Comparison

MapleRead SE vs BookFolder

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

Head to head
About

MapleRead SE

This app offers a unique audio-visual reading experience for EPUB and PDF files. It allows for extensive customization of book styles, instant audiobook generation, and immersive reading that syncs audio and text. It also functions as an effective library management tool with cross-device syncing.

Highlights
  • Audio-visual reading experience
  • EPUB and PDF reader
  • Pseudo audiobook generation
  • Immersion reading (audio/text sync)
  • Library management and organization
  • Cross-device syncing
  • User-defined customization
Currently charting
Read full description

MapleRead is dedicated to enable unique audio-visual reading experience for everyone. ------------ Our MapleRead app family has 3 members, namely SE, CE and CX. - SE is our flagship product with all features. - CE is SE without PDF reader and built-in Library Server. - CX is CE with some limitation. Free to try. - No recurring subscription fees. No ads. Just buy it once. Gratuity optional. - Moreover, SE and CE can be run side-by-side via split-view multitasking. - Recommend SE for use on multiple devices with easy and fast book sharing via Library Server. - Recommend the SE-CE bundle for the best value. ------------ MapleRead includes a superb audio-visual EPUB e-book reader. - It lets you easily modify publisher's original book style to better suit your aesthetic taste. - It lets you instantly generate pseudo audiobooks with a choice of narrator voices over 40 languages. - It enables immersion reading so that you may read and listen to the same book in sync. - Background listening works well too. Compatible with Lock Screen Music Player and CarPlay. MapleRead UI is friendly to users of all ages. - Books can be read in regular and large print. - A choice of UI text sizes makes reading in non-book views much more comfortable. MapleRead is a great learning tool. - It lets you look up words, translate sentences, search text, highlight text and write notes. - It helps you collect vocabulary and organize notes with various priorities. - It provides hooks to user-defined dictionaries, translators, and other tools. - Immersion reading improves your comprehension, especially of foreign-language books. MapleRead is an effective and fast library management tool. - It is designed for you, a book lover, who may own a huge and/or growing book collection. - It lets you keep all your books in one place and well-organized automatically. - It lets you display your books elegantly in style. - It lets you easily repair individual book metadata. - If supports multiple book sets and multiple tags. - It offers multiple ways to import and export books, and works well with Calibre. MapleRead supports secure sync across devices via MapleRead Cloud and iCloud. - It syncs reading positions, notes, vocab, bookmarks, and book set membership (but not the books). - It syncs reading positions additionally via iCloud for even better user experience. - It enables web access to synced data via web browsers from desktop and mobile devices. MapleRead offers unprecedented user-defined customization options. - They include unlimited user-defined fonts, book themes, cover images and library scenes. - Each book theme includes various types of user-defined highlight colors. - Each book can have its own theme, and each EPUB book can have its own style. MapleRead SE includes also a great PDF e-book reader. - The PDF reader looks very similar to the EPUB reader for a sense of unified UI. MapleRead SE has a zero-configuration Library Server for easy book sharing. - All books in Library can be shared. - Smart batch download makes transferring of multiple books very convenient. [For more technical details, screenshots, FAQ and reviews, please visit our website.]

About

BookFolder

Organize your PDF library with custom folders, cover images, and themes. Enjoy a personalized reading experience with features like split-screen multitasking and bookmarks. This free app offers a clean interface and essential reading tools.

Highlights
  • Custom folder organization
  • Custom cover images for PDFs
  • Split-screen multitasking on iPad
  • Multiple theme colors and icons
  • Dark Mode support
  • Bookmarks and table of contents
Read full description

Organize your PDFs, set custom covers, and choose from several theme colors and icons, for a pleasant reading experience just the way you want it. • Create folders and folder groups to keep your PDFs organized however you prefer. Rename and rearrange things as the mood takes you. Name every single book and folder the same thing, if you really want to! (I don’t recommend doing that, but nonetheless, that’s the sort of awesome power that you wield if you use BookFolder.) • Set custom cover images for every book (or stick with a book’s default cover, of course). Your library will look the way that you want it to! (And the underlying files remain pristine, so if you begin to regret choosing a photo of your cat for every book in your collection, you can always restore the originals and no one will know. Except your cat, who is judging you now.) • Get wild on an iPad with split-screen multitasking support. Read two books at once (or the same book twice)! If that’s something that you want to do. • Swap between five theme colors, for an interface that works best for you. (Dark Mode support, too, of course!) • Choose from a dozen icons, from solid colors to subdued platinum to a retro rainbow look, to fit your mood and to ensure a harmonious home screen layout with your other apps. (I’m not the only one who arranges my icons by color and design… am I?) • You can use it to actually read the PDFs, too, of course. Mustn’t forget that part. • Plus bookmarks, searching, and table-of-contents support, as one would expect. • Also, it’s free, no in-app purchases, no tracking… just a nice PDF reader and library manager. I hope that you’ll enjoy it!

Screenshots

MapleRead SE4 screens
BookFolder4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: BookFolder at Free against MapleRead SE's $8.99. BookFolder also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.1) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). MapleRead SE's advantage is chart position (#107 vs unranked) and ratings volume (130 vs 28). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

BookFolder is free to download; MapleRead SE costs $8.99 up front. MapleRead SE sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. BookFolder asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BookFolder holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 130 and 28 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of MapleRead SE's written reviews are positive against 88% of BookFolder's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MapleRead SE ships an update every 2 months, BookFolder every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
MapleRead SE versus BookFolder: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMapleRead SEBookFolder
Price$8.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (130 ratings)4.7 (28 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.5% of reviews88.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings130 — better28
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#107 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB2 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperMaplepop LLCMolly Black

Customer experience

MapleRead SE

All ratings130 ratings
Positive77.7%
Neutral8.5%
Negative13.8%
Written reviews168 reviews
Positive68.5%
Neutral14.3%
Negative17.3%

BookFolder

All ratings28 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive88.2%
Neutral5.9%
Negative5.9%

Bugs and requests

MapleRead SE

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing and crashing issues, especially on iOS 14
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between portrait and landscape modes
  • Unreliable OPDS server integration and book downloads

Requested features

5 requests
  • Automatic reading progress sync across devices
  • Improved PDF handling and annotation support
  • Expanded highlighting and note-taking capabilities
  • Streamlined library import and management
  • Cleaner and more intuitive user interface

BookFolder

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

MapleRead SE

One-time3
  • Gratuity Level 1$0.99
  • Gratuity Level 2$1.99
  • Gratuity Level 5$4.99
None

BookFolder

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MapleRead SE free?
MapleRead SE costs $8.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is BookFolder free?
BookFolder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MapleRead SE or BookFolder?
BookFolder is rated higher. MapleRead SE averages 4.1 out of 5 from 130 ratings, while BookFolder averages 4.7 from 28 ratings.
Do MapleRead SE or BookFolder have ads?
Neither MapleRead SE nor BookFolder shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MapleRead SE or BookFolder?
MapleRead SE ships an update every 2 months, and BookFolder every 6 days. Most recently, MapleRead SE was updated on September 28, 2026 and BookFolder on September 13, 2026.

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