Close Reader vs Brevier
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Close Reader
Read full descriptionHide full description
Close Reader is an e-book reader that helps with the hard parts of a book: a word you don’t know, a character you’ve forgotten, a reference that goes over your head. And it never looks past your page. Open your own EPUB, FB2, MOBI, AZW3, PDF and TXT books (DRM-free), in any language. There’s no store and no sign-up: add a file from Files, or share it to Close Reader from Mail or a messenger. Help right where you stumble • Press and hold a word: the translation fits this very sentence, not a dictionary entry three screens long. You also get the pronunciation, the part of speech and a short note when it matters. • Reading in your native language? You get a plain definition instead. • Drag the handles to take in a whole phrase, or tap “Whole sentence” or “Whole paragraph” to translate more at once. • “Who’s this?” reminds you who a character or a place is, using only the pages you’ve already read. • “Explain” gives the background: history, allusions, idioms and old-fashioned phrasing, in plain words and in your language. The AI knows the book only up to your page Every answer is built from what you’ve read so far. The limit is the last line on your screen, and it moves with you. In “No spoilers” mode we don’t even tell the AI which book it is, so it can’t fill in the plot from memory. Finished the book, or reading it again? Switch to “Whole book” and ask anything. Chat with the book • Ask for a recap, who’s who, a timeline, or why a character did what they did. • Coming back after a month? Close Reader offers a recap: the story in brief, then the latest chapters in more detail. • Answers point to the passages they rely on. Tap one to jump to that place in the book. • Every book has its own chat. Keep what matters • “Save word” keeps a word with its translation and the sentence where you met it. Practice with flashcards: the intervals adapt to your memory. • Highlight passages to keep them as excerpts, and write notes on them. • Save a good AI answer to your notes with one tap. • Everything is gathered book by book and opens at the right place. Your vocabulary exports to CSV. Easy on the eyes • Four themes, fonts, text size and line spacing; pages or scrolling. • iPhone and iPad, portrait or landscape, with a two-page spread in landscape. • The app speaks 20 languages and translates into more than 40, including your native one, even if the menus are in another. • Sign in to keep books, reading positions, highlights, notes, chats and vocabulary in sync on your iPhone and iPad. Or don’t: everything works without an account. Private by design Your books stay on your device unless you choose to sync them. Text goes to the AI only when you ask for help; we don’t store it, and it isn’t used to train AI models. No ads, no tracking, and we never sell your data. Energy and plans AI help runs on energy. Translating a word costs 1 energy, and bigger requests show their price first. The free plan gives you 1,500 energy every month, no account needed. Reading, notes and flashcards are always free. Every feature is on every plan. Light, Medium and Max just give you more energy (15,000, 40,000 and 80,000 a month), and Medium starts with a 7-day free trial. Extra energy you buy never expires. Subscriptions Light, Medium and Max are auto-renewing subscriptions, billed monthly or yearly. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it in Settings > your name > Subscriptions. Terms of Use: https://closereader.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://closereader.app/privacy
Brevier
Read full descriptionHide full description
Brevier is a reader for the DRM-free EPUB, PDF, and plain-text books you already have. Highlight, take notes, and with Brevier Premium, ask about any passage and get answers that cite your book. Reading • Pages or continuous scrolling, with page curl on iPhone and iPad • Fonts, text size, spacing, margins, justified text, and themes, including dark • Search inside a book, follow its contents and links, and read footnotes without leaving the page • Bookmark a page and return to it • PDFs keep their own pages, with highlights, notes, search, and Explain • Opens where you left off on each of your devices, and Handoff continues the book you're reading Highlights and Notes • Highlight in five colors or underline, and attach a note • See every highlight and note in one searchable list • Export a book's notes as Markdown, or share a quote as an image Explain (Brevier Premium) • Select a passage and choose Explain for its meaning, context, and background • Explain a page, a chapter, or the whole book, and ask follow-up questions • Answers cite passages from your book, so you can check them • Avoid Spoilers leaves out later chapters until you choose otherwise • Catch Up recaps the story so far Explain asks before it sends anything and uses a third-party AI service in the cloud. Explanations may contain mistakes. Reading Goals • A daily goal, a streak, and the books you finish this year • An optional evening reminder on days you haven't met your goal Your books, notes, and reading positions stay on your device and sync through your own iCloud account. No account, no ads, no tracking. Brevier opens DRM-free EPUB, PDF, and plain-text files. Books protected by DRM, such as most ebook store purchases, and PDFs locked with a password can't be opened. Brevier Premium is an auto-renewable subscription, billed monthly or yearly. Payment is charged to your Apple Account, and the subscription renews unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://hksw.io/privacy/#brevier
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Close Reader at none against Brevier's 2. Close Reader also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 27.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Brevier sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Close Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Close Reader | Brevier |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | — | Every 3 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 27.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ilia Ilinskii | HK Softworks AB |
In-app purchases
Close Reader
No in-app purchases
Brevier
- Brevier Premium Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Brevier Premium Annual7 Days trial$39.991 Year








