My Bookshelf vs Chicken Scratch
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
My Bookshelf
Easily track books you're reading, want to read, or have finished. Add books via search, manual entry, or barcode scanning. Organize, rate, and review your collection, then share recommendations with friends.
- Book search via Google Books
- Manual book entry
- Barcode scanning for books
- Organize by author, category, title
- Rate and review books
- Share book lists with friends
- Multiple theme options
- Cross-device syncing (iPhone/iPad)
Read full descriptionHide full description
Do you keep a record of all of the books you are reading, want to read or have previously read? Do you like to share good book titles with your friends? My Bookshelf is the solution for you. Finding and adding books to your bookshelf is easy. First try a Google Book Search within the app, and failing a successful hit, perform a manual entry or scan a physical book's barcode. You can find books in on your bookshelves by either searching the list by author, category or title or, you can take a look at the bar charts and drill down on one of the monthly tallies, a, category, or an author. Once you find what you are looking for, you can edit the detail or you can revise the status and change the bookshelf, give it a rating or even your own review. Sharing your books is easy too as you can tap the share button and either Air Drop or email your friends. It will automatically go into their “To Read” bookshelf once accepted. If you don’t like the initial Dark Theme, you have two other themes to choose from. And finally, if you use an iPad as well as your iPhone, My Bookshelf has you covered. Install the app on your iPad and access the same information,. Update on one device and it is immedialy updated on the other.
Chicken Scratch
This app helps you manage your backyard chickens by tracking egg production, health, and daily tasks. It offers detailed statistics and reminders for feeding and cleaning, making flock management easy and fun.
- Add and manage individual chickens
- Log daily egg output
- Set reminders for care tasks
- Track flock health and medical history
- View charts and statistics
- Local data storage
Read full descriptionHide full description
Congratulations, you own chickens now. You’re basically a farmer, a zookeeper, and an amateur egg economist. Naturally, you need an app for that. Chicken Scratch is your semi-professional, definitely-overbuilt tool for tracking your backyard flock like you’re managing a Fortune 500 company made of feathers. Features you probably didn’t think you needed: • Add all your chickens (even the one you swear isn’t a rooster) • Log daily egg output like it’s your retirement portfolio • Get reminders to feed, clean, or stop staring at them • Track medical stuff so you feel like a real vet (you’re not) • Charts and stats, because nothing says “fun” like analytics on poop machines Perfect for chicken newbies, casual bird collectors, or people who started with 3 hens and now need a second mortgage to fund feed costs. No logins, no cloud, no crypto, just local data and poultry accountability. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: My Bookshelf at 4.6 against Chicken Scratch's 2.0. My Bookshelf also leads on ratings volume (176 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 17.6). Chicken Scratch's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 57%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. My Bookshelf sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Chicken Scratch sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
My Bookshelf holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: My Bookshelf has 176 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of My Bookshelf's written reviews are positive against 75% of Chicken Scratch's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
My Bookshelf ships an update fortnightly, Chicken Scratch every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | My Bookshelf | Chicken Scratch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (176 ratings) — better | 2.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 176 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stewart Lynch | Ctrl Alt Go Ltd |
Customer experience
My Bookshelf
Chicken Scratch
In-app purchases
My Bookshelf
- Unlimited Books$3.99
Chicken Scratch
- Coop Club Weekly3 Days trial$1.997 Days
- Coop Club Yearly3 Days trial$19.991 Year
Questions
Is My Bookshelf free?
Is Chicken Scratch free?
Which has better reviews, My Bookshelf or Chicken Scratch?
Do My Bookshelf or Chicken Scratch have ads?
Which is updated more often, My Bookshelf or Chicken Scratch?
Other comparisons















