Bluefire Reader vs Readest

Bluefire Reader is offered as a white-label e-reading app that organizations can launch under their own brand. Bluefire describes customers in ebook retail, libraries, and academia, and says the app has been deployed by over 70 brands worldwide. Reading features include bookmarks, highlights, notes, dictionary lookup, contextual search, sharing, and customizable settings. Bluefire-powered apps support PDF and adaptive-layout EPUB2; listed format support also includes EPUB3. Adobe Content Server authorization can use an Adobe ID, an Anonymous ID, or an organization’s own accounts. Existing distribution platforms, vendors, and websites can be integrated, allowing customers to browse, purchase, and access prior purchases in the app. Page Sync Cloud Service syncs a reader’s current page across devices and includes an online analytics reporting tool. Bluefire also offers custom UX design and development for specialized app features. Supported platforms include iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS, with a web presence listed. Sync may not be available in all countries or on all products and ordinarily requires internet access.

Readest is an ebook reader for EPUB, PDF, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, CBZ and TXT files, with additional listed support for ZIP and Markdown. Readers can highlight, bookmark, take notes and search across their ebook library. Parallel Read presents two books together with synchronized scrolling and navigation. The app can translate passages, look up words in Wiktionary or Wikipedia, and read books aloud using on-device, browser or cloud text-to-speech. It connects to OPDS catalogs and calibre libraries, and can export highlights to Readwise or Hardcover. Readest runs on the web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, and supports screen readers and offline reading. The software is open source under AGPL-3.0. Ebooks, notes, highlights and bookmarks are stored locally by default; optional third-party cloud sync requires a paid plan. The free plan includes 500 MB of cloud storage, and paid plans start at $4.99/mo.