BookBub vs The Palace Project
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BookBub
Discover daily deals on bestselling and free ebooks across all genres. Track your wishlist and receive price alerts for your favorite titles, ensuring you never miss a sale on books you want to read.
- Daily ebook deals
- Hundreds of free ebooks
- Personalized recommendations
- Wishlist tracking
- Price alerts
- Genre and price filtering
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Discover amazing deals on bestselling ebooks, plus hundreds of free ebooks. Track your wishlist and get alerts when your most wanted titles go on sale. BookBub helps millions of readers save money on ebooks they'll love. Our expert editors hand pick incredible ebook deals every day across all major genres — romance, mystery, thrillers, women's fiction, fantasy, contemporary fiction, nonfiction, and many more — from bestselling authors to hidden gems. WHY READERS LOVE BOOKBUB: THE BIGGEST EBOOKS, UP TO 95% OFF We feature limited-time ebook deals from all major retailers. Get huge savings on the biggest books and authors, including #1 New York Times bestsellers. HUNDREDS OF FREE EBOOKS Unlock a vast selection of free ebooks across 40+ genres, with new titles added each day YOUR PERSONAL BOOK TRACKER Build your reading wishlist and never miss a sale. Add any book you want to read, and we'll notify you when it's discounted. Track your TBR (to-be-read) list, sort by release date or author, and mark it as read when you're done. PERSONALIZED TO YOUR READING TASTE Our editorial team hand picks from thousands of ebooks to bring you only the best — from BookTok favorites to award-winning fiction. FEATURES: - Browse daily ebook deals personalized to your reading preferences - Track unlimited books on your wishlist - Get price alerts for specific titles or favorite authors - Discover popular titles to add to your list - Filter deals by genre and price - Buy from your favorite ebook store "When we say 'deal,' we mean it — many of BookBub's titles are free entirely, $0.99, or just a couple of bucks." — Lifehacker "Bargain-basement deals on ebooks." — The New York Times Join millions of happy readers saving money on ebooks every day. Questions? Visit bookbub.com/apphelp
The Palace Project
Access and enjoy e-books and audiobooks from your local library for free. Discover new titles, borrow them instantly with your library card, and read or listen anywhere. Even without a participating library, enjoy a collection of free books.
- Borrow e-books and audiobooks
- Access local library collections
- Read or listen to books
- Free Palace Bookshelf collection
- Requires library card for full access
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Palace is a free, easy-to-use e-reader app that lets you find, check out, and read or listen to books from your local library. It’s been said that libraries are “palaces for the people” and the Palace app gives you instant access to your local “palace” any time, right from the palm of your hand. All you need to sign up is your library card! And even if your library isn’t using Palace yet, you can still read more than 10,000 books--from children’s books to classics to foreign language books--for free from our Palace Bookshelf. The Palace app is built and maintained by Lyrasis, a not-for-profit organization working in partnership with Digital Public Library of America with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more, visit https://thepalaceproject.org.
Screenshots
Verdict
BookBub and The Palace Project both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 54% of BookBub's written reviews are positive against 27% of The Palace Project's. The Palace Project's advantage is ratings volume (5.5K vs 960) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for BookBub against 4.6 for The Palace Project. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Palace Project has 5.5K ratings behind it against 960, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 54% of BookBub's written reviews are positive against 27% of The Palace Project's.
BookBub ships an update every 3 weeks, The Palace Project fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 22, 2026.
| Parameter | BookBub | The Palace Project |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (960 ratings) — better | 4.6 (5.5K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.4% of reviews — better | 27.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 960 | 5.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #59 — better | #97 |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Pubmark Inc. | The Palace Project |
Customer experience
BookBub
The Palace Project
User reviews
BookBub
From 960 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🤩 Great deals on books
- 📚 Variety of genres and authors
- 💰 Affordable and free books
- 🔍 Personalized recommendations
Room to improve
- 🔒 Limited to Apple Books only
- 🔍 Lack of search functionality
- 📝 Inability to leave reviews
- 🔁 Repeated email subscriptions
The Palace Project
From 5.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great selection of books
- 💡 Convenient access to library books
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent glitches and bugs
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🔍 Poor search functionality
- 🤯 Inconsistent user experience
Bugs and requests
BookBub
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes or freezes during use
- Sign-up and login issues
- Incompatibility with certain devices or operating systems
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for Kindle and other ebook platforms
- Implement search and filtering options
- Allow users to manage their reading lists and leave reviews
- Improve email subscription management
The Palace Project
Reported bugs
4 issues- Books not downloading properly
- Losing place in audiobooks
- Crashing and freezing issues
- Incompatibility with certain devices
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to track read/listened books
- Improved audiobook playback controls
- Dark mode option
- Integration with Kindle
In-app purchases
BookBub
No in-app purchases
The Palace Project
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is BookBub free?
Is The Palace Project free?
Which has better reviews, BookBub or The Palace Project?
Do BookBub or The Palace Project have ads?
Which is updated more often, BookBub or The Palace Project?
Which is more popular, BookBub or The Palace Project?
Other comparisons
