A Paperback alternative for iPhone
Paperback is a free, ad-free manga reader for iOS built around extensions and self-hosted servers. People look for an alternative when setup gets in the way or when the extensions they rely on stop working. Here is how Mieru, a comic browser, compares.
Short answer: If you read on websites, Mieru works without setting up repositories, keeps working when sites change, and translates raws inside the bubbles — all free.
| Paperback | Mieru | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Add extension repositories, then install sources | None — open a site, tap Read on a chapter |
| When a site changes | Waits for the extension to be updated | The page still opens; site support updates without an app update |
| Ads | None | None, and ads on sites are blocked |
| Translate raw chapters | Not built in | Yes, inside the bubbles, on the device |
| Offline downloads | Yes | Yes — next 5, 10 or all, in the background, never expire |
| Price | Free | Free |
| App Store update cadence | The App Store build had not been updated for about 19 months | Active |
Checked September 2026 against the App Store listing and 181 recent App Store reviews.
What Paperback users ask for
In 181 recent App Store reviews, the recurring complaints were about setup — finding and adding the right repositories — and about things that stopped working: 17 mention broken search and 9 broken sources. Paperback’s strengths come up too: reviewers praise it for having no ads, and for its clean reader.
How Mieru avoids the setup
Mieru is a web browser with a reader built in. There are no sources to install: you open the site you already read, and on a chapter page Mieru offers Read Mode — vertical scroll for webtoons, right-to-left pages for manga, zoom and preloading. Logins and Cloudflare checks work as they do in Safari, and downloads reuse that session.
Raws in your language
Mieru translates Korean, Japanese (including vertical text) and Chinese speech bubbles inside the page, on the device, with Apple’s translation. It needs iOS 18. How translation works.
Questions
Is Paperback free?
Yes. Paperback is free without in-app purchases, like Mieru.
Do I need to add repositories in Mieru?
No. There is nothing to install per site — open the site and tap Read on a chapter.
Try Mieru: a free comic browser for iPhone with translation inside the bubbles.
Coming soon to the App StorePaperback and Komga are the names of their respective owners and projects. Mieru is not affiliated with them. Comparisons are based on public App Store listings, reviews and project pages at the date shown; tell us at [email protected] if something has changed.