We point out that in the equation for the electron distribution evolution during Thomson/Compton or undulator radiation used in the paper: "Competition between coherent emission and broadband spontaneous emission in the quantum free electron laser" by G. R. M. Robb and R. Bonifacio [Phys. Plasmas 20, 033106 (2013)], the weight function should be the distribution of the number of emitted photons and not the photon energy distribution. Nevertheless, the considerations expressed in this comment do not alter the conclusions drawn in the paper in object. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.