Bookmate vs SimplyE

Bookmate is a subscription service for reading electronic books and listening to audiobooks, available on Android, iOS, and the web. Its catalog lists 1,800,000 books and 100,000 audiobooks in 16 languages, and it describes a free collection of 50,000 books. Readers can upload their own FB2 or EPUB files for use on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop, then adjust brightness, font, and background color. Social features let users follow friends’ reading, share books and quotes, and create or subscribe to themed bookshelves. Audiobooks can be saved for offline listening and synchronized across devices so listeners can resume where they left off. Bookmate lists a free plan and a seven-day trial; the Premium plan is listed at free. The subscription page describes monthly and annual options but does not show their prices. An account is limited to one person and no more than three devices. Books cannot be downloaded and distributed outside Bookmate.

SimplyE was a free library e-reading app for browsing, borrowing, and reading e-books, with audiobook support from Findaway and OverDrive. Patrons could sign in once with a library card and reach materials from listed providers in one place, including OverDrive, Axis360, cloudLibrary, DPLA Exchange, EBSCO NoveList, BiblioBoard, Odilo, and RBdigital. The app connected to a library’s existing card web application and supported instant card sign-up through the app. Reading controls included font, font size, and background-color adjustments, plus OpenDyslexic and screen-reader compatibility. E-books could use Adobe DRM, while audiobooks used Findaway or OverDrive rights management. SimplyE was listed for Android, iOS, and web, but the app retired in August 2025. It did not render Kindle AZW files or Adobe-encrypted PDFs and did not work on e-ink devices. Library Simplified describes the platform as open-source and provides source code for organizational customization.