Comparison

Reading List vs TBR

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

Head to head
About

Reading List

Organize your reading journey by tracking books you've read, are currently reading, or want to read. Log progress, add custom lists, and record notes and ratings. Sync data across devices and export your library.

Highlights
  • Scan barcodes to add books
  • Search online for books
  • Manual book entry
  • Track reading progress (start/finish dates)
  • Create custom book lists
  • Add ratings and notes
  • View reading statistics
  • iCloud data sync
Features
Read full description

Easily track books you’ve read, books you’re reading, and books you want to read. Record your progress by adding the start and finish date of your books. ADD NEW BOOKS • Scan the barcode of a book to quickly add it to your list • Search online to find and add books • Alternatively, add a book manually by typing in its details • Sync your data between all devices via iCloud TRACK YOUR READING • Quickly log the dates you start and finish each book with a tap or swipe • Order the books, to help plan what to read next • Create your own custom lists, like "Wishlist", "Favourites", etc • Record the current page of books you're reading • Add your own rating and notes to each book • View your reading statistics PRIVATE & PERSONAL • No online account or signup needed • All data is private, stored on-device or in your iCloud account • Export and import all your data Some premium features require Reading List Pro, which can be purchased in the app. The app remains fully-featured when used without Reading List Pro. Terms of Use: https://readinglist.app/termsofservice Privacy Policy: https://readinglist.app/privacypolicy

About

TBR

Easily track your reading progress, organize your book lists, and discover new titles through curated book news. Scan books with a barcode, add them manually, and sort them by various criteria. Get personalized recommendations and export your library.

Highlights
  • Track books to read, reading, and read
  • Organize books into custom lists
  • Barcode scanner for quick book entry
  • Discover new books via curated news feeds
  • Get 'More Like This' book recommendations
  • Import from Goodreads
  • Export to spreadsheet formats
Features
Read full description

TBR is a fast, elegant and modern place to track your reading. The books you want to read (your TBR, To Be Read), the books you are reading, and the books you've read. You can also organize your books into custom lists of your own choosing. Get inspiration by reading Book News from our 1000+ curated book news sources. TBR contains a Book News browser, essentially a curated collection of RSS feeds, with links back to the original sources. Bookship will identify books in each story and easily let you save them, remembering where you found the book. TRACK BOOKS Add a book by name by searching our database, or use the easy Barcode Scanner to scan books quickly into TBR. It's great when you're in a bookstore and want to remember a book for later. Using Multi-scan lets you quickly add your entire library right into TBR. Reorder your TBR list by drag-n-drop, so you can change what's coming next. Sort and filter by author, genre, title, publication date and more. Mark books as Reading, or Read, and the books are automatically added to those lists as well, and dates are automatically tracked. Keep Notes about the books you are reading. Use our Share Extension to share pages you are reading on the web to TBR. TBR extracts the books being mentioned so you can easily browse or save them. READING IDEAS TBR’s More Like This tells you related or similar books to a book you're reading. Or get reading ideas by browsing our always-timely Book News, featuring the latest in books from around the web. BOOK NEWS We've curated over a thousand high quality book news sites, and assembled their RSS feeds into a timely, beautiful view into the world of books, with links back to the original sites. You can find news about books by genre, about the books you are reading, or just what's popular right now. Browse our feeds to see news from each source individually, or browse by Channel to see book news about a particular topic. DARK MODE We support dark mode, for a particularly striking view on the world of books. IMPORT, EXPORT, SYNC Import your books from Goodreads. Export your books to a spreadsheet (Excel, CSV). All sync'd with the cloud and with Bookship, our Social Reading app, so you can plan your reading for your reading group or Book Club.

Screenshots

Reading List4 screens
TBR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Reading List at Free against TBR's $4.99. Reading List also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.8 vs 4.3). TBR's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10). On review sentiment, device support and iOS requirement 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

Reading List is free to download; TBR costs $4.99 up front. Reading List sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.00 per month. TBR asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Reading List holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Reading List has 30K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 93% of Reading List's written reviews are positive against 100% of TBR's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reading List ships an update fortnightly, TBR every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Reading List versus TBR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReading ListTBR
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.8 (30K ratings) — better4.3 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews92.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings30K — better6
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB56 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperAndrew Bennet LtdThe Hawaii Project, LLC

Customer experience

Reading List

All ratings30,064 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral2.3%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews627 reviews
Positive92.8%
Neutral3.0%
Negative4.1%

TBR

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Reading List

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Issues with date/time tracking when adding books
  • Occasional crashes or data loss when using the app

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to track re-reads and 'on hold' books
  • Improve sorting/organizing options for large collections
  • Add support for audiobooks and reading time tracking
  • Implement cloud sync and account features to preserve data
  • Add more customization options for lists and book display

TBR

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Reading List

Subscriptions4
  • Reading List Pro (Monthly)$2.001 Month
  • Reading List Pro (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Reading List Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$14.001 Year
Show 1 more
  • Reading List Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time6
  • Small Tip$1.00
  • Medium Tip$2.00
  • Large Tip$3.00
Show 3 more
  • Very Large Tip$5.00
  • Giant Tip$10.00
  • Reading List Pro (Lifetime)$38.00
None

TBR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Reading List free?
Reading List is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is TBR free?
TBR costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Reading List or TBR?
Reading List is rated higher. Reading List averages 4.8 out of 5 from 30K ratings, while TBR averages 4.3 from 6 ratings.
Do Reading List or TBR have ads?
TBR shows ads; Reading List does not.
Which is updated more often, Reading List or TBR?
Reading List ships an update fortnightly, and TBR every 3 months. Most recently, Reading List was updated on November 3, 2026 and TBR on October 30, 2026.

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