subscription — start small, one month at a time. It renews automatically every month until you cancel, and you can cancel any time under Subscriptions in your App Store account. Lifetime pass — buy once and the AI voices stay yours. Nothing to pay again next month. Listen free for 30 minutes before you subscribe or buy. Everything else works without buying anything. Terms of Use: https://mindollab.com/readmon/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://mindollab.com/readmon/privacy.html

About

Plain Reader

Features
Read full description

Plain Reader opens your books, PDFs, comics and image folders right where they are — in Files, iCloud Drive, or on a USB drive or external SSD. No account, no import, no copies. READ, NOTHING ELSE • Menus stay hidden while you read. Tap the center to bring them back. • Pages fill the screen. Swipe, tap the sides, or drag the slider to jump anywhere. • Turn your iPhone or iPad sideways for two-page spreads, with the cover on its own. TXT AND EPUB • Choose the font, size, line spacing, margins and theme — pages reflow to fit. • Listen: books in 31 languages are read aloud by natural voices made on your device. • Table of contents, search and bookmarks. TXT text encoding is detected automatically. COMICS AND MANGA • Opens ZIP and CBZ archives without unpacking them — even ones with thousands of pages. • Right-to-left reading for manga. • A folder of images opens as one book. PDF • Sharp pages, search, table of contents, thumbnails and text selection. • Two-page spreads on wide screens. YOUR FILES STAY YOURS • Files are read in place and never uploaded anywhere. • Bookmarks and your reading position are kept for every book. • Works with iCloud Drive and external storage through the Files app. PLAIN READER PRO Plain Reader is free with a small banner ad. Watch one short video ad to read without banner ads for 2 hours, or to use Listen for 1 hour. Plain Reader Pro removes all ads and unlocks unlimited Listen. Choose a Monthly or Yearly subscription — Yearly starts with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers — or a one-time Lifetime purchase. Restore it on your iPhone and iPad with the same Apple Account. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel them in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://ourbeom.com/plainreader/terms Privacy Policy: https://ourbeom.com/plainreader/privacy

Screenshots

Readmon4 screens
Plain Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Plain Reader at every 2 days against Readmon's weekly. Plain Reader also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Readmon sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Plain Reader sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Readmon ships an update weekly, Plain Reader every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Readmon versus Plain Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadmonPlain Reader
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size85 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMinhaeng LeeOurBeom

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Readmon

Subscriptions1
  • AI Voice Monthly$0.991 Month
One-time2
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • AI Voice Lifetime$9.99
4 purchases

Plain Reader

Subscriptions2
  • Plain Reader Pro (Monthly)$0.991 Month
  • Plain Reader Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$6.991 Year
One-time2
  • Plain Reader Pro$2.99
  • Plain Reader Pro (Lifetime)$12.99

Questions

Is Readmon free?
Readmon is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Plain Reader free?
Plain Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Readmon or Plain Reader have ads?
Both Readmon and Plain Reader show ads.
Which is updated more often, Readmon or Plain Reader?
Readmon ships an update weekly, and Plain Reader every 2 days. Most recently, Readmon was updated on October 29, 2026 and Plain Reader on October 24, 2026.

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