Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource vs RedShelf
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
Access and read Elsevier textbooks on your iOS device. Download books for offline study, search your entire library, and add notes and highlights. Sync your progress across devices for a seamless learning experience.
- Download books for offline reading
- Search entire library
- Create notes and highlights
- Sync across devices
- Pinch to zoom figures
Read full descriptionHide full description
Use Elsevier® eBooks to download and access Elsevier textbooks on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Read your books online or offline, search across your full library, and create notes and highlights to help you study. Elsevier eBooks Features: • Download books to your iOS device for easy online or offline reading. • Simple, user-friendly navigation and a clean reading experience. • Search inside your current book or across your full library. • Select text to create notes or highlights from your mobile device. • Tap to open figures, view captions and pinch to zoom. • Sync your bookmarks, last page read and all of your notes and highlights between your iOS device and our desktop or web-based Elsevier eBooks apps. Requirements: • Elsevier eBooks account • Access to one or more Elsevier textbooks • iOS 17+
RedShelf
Access and read your digital textbooks on any device. Highlight text, take notes, create flashcards, and have content read aloud. Your notes and highlights sync across all your devices.
- Access textbooks on any device
- Highlight text and take notes
- Create flashcards from content
- Define unfamiliar words
- Text-to-speech functionality
- Sync notes and highlights across devices
Read full descriptionHide full description
The RedShelf eReader companion app provides access to read and engage with your textbooks located in your RedShelf account on the My Shelf page. Access your textbooks no matter where you go with a unified experience across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices. eReader Features: - Access textbooks on your device for seamless reading - Easily highlight text, take notes, and share with classmates - Create flashcards while reading to test your understanding of the content - Define unfamiliar words quickly and easily - Have text read aloud and select the voice and pace - Sync all of your notes and highlights to your account and across devices App Requirements: - Active RedShelf account - One or more books available in your RedShelf account
Screenshots
Verdict
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource and RedShelf both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 16% of Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource's written reviews are positive against 3% of RedShelf's. RedShelf's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, rating, ratings volume 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.
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9.4K and 7.1K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 16% of Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource's written reviews are positive against 3% of RedShelf's.
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource ships an update every 3 months, RedShelf every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource | RedShelf |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (9.4K ratings) — better | 4.5 (7.1K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 16.3% of reviews — better | 3.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 9.4K — better | 7.1K |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 188 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Elsevier Inc. | RedShelf |
Customer experience
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
RedShelf
User reviews
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
From 9.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Convenient digital access
- 📚 Helpful study tools (e.g., flashcards)
- 👍 User-friendly interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent login issues
- 📱 Poor mobile app experience
- 🔍 Difficult navigation and book access
- 🔊 Subpar text-to-speech quality
- 💻 Compatibility problems across devices
RedShelf
From 7.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Convenient to access textbooks in one place
- 🚀 Decent overall performance
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
- 💤 Slow loading and page turning
- 👎 Unreliable highlighting and note-taking features
- 🤖 Poor text-to-speech functionality
- 📵 Inability to access books offline
Bugs and requests
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
Reported bugs
3 issues- Repeated sentence/paragraph playback
- Highlighted text disappearing across devices
- Inability to download or access purchased books
Requested features
5 requests- Allow handwritten notes and annotations
- Improve page-turning and scrolling functionality
- Enhance diagram and image viewing experience
- Integrate seamless cross-device synchronization
- Provide more customization options (e.g., font, layout)
RedShelf
Reported bugs
3 issues- Books not loading or showing blank screens
- Highlighting issues (selecting wrong text, unable to edit)
- Sync issues between devices and web version
Requested features
4 requests- Improve highlighting and annotation tools
- Add support for split-screen mode
- Enhance text-to-speech capabilities
- Allow offline access to downloaded books
In-app purchases
Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource
No in-app purchases
RedShelf
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource free?
Is RedShelf free?
Which has better reviews, Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource or RedShelf?
Do Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource or RedShelf have ads?
Which is updated more often, Elsevier eBooks on VitalSource or RedShelf?
Other comparisons
