Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Panels vs Comic Geeks

Panels 4.8★ · Free to download 75
Winner Panels
Comic Geeks 4.9★ · Free + IAP 60

Panels is better for users who want a dedicated comic reader for their own files, while Comic Geeks is better for those who want to track new releases, manage a physical collection, and engage with a community.

Full reviews: Panels · Comic Geeks

Panels excels as a comic reader, supporting various file types and offering good organization, though recent updates have introduced bugs and monetization concerns. Comic Geeks is a strong tool for comic collection management, release tracking, and community interaction, but struggles with app stability, data accuracy, and moderation issues.

Head to head

Core Functionality: Reading Comics edge: PanelsR1R5R6R7
Panels Panels is highly praised as an excellent comic and manga reader, supporting local files, offering good organization, and a clean UI R5R14R20R23. However, recent updates have introduced significant bugs, including broken downloads, crashing, slow page loading, and issues with library syncing and thumbnails R1R6R12R19. Some users also report a lack of metadata support and difficulty with certain file types like EPUB and WEBP R7R22.
Comic Geeks Comic Geeks is not primarily a comic reader; users report they cannot read comics within the app R76.
Collection Management & Tracking edge: Comic GeeksR9R22R34R38
Panels Panels allows users to organize and move comics, group issues into folders, and easily transfer their own CBR files R9R38. However, it lacks metadata support, making sorting and filtering difficult R22. There are also reports of issues with cover art not displaying R34.
Comic Geeks Comic Geeks is highly praised for its ability to catalog comics, track collections, manage pull lists, and keep users updated on new releases and events . Users appreciate features like statistics, reviews, and the ability to scan covers and barcodes . However, some users report issues with inaccurate release information, incorrect tracking of read/owned status, and difficulty with scanning features .
Ease of Use & Interface edge: PanelsR3R8R12R23
Panels Panels is generally considered easy to use with a clean, minimalist UI R12R23. However, some users find it unintuitive, especially for new users . There are also complaints about persistent pop-ups, a left-hand panel bug, and difficulty with importing files after updates R3R8.
Comic Geeks Comic Geeks has a mixed reception regarding its UI. Many find it organized and seamless . However, others describe it as confusing, glitchy, not intuitive, and having poor layout . Specific complaints include tiny text on macOS, a list view with small thumbnails, and a sideways wishlist .
Reliability & Performance tieR1R2R6R12
Panels Panels users report significant reliability issues, particularly after recent updates, including app crashes, freezing, downloads breaking, slow page loading, and library syncing problems R1R6R12R19. Some users note it can be laggy if concurrent tasks are not reduced R2.
Comic Geeks Comic Geeks also suffers from reliability issues, with reports of the app crashing after updates, freezing, and general bugginess . Users also experience problems with account creation, login, and server issues .
Price & Value edge: Comic GeeksR11R14R30R31
Panels Panels offers a free version that some find basic but usable . Paid features are available via IAP, with a single purchase option praised as worth it R11R38. However, users complain about features like page-curl, EPUB support, and SMB access being locked behind a paywall or subscription, calling it a 'scam' or 'scummy practice' R14R30R31.
Comic Geeks Comic Geeks is free with IAP, and many users praise it as a free, fun, and user-friendly app . It's seen as a valuable tool for managing collections and tracking releases without explicit complaints about its pricing model, though some features like condition/grading are noted as missing .
Community & Content edge: PanelsR4R10R13R19
Panels Panels is primarily a reader app, and some users express frustration with the introduction of a 'store' and its content, wishing to remove it from navigation R4R10R13R19. Some users also note the store's content is limited to specific genres or publishers R13.
Comic Geeks Comic Geeks has a strong community aspect, with users enjoying interacting with peers, sharing thoughts, and engaging in discussions . However, there are numerous severe complaints about racist, homophobic, and transphobic content, as well as censorship and shadow banning by moderators R61R65R66R82. Users also report misinformation regarding comic solicits and inaccurate comic values .
Pick Panels if

you primarily want a dedicated app for reading your own digital comic and manga files, value a clean reading interface, and are willing to pay a one-time fee for advanced features, despite recent bug reports R5R11R20.

Pick Comic Geeks if

you are a comic collector who needs to track new releases, manage your physical collection, and engage with a community, and you prioritize these features over in-app reading .

Evidence note: The evidence for Panels' core functionality is strong, but recent negative reviews about bugs are prevalent. For Comic Geeks, there's extensive evidence for its collection management features, but also significant, recurring complaints about community moderation and app stability.

Frequently asked

Can I read comics directly in Comic Geeks?
No, Comic Geeks is primarily for tracking and managing comic collections, not for reading comics directly within the app R76.
Does Panels support external storage or cloud services?
Panels supports downloading from Google Drive and OneDrive, but some users report issues with downloads freezing R42. iCloud folder support is described as lackluster, with the only option being to build a server from an iCloud folder R27. Users also express a desire for direct reading from SMB shares without importing R33R45.
Are there ads in Panels?
Some users report not getting any ads R20, while others mention ads appearing every 10 pages or so in the free version R54. Paid features can also appear as non-dismissible buttons on the screen in the free version R31.
What kind of community issues does Comic Geeks have?
Comic Geeks has a community where users report issues with racist, homophobic, and transphobic content, as well as censorship, shadow banning, and removal of posts by moderators for expressing dissenting opinions R61R65R66R82.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R1] Panels 1/5 · US Garbage: This worked for a while and then suddenly the Downloads section just broke. It won’t load anymore. I have 75GB of content downloaded. Now my options are to not have access to them or try to delete the app and redownload all of it. Spectacular. I have comic apps that haven’t been update in over 5 years that don’t screw up this bad. If you read locally avoid this app. Update: I ended up cl
  2. [R5] Panels 5/5 · US Amazing for reading: I love to get books off of Anna’s archive but files on there always seemed to be different, I finally got this app and sent files to panels and instantly got tons of books!
  3. [R6] Panels 3/5 · US It got bad: Latest update broke the library, every single time I need to re-link the information
  4. [R7] Panels 2/5 · US Awesome app but..: I like the with the seamless adding of some manga I have, my biggest gripe comes to light novels tho, I hate that I can’t even read them because they don’t really work with epub which I really love more than PDFs. Besides that the app is amazing would recommend it.
  5. [R9] Panels 3/5 · US Overall a good reader: Great that comics can be organized and moved how you want to do so. A little glitchy here and there but mostly a good tool.
  6. [R22] Panels 1/5 · US No metadata support: Does not support any kind of comic metadata. When importing manga, users need to manually switch reading direction. Comic "titles" are just the filename, and there is no way to sort or filter by any other data field, because they are not read by this app. Devs say they will implement this in an upcoming major version, but it's been 3 versions already without this feature.
  7. [R34] Panels 1/5 · US No cover art: Why have a comic app but not have cover art? I imported several comics from my own library, which was on another app that showed cover art, and not one single comic is showing cover art. Guess I’ll be using Chunky or YACReader instead. Zero stars.
  8. [R38] Panels 5/5 · US Great App!: I switched to this app from a competitor because panels has an important feature the other one was lacking, namely the ability to group issues within a series into a folder of titles. This keeps the top level view of my collection easier to navigate. I also paid the $20 perpetual license in order to support the developer and their great work. However, panels has one annoying feature th
  9. [R3] Panels 3/5 · US Stop😭: Please stop giving me pops ups to review it (even when you actually do review it I will give you a pop up to review it every time you leave a book)
  10. [R8] Panels 4/5 · US Left-hand panel bug.: The panel on the left side keeps re-adjusting itself when opening the app again. It’s very annoying unfortunately. I want it to be minimized as small as possible. Or can we completely hide it in a toggle menu completely?
  11. [R12] Panels 3/5 · US new bugs needs more fixes: app was running great for months, then the new update broke parts of it. files i’ve had loaded before the big update a couple weeks ago now have broken thumbnails that can’t be restored. if i turn my ipad off, the app has to resync my whole manga library from the folder on my ipad storage, which breaks more thumbnails. if these bugs could get fixed the app would be back
  12. [R23] Panels 5/5 · US Amazing: Great download and ui overall
  13. [R2] Panels 5/5 · US Great app: Make sure to reduce the amount of concurrent tasks so it doesn’t overload the processor and becomes laggy
  14. [R11] Panels 5/5 · US Excellent: Worth the single price, best comic reading app
  15. [R14] Panels 5/5 · US Amazing: I’ve been a TestFlight member for quite some time now, and this is one of the most incredible book and manga readers I’ve ever used. I only wish that the page-curl feature was one of the free options, rather than being a paid feature.
  16. [R30] Panels 3/5 · US Subscription Model is Stupid: App works very well but of course for some reason they feel the need to charge to read comic epub files. Not really sure why support for a common file format is locked behind a paywall. Very annoying and scummy practice.
  17. [R31] Panels 2/5 · US Used to be five stars…: Incorporated buttons which can’t be used or disabled without subscription. Permanently on your screen as you read.
  18. [R4] Panels 1/5 · US get rid of the store: i remember when this app was cool
  19. [R10] Panels 2/5 · US Get rid of the store: There are enough markets. I just wanted a reader app, not another thing trying to sell me things. At least let us remove it from the main navigation. I promise you I will never spend a dollar there, and if it becomes unavailable I’ll have to switch to a new app.
  20. [R13] Panels 2/5 · US Only good for imports: No store search and it’s probably because the content. It’s all LGBT, antifa, and anti-capitalism stuff. There is nothing Japanese, it’s all westerner published things. You need to import manga if that’s what you want. I’m sure there are licensing issues but honestly, I’d rather just buy a physical manga instead. If other apps won’t let you keep it forever, it’s not worth u
  21. [R19] Panels 1/5 · US Broken: They seem to have broken the basic functionality of their app trying to find a way to monetize it. I redownloaded after a few months, now on a new phone, I can’t get anything to actually import, and now it makes my phone hotter than it does when running a 3D game. It’s clunkier in every way. But hey, at least there’s a store now. I get they need to make a living but their priorities are wa
  22. [R76] Comic Geeks 1/5 · US Let me read: I came here to read and it didn’t let me read
  23. [R27] Panels 3/5 · US iCloud support lackluster: Love the interface but not sure why iCloud folder support doesn’t exist. Smart Comic does it for $2 for complete purchase (vs $1.49 a month here) and only option here is to build a server from iCloud folder. Maybe I’m missing something?
  24. [R33] Panels 3/5 · US Nice app but something HUGE is missing: We all know that anything apple, you are stuck with their storage space, but over time we have come to take advantage of external storage. CBR files are HUGE for iPad when you have a big library, so you cannot remote/external storage view/preview your comics UNLESS you import. Which goes back to if you are lacking space, Panels becomes limited on keeping you
  25. [R42] Panels 3/5 · GB Great reader, but download glitches: A great reader app, usually with useful ability to download from Google Drive and OneDrive. However, lately my downloads from the latter are frequently freezing at 98%, forcing me to reboot the app. I'm using a 2014 iPad Mini, but have not had problems until recently. A real shame, as otherwise this is my favourite comic reader. Tried tge app support button but
  26. [R45] Panels 3/5 · GB Would have been perfect: It would have been perfect if this app offered a method of reading from an SMB share without having to import. I’ve got over 200GB of manga in cbz format that are sitting on my NAS but I can’t find any app that can read this without saving it to my phone first 😭
  27. [R20] Panels 4/5 · US Best App For Reading Comics By Far: I’ve been reading the whole entire invincible comics, demon slayer manga, spider man comics, moon knight comics, etc. And surprisingly I haven’t got any ads and it’s also very easy to use, however my only flaw with it is that only takes a bit to load for the next page for me 🫩
  28. [R54] Panels 3/5 · GB Decent app with minor flaws: I really liked this app but every now and again the imports wouldn't actually import & i’d have to restart the app. Then the ads came! I could put up with the ads at the bottom but the fact i kept getting interrupted every 10 pages or so 30 seconds at a time really annoyed me. I wouldn't mind if it was at the start/end of every comic but every 10 pages, really? I thoug
  29. [R61] Comic Geeks 1/5 · US Racist mods: Had a review taken down calling out the racial stereotypes present in a new title. Which is nothing new in comics. Dont call out racism or you might offend someones yt fragility.
  30. [R65] Comic Geeks 4/5 · US Racist mods: Watch yourself and minors on the social discourse. The racism and homophobia and transphobia is reaching new heights. Stick to pull tracking and upcoming comics. The pub solicits are great, too. The anti-white comments hang the longest and the dev is pretty lax about it. I assume if they have time to comment when people criticize the app and desktop versions; they can see reported com
  31. [R66] Comic Geeks 3/5 · US Great App, Trecherous Community.: Its expected out of any social media app though.
  32. [R82] Comic Geeks 1/5 · US Shadow Banned: No longer able to write a review or in discussions ever since I stated a writer isn’t free from criticism based on their identity. Never given a warning or even notified of this. Comment was removed and haven’t been able to make a new one sense. Weirdly and quietly agenda pushing for an app supposedly about spreading comic information and “positivity”.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store