Best EPUB Reader Apps for iPad (2026)
iPad is an excellent e-reading device — large screen, good battery life, and a wide range of apps. Here are the best EPUB reader apps for iPad in 2026, plus how to get your PDF library into EPUB format first.
Best EPUB reader apps for iPad
1. Apple Books (built-in, free)
Apple Books is pre-installed on every iPad and supports EPUB natively. It has clean typography, adjustable fonts (including the excellent New York serif), dark mode, iCloud sync, and a well-designed library view. For most users, it's the obvious choice — no install needed, and it handles EPUB 3 well including media overlays.
Best for: most iPad users. Limitations: no sideload from file manager without AirDrop or USB; DRM books are locked to Apple ecosystem.
2. Kindle (free, with Amazon account)
The Kindle app for iPad is excellent and supports EPUB natively since 2022 (Amazon dropped MOBI for Send to Kindle). Use Send to Kindle (send-to-kindle.amazon.com) or the iOS Kindle app's "Receive on this device" to push EPUBs from your phone or Mac. Kindle's X-Ray, vocabulary builder, and Whispersync work on iPad.
Best for: Amazon customers. Note: you can't purchase non-Amazon books through the iOS Kindle app due to App Store rules, but you can read books already in your library.
3. Kobo (free)
The Kobo iPad app syncs with your Kobo library and supports sideloaded EPUBs. Kobo uses Adobe Digital Editions DRM for library books from OverDrive/Libby. Font options and layout controls are more extensive than Apple Books.
Best for: Kobo device owners and library borrowers.
4. Readium (free)
Readium is an open-source EPUB 3 reader with full spec compliance, including audio, MathML, and fixed-layout support. The iPad app is clean and handles technically complex EPUBs that other readers struggle with.
Best for: EPUB 3 features — accessibility overlays, multimedia, academic content.
5. Moon+ Reader (free/paid)
Moon+ Reader Pro offers the most reading customisation of any iOS app: custom fonts, margins, spacing, background colours, reading statistics, and a built-in dictionary. The interface is more technical than Apple Books.
Best for: power users who want full control over reading layout.
How to open an EPUB on iPad
Three methods:
- AirDrop — from a Mac, AirDrop the EPUB file to your iPad. Tap "Open in Books" (or choose another app)
- Files app — save the EPUB to iCloud Drive or a cloud folder, tap it in Files, choose your reader app
- Email/message — email yourself the EPUB file, tap the attachment, open in your reader
Converting PDFs to EPUB for iPad
If your reading material is in PDF format, convert it to EPUB first for a better reading experience on iPad. PDFs on iPad display at fixed zoom levels and don't respond to the font size slider in Books.
- Go to toolkit.bot/pdf2epub in Safari on your iPad (or on a Mac)
- Upload your PDF
- Download the EPUB
- Tap the downloaded EPUB in Safari's download manager → Open in Books
The conversion handles scanned PDFs (OCR), academic papers with two-column layouts, and PDFs with tables. Output is EPUB3, compatible with all apps above.
iPad vs iPhone EPUB reading
All iPhone EPUB reader apps also run on iPad — they're the same App Store listings. The difference is that iPad benefits from larger text and split-screen reading (a PDF on one side, notes on the other). The font size and layout settings in Apple Books are especially useful on iPad where you have more screen real estate.
Have PDFs you want to read properly on iPad? Convert them to EPUB — free, works in Safari.
Convert PDF to EPUB →