BookBub vs Bookshop.org
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
Bookshop.org
Read your ebooks and discover new titles while supporting independent bookstores. All ebook purchases made through this platform directly benefit local bookshops, ensuring their continued success in the digital age.
- Read ebooks from your library
- Browse millions of ebooks
- Add titles to wishlist
- Support local bookstores with purchases
- Connect seamlessly with Bookshop
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Bookshop.org’s mission is simple: We help local, independent bookstores thrive by giving more than 80% of our profits back to our network of 3,000+ stores. In our app, you can read millions of ebooks - and every purchase supports an independent bookstore near you! In the Bookshop app you can: - Read your ebooks in our customizable ebook reader. - Browse millions of titles and discover your next favorite read in romance, thrillers, mystery, fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and more. - Organize your TBR into custom shelves. - Highlight in five different colors, and add notes to your highlighted passages. - Sort & filter highlights and notes by date created, book order, and more. - Save titles to your wishlist so you can read them later. - Shop knowing that over 80% of the profit goes directly to local, independent bookstores. We’re a Certified B Corp, and we’ve raised more than $50 million for independent bookstores nationwide since 2020. Download the Bookshop.org app to support bookstores, not billionaires.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Bookshop.org at every 5 days against BookBub's every 3 weeks. Bookshop.org also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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 4.8 for Bookshop.org. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 960 and 2.1K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 54% of BookBub's written reviews are positive against 57% of Bookshop.org's.
BookBub ships an update every 3 weeks, Bookshop.org every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BookBub | Bookshop.org |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (960 ratings) | 4.8 (2.1K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.4% of reviews | 56.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 960 | 2.1K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #62 — better | #177 |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 106 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Pubmark Inc. | Bookshop, Inc. |
Customer experience
BookBub
Bookshop.org
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
Bookshop.org
From 2.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Wonderful app
- 👍 Great alternative to Amazon
- 👍 Supports local bookstores
- 👍 Clean and pleasing interface
- 👍 Solid app for a new release
Room to improve
- 🐛 Formatting issues (lack of italics, poor paragraph spacing, etc.)
- 🐛 Buggy page turning and navigation
- 🔧 Limited customization options (fonts, themes, brightness, etc.)
- 🔧 Missing essential features (highlighting, note-taking, search, etc.)
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
Bookshop.org
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to remember last page read
- Scrolling issues and unexpected page skipping
- Formatting problems (stripped italics, weird paragraph spacing)
- Settings not persisting between app sessions
Requested features
7 requests- More font and theme options
- Ability to adjust line spacing, margins, and other formatting
- Implement highlighting, annotation, and note-taking features
- Add search functionality
- Improve page turning and navigation
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- Provide better dark mode/night reading experience
- Sync reading progress across devices
In-app purchases
BookBub
No in-app purchases
Bookshop.org
No in-app purchases
