Comparison

Shelfie vs BookScribe

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

Head to head
About

Shelfie

Effortlessly manage your reading notes by scanning book barcodes or using your camera with advanced OCR. Organize your collection, track progress, and share insights with elegant templates. Syncs across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Scan books by barcode or search
  • Capture notes with OCR technology
  • Organize books by shelves
  • Track reading progress
  • Share notes with templates
  • Full-text search of notes
  • Export notes as PDF/HTML
Features
Read full description

Collect your books reading notes in one place by simply pointing your camera at the paperbacks. Managing your reading notes has never been so effortless! KEY FEATURES * Find books and add to your collection by scanning bar code, searching keyword, or entering book info manually. * Take a photo of the printed text and save your reading notes in a flash, empowered by revolutionary Optimal Character Recognition (OCR) technology. * Recognize texts in 45+ languages: English, Chinese, France, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, German, Italian, and many more. * Record your reading data. * Save images directly as your notes. * Organize your books by shelves. * Create a table of contents for your books and navigate your notes by chapters. * Set short title for your notes. * Share your notes and thoughts with multiple elegantly designed templates. * Search full-text and find your notes. * Track your reading progress. * Export your notes as PDFs or HTMLs. * Support various iOS features such as Handoff, Multitasking, and Search. * Website: https://shelfie.app HIGHLIGHTS * Access your notes anywhere: Everything is synced automatically and instantly across any computer, phone, or tablet. Once you create your account, your date stays in sync so that you always have the up-to-date version of your favorite quotes and inspirations (yeah we do not rely on iCloud). * Advanced OCR technology based on Google: Fast and precise. * Auto recognition of tables of contents: Take a photo of a book’s table of contents and we automatically turn it into chapters matched with pages. * Simple, but powerful. SUBSCRIPTION We offer monthly and yearly Premium subscriptions. App Store will renews the subscription during 24 hours before it expires. You can stop the auto renewal in the system settings of iPhone. When start auto renewal in trial period, the trial will stop automatically. If you encounter any problems, please try to restart Shelfie, or tap the restore button below. Privacy: https://yanwai.net/privacy/en Terms: https://yanwai.net/terms/en SUPPORT We love hearing back from you and we are constantly improving our app based on your suggestions! E-mail: hi@yanwai.app

About

BookScribe

Features
Read full description

BookScribe—— 连接实体阅读与数字知识管理的桥梁。 BookScribe — The bridge between physical reading and digital knowledge management. 你是否依然迷恋纸质书的触感,却苦恼于笔记难以数字化整理? BookScribe专为深度阅读者、学生和知识工作者打造。我们通过创新的“双路识别”技术,让你只需一次拍摄,即可同时提取书中的精彩原文(书摘)和你写在旁边的灵感思考(心得)。 Do you love the feel of physical books but struggle to organize your notes digitally? BookScribe is designed for deep readers, students, and knowledge workers. Our innovative "Dual-Path Recognition" technology lets you capture both the author's text (Excerpts) and your own handwritten thoughts (Thoughts) in a single shot. 核心亮点: Key Highlights: 1、智能双路采集,只需对着书页拍一张照片,一次快门,两种收获: -书摘识别: OCR预识别划线书摘,允许用画笔手动涂抹OCR最终识别区域,系统精准提取原文。 -心得识别: 系统在后台自动识别整页的手写文本心得。 1、Smart Dual-Path Capture: Snap a photo of the page for double the insights with just one tap: -Excerpt Recognition: OCR pre-identifies highlighted text. You can manually mask the final recognition area with a brush for precise extraction. -Thought Recognition: The system automatically processes the entire page for handwritten notes in the background. 2、书摘与心得,双流呈现 -创新的双区块编辑器,将“作者的观点”与“你的思考”清晰区分。支持分别编辑、独立保存,让知识结构更加清晰,不再混淆。 -编辑器展示拍照图片,方便对比查看原书与数字化书摘与心得笔记, -记录每一条笔记的页码,方便日后回溯原文。 2、Dual-Flow Presentation: -Innovative Split-Block Editor: Separates "The Author's View" from "Your Thoughts" for clarity. Edit and save them independently to keep your knowledge structure clean. -Original Image Reference: The editor displays the original photo alongside digitized notes for easy comparison. -Page Tracking: Logs page numbers for every note, making it easy to trace back to the source. 3、Obsidian 深度集成 -原生 Markdown: 所有笔记自动格式化为 Markdown。 -支持通过文件系统授权,直接将笔记以追加方式写入你指定的 Obsidian 库文件中。 3、Deep Obsidian Integration: -Native Markdown: All notes are automatically formatted in Markdown. -Direct Append: Authorize your file system to append notes directly into your specified Obsidian vault files. 4、强大的书籍和笔记管理 -专属书架: 以书籍为单位管理你的所有笔记,可以选用系统预设的精美封面或自定义封面。 -批量操作: 支持批量选择笔记,一次性导出全书精华,快速生成读书笔记。 4、Powerful Management: -Exclusive Bookshelf: Manage all your notes by book, with options for exquisite preset covers or custom uploads. -Batch Operations: Select multiple notes to export the entire book's essence in one go, quickly generating comprehensive reading notes. 让原本躺在书架上的笔记“活”起来,构建你的个人知识大厦,从书影笔记开始。 Bring your bookshelf to life and start building your personal knowledge skyscraper with BookScribe. Email: support@bookscribeapp.com RedBook: 娜个乖乖

Screenshots

Shelfie4 screens
BookScribe4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: BookScribe at every 3 days against Shelfie's fortnightly. Shelfie's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Shelfie sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and BookScribe sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shelfie ships an update fortnightly, BookScribe every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Shelfie versus BookScribe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShelfieBookScribe
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (201 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings201 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscription—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size85 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer志鹏 刘丽娜 王

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Shelfie

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
  • Premium Annually Subscription$12.991 Year
One-time3
  • Shelfie Lifetime (for yearly)$6.99
  • Shelfie Lifetime (for monthly)$14.99
  • Sheifle Premium Lifetime$19.99
1 purchases

BookScribe

One-time1
  • BookScribe Pro (Lifetime)$24.99

Questions

Is Shelfie free?
Shelfie is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BookScribe free?
BookScribe is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Shelfie or BookScribe have ads?
Neither Shelfie nor BookScribe shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shelfie or BookScribe?
Shelfie ships an update fortnightly, and BookScribe every 3 days. Most recently, Shelfie was updated on November 11, 2026 and BookScribe on November 5, 2026.

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