Comic Book Viewer vs Smart Comic Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Comic Book Viewer
A fast and user-friendly application for viewing digital comic books and PDF files. It supports various comic archive formats and common image types, offering library management and metadata display.
- Supports CBT, CBZ, CBR, CB7, and PDF formats
- Recognizes PNG, JPG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, and WebP images
- Import/export comics via iTunes or third-party apps
- AirDrop support for sharing between devices
- Displays metadata (CoMet, ACBF, Comic Rack, ComicBookInfo)
- Library search functionality
Read full descriptionHide full description
Comic Book Viewer is a lightweight, fast and easy to use reader for your favorite comic books in cbt, cbz, cbr, cb7 or pdf format. Recognized image formats include png, jpg, gif, tiff, bmp and webp. Import and export your comics via iTunes or simply by sharing them in any third-party app on your device. Send them to other devices via AirDrop. Comic Book Viewer supports and shows metadata in CoMet, Advanced Comic Book Format, Comic Rack or in ComicBookInfo format and allows you to search your library. Comics seen in screenshots © 2014-2025 by Ctrl+Alt+Del Productions. Courtesy of Tim Buckley, http://www.cad-comic.com. Comics not included.
Smart Comic Reader
This app offers a unique comic reading experience by automatically detecting and zooming into individual panels. It allows for seamless navigation between panels with simple taps, optimizing the view for smaller screens. Import comics from various sources and organize them within your iCloud or local storage.
- Automatic panel detection and zoom
- Seamless panel-to-panel navigation
- Optimized viewing for small screens
- Comic import from any source
- iCloud sync and local storage options
- Supports CBZ, CBR, and PDF formats
Read full descriptionHide full description
A different kind of comic reader that offers a better way to read comics on a smaller screen. How it works: 1. Import any comic into the app. 2. Double tap on a panel and watch the app automatically detect its boundaries and zoom in on it. 3. Tap on the side of the screen to easily move to the next panel. If needed, the app will rotate the comic to make maximum use of your screen space. Key Features ============ Smart Reader: - Automatically zoom in and move between panels for a smooth reading experience. - Works with any comic, western or manga, no matter the art style. Panels do not need well-defined edges to be detected. - Always stay in control, let the app guide you over the page while you can always manually zoom and pan. Comic Collection: - Import comics from anywhere and organize your comic collection. - Comics are stored in iCloud to save storage space and keep your collection in sync across devices. - Your Smart Comic Reader collection is a regular folder on your iCloud Drive that you can access and manage from any iCloud connected device, like a Mac, or a Windows device using iCloud for Windows. - Also works locally if iCloud is disabled. - Supports comics in CBZ/ZIP, CBR/RAR and PDF formats. And many more features to come! If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to send them to: support@vandijk.dev. Comics in video and screenshots: “Pepper&Carrot”, David Revoy, CC-By “Plastic Man”, Quality Comics, Public Domain “Say Hello to Black Jack”, Shuho Sato
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Comic Book Viewer at Free against Smart Comic Reader's $2.99. Comic Book Viewer also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.3). Smart Comic Reader's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 3.8) and review sentiment (91% vs 71%). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Comic Book Viewer is free to download; Smart Comic Reader costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Smart Comic Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 135 and 539 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Comic Book Viewer's written reviews are positive against 91% of Smart Comic Reader's.
Comic Book Viewer ships an update every 3 months, Smart Comic Reader every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Comic Book Viewer | Smart Comic Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 3.8 (135 ratings) | 4.9 (539 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.0% of reviews | 91.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 135 | 539 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #20 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 18.3 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sebastian Boettcher | Onne van Dijk |
Customer experience
Comic Book Viewer
Smart Comic Reader
User reviews
Comic Book Viewer
From 135 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 🔒 No ads or data collection
- 🔒 Lightweight and efficient
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
- 🔍 Lack of advanced organization and management features
- 🔍 Limited customization options
- 🔍 Issues with page scrolling and zooming
Smart Comic Reader
From 539 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Panel-by-panel reading mode
- 👍 Seamless iCloud integration
- 🔒 No ads or data collection
- 👍 Clean, minimal UI
- 🚀 Fast and responsive
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional issues with panel detection
- 🔀 Difficulty exiting panel view
- 🔀 Inability to adjust cover size in grid view
Bugs and requests
Comic Book Viewer
Reported bugs
3 issues- Slider not working after recent update
- Pages randomly skipping ahead when switching orientation
- Inability to import some comic file formats
Requested features
4 requests- Add ability to rename/reorder comics
- Implement vertical scrolling mode
- Provide more customization settings
- Improve library management with folders/collections
Smart Comic Reader
Reported bugs
3 issues- Deleted user's entire comic collection
- iCloud sync not working for some users
- Freezing/crashing issues on iPad
Requested features
6 requests- Page marking/bookmarking function
- Built-in dictionary/translation tool
- Vertical scrolling mode for webtoons
- Ability to manually arrange reading order
- Live Text integration for dictionary lookup
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Widgets for quick access
In-app purchases
Comic Book Viewer
No in-app purchases
Smart Comic Reader
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Comic Book Viewer free?
Is Smart Comic Reader free?
Which has better reviews, Comic Book Viewer or Smart Comic Reader?
Do Comic Book Viewer or Smart Comic Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Comic Book Viewer or Smart Comic Reader?
Other comparisons
