PocketBook Reader vs CLAUDIO
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PocketBook Reader
This app is a versatile reader supporting 26 book and audio formats, including EPUB, PDF, and audiobooks. It offers features like PDF reflow, text-to-speech, cloud synchronization, and extensive customization options for a comfortable reading experience.
- Supports 26 book and audio formats
- PDF Reflow function
- Text-to-speech engine
- Cloud synchronization service
- Customizable interface and reading settings
- Adobe DRM support
Read full descriptionHide full description
PocketBook Reader is a free app for reading all formats (books, magazines, textbooks, comic books, etc.) and listening to audiobooks! The application supports 26 book and audio formats, including mobi, epub, fb2, cbz, cbr. Read without ads and with total comfort! Choose any content - any format! • Support of 19 book formats, including the most popular - EPUB, FB2, MOBI, PDF, DJVU, DOCX, RTF, TXT, HTML; • Comic book formats CBR and CBZ; • Open books protected with Adobe DRM (PDF, EPUB); • PDF Reflow function (reflow text in PDF files). Listen to audiobooks! • You can listen to audiobooks and other audio files in MP3, M4B, and take notes in them; • Built-in TTS (Text-to-speech) engine for the voicing of the text files. Download and sync content easily! • Free PocketBook Cloud service for synchronizing all your books, including audiobooks, as well as reading positions, notes and bookmarks on all your devices; • Your files from Dropbox or Google Books services are easily connected to the app to create one consolidated library. You can even connect multiple accounts at the same time; • Support for OPDS catalogs - get access to network libraries; • ISBN scanner, for quick search of electronic versions of books by barcode; • Opportunity to borrow books and periodicals; • If you have a E Ink e-reader PocketBook, you can easily synchronize all your books and accounts just by scanning a QR code. Ready to switch from another app? No problem! Getting started with PocketBook Reader is easy! With an intuitive interface, the application provides you with unprecedented freedom – lots of options for settings and no restrictions. Choose, change, customize, and personalize! • Intuitive interface, easy navigation, and minimalistic design; • Opportunity to choose one of the seven interface color themes, reassign the buttons and display areas; • Two night-reading modes - for better reading comfort anytime; • Adjust the font style, font size, line spacing, and margin size; • Animation of turning pages; • Opportunity to crop margins – make the page look exactly the way you want. Get fast file access and easy search! • All files are quickly found and instantly opened, even with built-in audio and video fragments; • Your books will never be lost in the device’s memory - thanks to the smart search, scanning files on your tablet or smartphone is a matter of seconds. Any file or document can be found in a few clicks! • The app allows you to sort books, create collections, filter and mark files as you like. Your library - your rules; • Convenient managing of audio files - it is easy to sort and play your audiobooks. Make bookmarks, take notes, add comments! • You can quickly find all your notes and share them with friends via email or messengers; • Collect all your notes, bookmarks, and comments into separate files for even greater convenience. PocketBook Reader was created by avid readers for avid readers, and that’s why it’s probably the best e-book reader app.
CLAUDIO
This app is a versatile audio player for personal audiobooks, podcasts, and music. It supports various sources like local files, cloud storage, and servers, offering advanced playback features and offline access. Prioritizing data protection, it provides a customizable listening experience without ads or analytics.
- Plays local files, iCloud Drive, NAS, Jellyfin, Subsonic, etc.
- Advanced audiobook features: chapter support, sleep timer, speed control
- Podcast subscriptions and episode management
- Music playback with EQ, visualizers, and synced lyrics
- Offline caching and CarPlay support
- Privacy-focused with no ads or analytics
Read full descriptionHide full description
CLAUDIO is an audio player for your own audiobooks, podcasts and music that takes data protection seriously. It plays from the sources you already use: local files, iCloud Drive, NAS/SMB, Jellyfin, Audiobookshelf, Subsonic and Navidrome, DLNA, WebDAV and SFTP. AUDIOBOOKS • Chapters from M4B and tagged MP3 • Sleep timer to the end of the chapter or book, with Knock to Resume if it stopped too soon • Playback speed with pitch correction and silence trimming • Resumes a few seconds earlier after a pause, so you don't land mid-sentence • Read along with downloaded audiobooks and podcasts: on-device transcription in supported languages, with the text following the audio • Ten background sounds such as rain, sea or fireplace PODCASTS • Subscribe and stream by URL or Apple Podcasts search • Episode downloads, intro and outro skipping • OPML import and export, chapters and sleep timer MUSIC • Album Wall and LP Mode • 10-band EQ with matching curves for more than 6,000 headphones from AutoEq measurement data • ReplayGain, gapless playback, crossfade, stereo widening and volume normalization • Animated visualizers and synced lyrics • Scrobbling to ListenBrainz and Last.fm YOUR LIBRARY, ANYWHERE • Offline cache and pinning for titles from your server • CarPlay for downloaded and local titles • Cast local and downloaded titles to Google Cast, DLNA/UPnP and Sonos • Favorites that sync with Navidrome, Jellyfin and Audiobookshelf • Smart Lists, Smart Shuffle and listening statistics • Widgets for Home Screen and Lock Screen, controls for Control Center PRIVACY No CLAUDIO account, no ads, no analytics SDKs, no telemetry. Your library, history and subscriptions stay on your device, and in your private iCloud if you use iCloud Sync. Apart from the sources you choose, CLAUDIO only contacts LRCLIB for lyrics and Apple for podcast search and app recommendations. WHAT'S FREE Local files, iCloud Drive, 2 podcast subscriptions, Smart Lists, Smart Shuffle and all themes are free. Server sources, offline cache, CarPlay, casting and statistics need CLAUDIO Ultra, a monthly or yearly subscription that includes Pro. All other features need CLAUDIO Pro, a one-time purchase. CLAUDIO Pro+ unlocks both permanently with a single purchase and can be shared through Family Sharing. The yearly Ultra plan starts with a 14-day free trial for new subscribers, then the yearly price applies. Ultra renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Cancel anytime in App Store Settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: CLAUDIO at 5.0 against PocketBook Reader's 4.5. CLAUDIO also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 54%) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months). PocketBook Reader's advantage is ratings volume (10K vs 1) and chart position (#147 vs unranked). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. PocketBook Reader sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and CLAUDIO sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
CLAUDIO holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PocketBook Reader has 10K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of PocketBook Reader's written reviews are positive against 86% of CLAUDIO's.
PocketBook Reader ships an update every 2 months, CLAUDIO every 4 days. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.
| Parameter | PocketBook Reader | CLAUDIO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (10K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.5% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #147 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 106 MB | 91 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pocketbook International SA | Tobias Reithmeier |
Customer experience
PocketBook Reader
CLAUDIO
Bugs and requests
PocketBook Reader
Reported bugs
4 issues- Books disappearing from library after login issues
- Inability to open DRM-protected PDFs
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between portrait and landscape modes
- Text-to-speech voice quality issues
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to organize books into custom folders
- Option to disable quick action zones
- Improved text-to-speech controls (seek, pause, etc.)
- Support for handwritten annotations with Apple Pencil
- Faster page turning and scrolling
CLAUDIO
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PocketBook Reader
- eBook$0.99
- eBook (class A)$0.99
- eBook (class B)$1.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- eBook$2.99
- eBook (class D)$3.99
- eBook: type 7.09$5.99
- eBook$6.99
- eBook: type 10.9$9.90
- eBook$9.99
- eBook: type 12.99$11.99
CLAUDIO
- CLAUDIO Ultra Monthly$3.991 Month
- CLAUDIO Ultra Annual14 Days trial$15.901 Year
- CLAUDIO Pro$3.99
- CLAUDIO Pro+$34.99









