# Bookshelf vs Mibrarian

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mibrarian at none against Bookshelf's 4. Mibrarian also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Bookshelf's advantage is ratings volume (3K vs 2). On price, review sentiment, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Bookshelf sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Mibrarian asks for nothing beyond the download.

Mibrarian holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookshelf has 3K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Bookshelf's written reviews are positive against 100% of Mibrarian's.

Bookshelf ships an update every 2 weeks, Mibrarian weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bookshelf | Mibrarian |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (3K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookshelf-your-virtual-library/id1464032274/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mibrarian/id6742660921/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **3K** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 93.7% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 80 MB | 23 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [SquidBit d.o.o.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1464032273) | [Iron Elephant Solutions](https://appshunter.io/developer/1755444569) |

## What reviewers say

### Bookshelf

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookshelf-your-virtual-library/id1464032274)

Organize your book collection with virtual shelves and tags. Track reading progress, set goals, and manage your TBR list. Discover new books, share recommendations, and connect with friends' reading journeys.

**Highlights:** Virtual bookshelves and tags, ISBN barcode scanner, Reading progress tracking, TBR wishlist management, Social reading profiles, Book statistics and insights, OCR text scanning for quotes

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bookshelf (1 Month) | $2.99 | per month |
| Bookshelf (1 Year) | $19.99 | per year |
| Bookshelf (Lifetime) | $59.99 | one-time |
| Bookshelf (Lifetime) | $79.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Batch scanning feature
- 📚 Excellent for organizing book collections
- 💰 Free app with no limits
- 🔍 Helpful for avoiding book duplicates

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔍 Search function could be improved
- 🔢 Inability to add multiple copies of the same book
- 📷 Limited cover image options for some books

**Reported bugs**

- Occasional issues with scanning barcodes
- Trouble accessing app after account creation

**Requested features**

- Ability to organize books by author and series
- Option to filter statistics by bookshelf
- Manual page count entry
- Borrowing/lending tracking system


### Mibrarian

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mibrarian/id6742660921)

Easily catalog your personal book collection, track reading progress, and manage borrowed books. Add titles by scanning, searching, or manual entry, and enrich your library with details and ratings.

**Highlights:** Catalog books via scan, search, or manual entry, Rate and review books, Track reading progress, Manage book lending to others, Fetch rich book details automatically, Organize and personalize your library, Offline access

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bookshelf free?

Bookshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Mibrarian free?

Mibrarian is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Bookshelf or Mibrarian?

Mibrarian is rated higher. Bookshelf averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3K ratings, while Mibrarian averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Bookshelf or Mibrarian have ads?

Bookshelf shows ads; Mibrarian does not.

### Which is updated more often, Bookshelf or Mibrarian?

Bookshelf ships an update every 2 weeks, and Mibrarian weekly. Most recently, Bookshelf was updated on October 15, 2026 and Mibrarian on October 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*