Comparison

Swappy Books vs Bookworm Reads

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

Head to head
About

Swappy Books

Exchange physical books with users in your local area. Scan a book's ISBN to list it for trade, then browse nearby listings and swipe to express interest. Connect with other readers to arrange book swaps.

Highlights
  • Scan ISBN to publish books
  • Browse nearby book listings
  • Swipe to express interest
  • In-app chat for coordination
  • No registration required
  • Free to use
Features
Read full description

Swap paper books with people nearby. - Simple & Free. - No registration required. All you need is a book to exchange. Scan: Scan the ISBN code at the back of the book you want to exchange and hit "Publish". Browse: See books other people want to exchange nearby and swipe up when you see a book you like. Tap to see the details. Book Match: When you get a Match you will be able to chat with the other book owner and coordinate where the swap will take place.

About

Bookworm Reads

Track your reading, connect with friends, and join a vibrant community of book lovers. Organize your library, discover new titles, and participate in reading challenges. Customize your unique worm avatar and share your literary journey.

Highlights
  • Track and categorize books
  • Create custom bookshelves
  • See friends' reading activity
  • Rate, review, and discuss books
  • Create and join book clubs
  • Participate in reading challenges
  • Customize worm avatar
Features
Read full description

Bookworm Reads is a book tracker & joyful community app. On Bookworm, you can track your books, see what your friends are reading, rate, review, and discuss books, create and join book clubs, and be a part of a vibrant digital community of readers. We're like Goodreads but for the girls, gays, and theys. Plus, you get to be a worm. Discover new books to save to your library, create your own customizable bookshelves, send and receive book recommendations from friends, and join community reading challenges. The best part of all: dress up your wormy avatar from a variety of outfits, hats, accessories, and more! Import your Goodreads data: Say goodbye to Amazon-owned Goodreads, and keep your bookshelves just as you left them. Import from Goodreads and start using Bookworm. Simple, beautiful, book tracking. Track & categorize your books into bookshelves: books you want to read, have read, are currently reading. Plus, create your own custom bookshelves. Your 5-star club, books you DNF (did not finish), abandoned, repeat reads; whatever your heart desires. Add as many shelves as you want--no power-tools required. Join community reading challenges. Set a reading goal for yourself and let your friends cheer you on. The number of books you set as your goal is only visible to you. Upon joining, you get the option to give your wormy a badge to show you're participating in the community challenge. And, you can edit your goal number as the challenge continues. Share book recommendations. Send recommendations to friends and get them in return. Get notified whenever someone starts reading the book you recommended, and check out their review when they finish. All books recommended to you get saved to a bookshelf so you'll never lose them. Create, organize, and join book clubs. Find like-minded readers and host discussions in the app. You can create collaborative shelves, where everyone in the club can add to your shared to-read shelf, or you can do the choosing and let readers to follow along. Get started by joining Thee Bookworm Book Club--the Bookworm-wide club. Dress up your wormy avatar. Hands down the best feature on Bookworm Reads: dress up your wormy avatar! Choose from outfits, wigs, accessories, and more to keep your wormy as fresh as you are. Get creative, and change your outfit as much as you want! You can also buy a real life bookworm bookmark + sticker pack to keep your books adorned with Bookworm swag. Social sharing included. Share books to your instagram story with pre-made, gorgeous backgrounds. You can tweet, text, email, or whatever kind of sharing you'd like with everything on Bookworm. From books, to posts, to your wormy's outfit, share on whatever platform is your favorite. Features: • track & categorize your books into bookshelves: books you want to read, have read, are currently reading • plus, create your own custom book categories. for example, create a bookshelf for books you couldn't finish, or your favorite books you want everyone to read • join reading challenges: set a goal for yourself and get that lil dopamine hit every time you finish a book • recommend books to friends and get notified when they read your suggestion • organize your book club: set your books, your next meeting info, and host discussion in your club • discover new clubs: join one of the many public book clubs to find new reading buddies • design your wormy's outfit • share all of this to social media • import from Goodreads, Storygraph, Libib, or wherever you track your books. No need to start over! Bring your Goodreads/Storygraph data right into Bookworm. Download Bookworm Reads, create your wormy, and join the community!

Screenshots

Swappy Books4 screens
Bookworm Reads4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Swappy Books at none against Bookworm Reads's 2. Swappy Books also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.1). Bookworm Reads's advantage is ratings volume (1.1K vs 3). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bookworm Reads sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Swappy Books asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Swappy Books holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookworm Reads has 1.1K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Swappy Books's written reviews are positive against 77% of Bookworm Reads's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Swappy Books ships an update every 4 weeks, Bookworm Reads every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Swappy Books versus Bookworm Reads: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSwappy BooksBookworm Reads
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better4.8 (1.1K ratings)
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews77.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings31.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB59 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperPablo PacielloBookworm Reads CLUB

Customer experience

Swappy Books

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

Bookworm Reads

All ratings1,061 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.6%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews88 reviews
Positive77.3%
Neutral9.1%
Negative13.6%

Bugs and requests

Swappy Books

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Bookworm Reads

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Inability to permanently delete user profiles
  • Signup process issues with 'Accept' button not working
  • Inconsistent display of book covers and information
  • Frequent crashes and app freezes
  • Syncing issues with imported book data

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to track reading progress
  • Improve accessibility for visually impaired users
  • Introduce more customization options for user profiles
  • Expand search capabilities to include more book details
  • Integrate with other popular book platforms

In-app purchases

None

Swappy Books

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Bookworm Reads

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Yearly subscription14 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Swappy Books free?
Swappy Books is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bookworm Reads free?
Bookworm Reads is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Swappy Books or Bookworm Reads?
Swappy Books is rated higher. Swappy Books averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Bookworm Reads averages 4.8 from 1.1K ratings.
Do Swappy Books or Bookworm Reads have ads?
Neither Swappy Books nor Bookworm Reads shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Swappy Books or Bookworm Reads?
Swappy Books ships an update every 4 weeks, and Bookworm Reads every 3 weeks. Most recently, Swappy Books was updated on October 18, 2026 and Bookworm Reads on October 25, 2026.

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