Comparison

Letterboxd vs Book Lover

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Letterboxd

Connect with fellow movie enthusiasts to track your viewing history, share reviews, and discover new films. Log movies, rate them, and engage with a vibrant community of cinephiles.

Highlights
  • Log films with date, rating, and review
  • Browse popular and highly rated films
  • View and filter activity feed
  • Read and comment on reviews
  • Create and edit film lists
  • Follow members and see their activity
Features
Read full description

Letterboxd for iOS puts the popular social network for film lovers on your iPhone or iPad, so you can log films and catch up on your friends’ activity with ease. Sign in with your existing account (or create one for free) to enjoy our native app interface. These features of the web experience are supported, with more to come: – Sign in (with 1Password support) or create an account – Browse popular, highly rated and most anticipated films (including our official list of the Top 250 Narrative Features) – Log films with date, rating, review and tags – View film info (including cast & crew, popular lists and reviews) and rate, like, watchlist or mark as watched – View (and filter) your activity feed – Read and comment on reviews and lists – Create and edit lists – View member profiles including films, reviews, diary entries, tags, stats and more – Follow members to see their activity in your feed – Filter and sort collections of films based on specific criteria – Search for films, content and people – Edit your profile settings Our app offers account upgrades: – Upgrade to 1 Year of Letterboxd Pro or Patron – Pro tier adds annual and all-time stats pages based on your account activity, advanced activity and streaming service filters (including the option to pick and filter by the streaming services you subscribe to, powered by JustWatch.com), list cloning and removes third-party ads. – Patron tier provides all the benefits of Pro, plus the option to customize film posters, backdrops on your profile and content (if available), additional stats, a listing in the Patrons directory on our website and early access to new features. – Payment is charged to your iTunes Account when you confirm purchase and your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renewal is disabled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Your iTunes account will be charged for a renewal up to 24 hours before the end of each current period, at the same annual fee. – You can manage your subscription and disable auto-renewals in the App Store app following purchase. – Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited if you purchase a subscription to that publication, where applicable Our terms of use are always available at: https://letterboxd.com/legal/terms-of-use/ We welcome your feedback regarding Letterboxd for iOS. Please email us: hello@letterboxd.com

About

Book Lover

Connect with fellow book enthusiasts on a social network designed for readers. Curate your digital bookshelf, discover personalized reading plans, and join global or local book communities to discuss literature and find new friends.

Highlights
  • Digital bookshelf management
  • Personalized reading plans
  • Global and local book communities
  • Book reviews and discussions
  • Social chat and connections
  • Virtual shelf experience
Features
Read full description

Your books say something about you. Bring them together in BookLovers and find more to read, discuss, and share. MAKE YOUR BOOKSHELF YOUR OWN Scan a book’s barcode or look it up by ISBN. Explore your collection as a shelf or a list, search for a title, and keep the books you care about close at hand. FIND YOUR NEXT READ Browse book recommendations and genres. Explore authors, book details, reader reviews, and memorable quotes before choosing what to read next. BUILD A READING HABIT Create a reading plan, set goals, and organize the books you want to read, are reading, or have finished. Use the reading timer and see your collection’s statistics. CONNECT THROUGH BOOKS Discover fellow readers, explore their shelves, and start a conversation. Share reviews and join book discussions. Report a reader or block contact from a profile or conversation, and manage blocked readers in your profile. BookLovers offers an optional auto-renewing BookLovers Plus subscription. The current price and available benefits are shown in the app before purchase. Manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://booklove.rs/privacy

Screenshots

Letterboxd4 screens
Book Lover4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Letterboxd at 4.8 against Book Lover's 4.0. Letterboxd also leads on ratings volume (88K vs 4) and chart position (#19 vs unranked). Book Lover's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 59%) and ads (none vs shown). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Letterboxd sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $18.99 per year and Book Lover sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Letterboxd holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Letterboxd has 88K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 59% of Letterboxd's written reviews are positive against 100% of Book Lover's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Letterboxd ships an update fortnightly, Book Lover every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Letterboxd versus Book Lover: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLetterboxdBook Lover
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (88K ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews59.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings88K — better4
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#19 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.513.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size138 MB41 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperLetterboxdLennart Lopin

Customer experience

Letterboxd

All ratings88,392 ratings
Positive97.2%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews2,008 reviews
Positive59.3%
Neutral12.5%
Negative28.2%

Book Lover

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Letterboxd

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to save or edit reviews
  • Search and navigation issues
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between app and website
  • Syncing and data loss problems when switching devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add TV show support
  • Improve social features like notifications and commenting
  • Implement offline functionality
  • Add more customization options
  • Introduce a cheaper tier for basic features

Book Lover

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Letterboxd

Subscriptions2
  • Letterboxd Pro (1 Year)$18.991 Year
  • Letterboxd Patron (1 Year)$48.991 Year
One-time7
  • Video Store Rental$3.99
  • Video Store Rental$4.99
  • Video Store Rental$5.99
Show 4 more
  • Video Store Rental$6.99
  • Video Store Rental$9.99
  • Video Store Rental$14.99
  • Video Store Rental2 variants$19.99
4 purchases

Book Lover

Subscriptions1
  • BookLovers Plus$2.991 Month
One-time3
  • Bookmark$0.99
  • Bookmark 3-pack$1.99
  • Bookmark 10 pack$4.99

Questions

Is Letterboxd free?
Letterboxd is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Book Lover free?
Book Lover is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Letterboxd or Book Lover?
Letterboxd is rated higher. Letterboxd averages 4.8 out of 5 from 88K ratings, while Book Lover averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Letterboxd or Book Lover have ads?
Letterboxd shows ads; Book Lover does not.
Which is updated more often, Letterboxd or Book Lover?
Letterboxd ships an update fortnightly, and Book Lover every 4 days. Most recently, Letterboxd was updated on November 5, 2026 and Book Lover on November 2, 2026.

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