Comparison

Bookly vs Bookshelf

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

Head to head
About

Bookly

This app helps you track your reading habits in real-time, manage your library, and set reading goals. It offers detailed statistics, custom ratings, and ambient sounds to enhance your reading experience and build a consistent reading habit.

Highlights
  • Real-time reading timer
  • Detailed reading statistics
  • Custom book ratings
  • Book library management
  • Reading goals and reminders
  • Character tracking
  • Readathon tracking
Features
Read full description

Bookly helps you track your reading in real-time, manage your books, make a habit out of reading and see your progress over time. Add books, e-books or audiobooks to your collections, use the timer to track your reading and get access to awesome stats that will help you improve and read even more. Set goals and reminders to stay motivated, get weekly and monthly or yearly reports on your progress. You can better rate your books by going beyond the classic five star ratings by adding custom ones like: inspiration, heartfelt, love, spice, humor, and many more. Bookly also allows half-star ratings. TRACK YOUR READING IN REAL-TIME - Start the timer every time you read with a simple tap - Record your current page number of the books you're reading - See how long it will take you to finish the book at your current pace - Set a Book Goal to finish your book by a given time - Add your own rating, thoughts, and quotes for each book - Play ambient sounds while you read - Generate awesome Infographics style reports for every book - Unlock achievements to stay motivated and read even more GET READING STATS & RESULTS - Get tons of insightful Stats: total read time, pages read, reading speed, estimated book finish time, daily reading time, days you read in a row, reading streak and more - Generate Reading Reports with graphs and stats per book/month/year - Set Monthly or Yearly Goals in number of hours, pages or books - Set daily reminders to keep you motivated to achieve your reading goals - Use the powerful Bookly Assistant to read more, get personalized reading suggestions, reminders, reports and a lot more - Share your progress directly from the app KEEP TRACK OF YOUR BOOKS - Track and manage your entire library of books, e-books and audiobooks - Setup your own custom book Collections, like "Wishlist", "Favourites" - Get book details by scanning the ISBN barcode or searching online directly in the app - Store and sync your books among devices using iCloud - Never lose a book again, mark a book as lent or borrowed KEEP TRACK OF YOUR BOOK CHARACTERS - Track and manage all characters that you meet in your reading journey - Track how they evolve over time, what challenges they face, the relationships between them and much more. KEEP TRACK OF READATHONS - Track your readathon progress in real time - Track books read, reading time and pages for any period of time - Track readathon prompts - Get notifications and stay on track - - - Bookly is free to download and use. No online account or signup needed. The Pro version is free with a 7 day trial, after which we offer three subscription packages: $4.99/month (1 Month Subscription), $19.99/6 months (6 Month Subscription), and $29.99/year (1 Year Subscription). All other features remain free to use indefinitely. These prices are for United States customers. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on the country of residence. Subscription service conditions: - Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period - You can manage your subscription and switch off auto-renewal by accessing your Account Settings after purchase - Refunds will not be provided for any unused portion of the term - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable - All personal data is handled under the terms and conditions of Bookly’s privacy policy. More details can be found here: http://getbookly.com/privacy-policy/ http://getbookly.com/terms-of-use/ *Important: This app is for book TRACKING and MANAGEMENT. Book content and the actual reading is not done in the app.*

About

Bookshelf

Track your reading, build a library, and improve your habits with insightful stats and AI-powered discovery. Remember what you read with notes and quizzes, and set reading goals to stay motivated. Sync across devices and export your library.

Highlights
  • Build and manage your book library
  • Track reading progress and habits
  • AI-powered book recommendations
  • Take notes and create quizzes
  • Set reading goals and reminders
  • Import from Goodreads and Kindle
  • Sync across iOS devices
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Bookshelf helps you track your books, build a lasting reading habit, and better remember what you read—now with powerful AI-powered discovery tools to help you find your next great read! Add books you’ve read, books you’re reading, and books you want to read. Improve your reading habits with insightful stats and trend reports. Stay motivated with reading goals, streaks, and reminders. Remember what you read by writing and reviewing notes and quotes. BUILD YOUR LIBRARY • Import & Sync – Import your existing libraries from Goodreads, Kindle, StoryGraph, or Reading List with a tap. • Quick Add – Build your library by searching millions of books, scanning any book's barcode, or adding your own. • Book Recommendations* – Discover trending books, find books based on your mood or any prompt, and browse curated collections to find your next read. • Everything Tracker – Easily manage book collections, reading status, star ratings, reading dates, and more for all your books. • Reading Sessions* – Pick up a book, start a session, and we’ll track everything so you can focus on reading. IMPROVE YOUR READING HABITS • Book Chat – Chat with our AI librarian to generate summaries and flash cards, discuss key ideas, and much more! • Reading Stats – Visualize your reading habits over time with charts and reading stats. • Reading Goals – Create a reading goal for the year to motivate yourself to read more or challenge your friends! • Estimated Completion Time – See how long it will take to finish any book with your average reading speed. • Reading Streaks* – Stay motivated by keeping up your streak! REMEMBER WHAT YOU READ • Smart Notes* – Use cards to jot down notes or vocab, write a summary, or prepare study questions. Scan text directly from books or add rich text of your own. • Knowledge Quizzes* – Spaced-repetition quizzes on your note cards that will significantly increase your retention, guaranteed. • Reading Reminders* – Never forget to read or test your knowledge with timely notifications. OTHER FEATURES • Cloud Sync* & Daily Backups – Sync between your iOS devices so your library is always up-to-date, or restore from previous backups. • App Icons – Make Bookshelf your own with beautiful custom home-screen icons. • Library Export* – Never fear losing your books or notes with CSV library exports. • Dark Mode – Beautiful during the day, gorgeous and eye-saving at night. *Some features require Bookshelf Gold for access or unlimited use Gold Lifetime charges your Apple ID once for permanent Gold status. Gold Yearly charges your Apple ID for 12 months of Gold status after a 7-day free trial unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the trial ends. Gold Monthly charges your Apple ID for 1 month of Gold status on purchase confirmation. Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime in your iTunes account settings. For more information, see our Terms and Conditions at bit.ly/2NNm93Z and Privacy Policy at bit.ly/31Mad8s.

Screenshots

Bookly4 screens
Bookshelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Bookshelf at none against Bookly's shown. Bookshelf also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). Bookly's advantage is review sentiment (84% vs 52%) and ratings volume (61K vs 4.1K). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bookly sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Bookshelf sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Bookly against 4.6 for Bookshelf. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookly has 61K ratings behind it against 4.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 84% of Bookly's written reviews are positive against 52% of Bookshelf's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bookly ships an update monthly, Bookshelf fortnightly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Bookly versus Bookshelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBooklyBookshelf
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (61K ratings)4.6 (4.1K ratings)
Positive reviews83.6% of reviews — better51.8% of reviews
Number of ratings61K — better4.1K
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#66 — better#170
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size510 MB283 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperTwoDoor GamesAlexander Gerrese

Customer experience

Bookly

All ratings61,057 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral4.3%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews2,579 reviews
Positive83.6%
Neutral7.2%
Negative9.2%

Bookshelf

All ratings4,095 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral4.0%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews463 reviews
Positive51.8%
Neutral15.8%
Negative32.4%

User reviews

Bookly

From 61K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for tracking reading progress
  • 🚀 Motivates users to read more
  • 📊 Provides detailed reading statistics
  • 💡 Allows adding quotes, thoughts, and new words
  • 👍 User-friendly interface and design

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paywall for many features
  • 🔒 Limited functionality in free version
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔍 Difficulty finding/adding some books
  • 🔢 Limit on number of books that can be added

Bookshelf

From 4.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Excellent book tracking features
  • 📚 Unlimited book storage
  • 💻 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 🔍 Powerful search and discovery
  • 📝 Detailed notes and quotes

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Limited free features, requires premium subscription
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔄 Sync issues between devices
  • 📚 Incomplete book database
  • 🔍 Unreliable barcode scanning

Bugs and requests

Bookly

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Reading sessions not always accurately recorded
  • Inconsistencies in page count/progress tracking
  • Syncing issues between devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to delete/edit books
  • Option to track audiobook progress
  • Sync reading progress across devices
  • More customization options
  • Integration with other reading apps

Bookshelf

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Books disappearing from library after updates
  • Reading progress not syncing correctly
  • Inconsistent behavior of reading mode and session tracking
  • Search function frequently returning incorrect results

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to import/export data
  • Implement better sorting and filtering options
  • Allow customizable book covers and collections
  • Add support for audiobook tracking
  • Integrate with other reading apps and services

In-app purchases

16 purchases

Bookly

Subscriptions10
  • Monthly Pro7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Monthly Pro Family Plan$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Plan7 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Yearly Pro 50% OFF$14.991 Year
  • Six Months of Pro$19.996 Months
  • Yearly Pro 30% OFF$19.991 Year
  • Yearly Pro$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Pro (50% OFF 1st year trial)1 Year trial$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Pro 20% OFF3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Yearly Pro Family Plan$49.991 Year
One-time6
  • 10 extra reading days$0.99
  • A handful of Diamonds$0.99
  • A big bag of Diamonds$2.99
Show 3 more
  • A chest of Diamonds$5.99
  • Bookly Pro$79.99
  • Bookly Pro Lifetime$149.99
7 purchases

Bookshelf

Subscriptions2
  • Bookshelf Gold (Monthly)2 variants$6.991 Month
  • Bookshelf Gold (Yearly)7 Days trial2 variants$29.991 Year
One-time5
  • Tokens Refill (Small)$0.99
  • Tokens Refill (Medium)$4.99
  • 250 Tokens$9.99
Show 2 more
  • Tokens Refill (Large)$9.99
  • Bookshelf Gold (Lifetime)2 variants$79.99

Questions

Is Bookly free?
Bookly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bookshelf free?
Bookshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bookly or Bookshelf?
Bookly and Bookshelf are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 61K and 4.1K ratings respectively.
Do Bookly or Bookshelf have ads?
Bookly shows ads; Bookshelf does not.
Which is updated more often, Bookly or Bookshelf?
Bookly ships an update monthly, and Bookshelf fortnightly. Most recently, Bookly was updated on September 24, 2026 and Bookshelf on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Bookly or Bookshelf?
Bookly currently peaks at #66 in the App Store charts, and Bookshelf at #170. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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