BookBub vs COOL Catalog
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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
COOL Catalog
Access a shared library catalog to search for books, place holds, and renew loans. You can also access ebooks and eaudio. A library card from a participating member library is required to use the app.
- Search shared library catalog
- Place holds on books
- Renew loans
- Access ebooks
- Access eaudio
Read full descriptionHide full description
Download the COOL Libraries app to search the shared library catalog of the Consortium of Ohio Libraries. Search books, place holds, renew loans, and access ebooks and eaudio. To use this app, you need a library card at a participating member library.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: BookBub at 54% against COOL Catalog's 0%. BookBub also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (960 vs 1). COOL Catalog's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
BookBub holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BookBub has 960 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of BookBub's written reviews are positive against 0% of COOL Catalog's.
BookBub ships an update every 3 weeks, COOL Catalog every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BookBub | COOL Catalog |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (960 ratings) — better | 3.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.4% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 960 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #77 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pubmark Inc. | Equinox Open Library Initiative, Inc. |
Customer experience
BookBub
COOL Catalog
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
COOL Catalog
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
BookBub
No in-app purchases
COOL Catalog
No in-app purchases
