Comic Book Viewer vs Kanman 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
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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.
Kanman Reader
This comic reader helps Chinese language learners immerse themselves in manhua. Easily look up definitions for unfamiliar words by scanning the page, and manage your library of DRM-free comics.
- Supports ZIP, RAR, CBR, CBZ formats
- Horizontal or vertical scrolling
- On-page word definition lookup
- Manhua library management
- Resume reading from last point
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Kanman Reader is a comic reader designed for Chinese learners who want a smooth experience when reading Chinese comics (also known as manhua). Upload DRM-free manhua in ZIP/RAR/CBR/CBZ format and start reading to immerse yourself more deeply in the language. If you come across a word you don’t know while reading a manhua on Kanman Reader, you can quickly hold the page to scan it and extract the text. Tapping on a word you don’t recognize will effortlessly pull up the definition for that word. Spend less time trying to look up unfamiliar characters, and spend more time immersing yourself in the Chinese language! Features: - Supports multiple file formats: Manhua can be opened in ZIP/RAR/CBR/CBZ formats - Customizable reading experience: Choose whether you want to flip through manhua horizontally or scroll downwards - Easily look up definitions: Scan manhua to pull up English definitions for unfamiliar Chinese words - Manhua management: Stores previously accessed manhua in a library and lets you easily pick up from where you last left off
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Kanman Reader at 5.0 against Comic Book Viewer's 3.8. Kanman Reader also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%). Comic Book Viewer's advantage is ratings volume (135 vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 9 months). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Kanman Reader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Comic Book Viewer has 135 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Comic Book Viewer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Kanman Reader's.
Comic Book Viewer ships an update every 3 months, Kanman Reader every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and June 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Comic Book Viewer | Kanman Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (135 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 135 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sebastian Boettcher | Akash Cherian |
Customer experience
Comic Book Viewer
Kanman Reader
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
Kanman Reader
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Comic Book Viewer
No in-app purchases
Kanman Reader
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Comic Book Viewer free?
Is Kanman Reader free?
Which has better reviews, Comic Book Viewer or Kanman Reader?
Do Comic Book Viewer or Kanman Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Comic Book Viewer or Kanman Reader?
Other comparisons
