Comparison

Bookshelf vs Book Queue

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

Head to head
About

Bookshelf

Track your reading, build a library, and improve your habits with insightful stats and AI-powered discovery. Remember what you read with notes and quizzes, and set reading goals to stay motivated. Sync across devices and export your library.

Highlights
  • Build and manage your book library
  • Track reading progress and habits
  • AI-powered book recommendations
  • Take notes and create quizzes
  • Set reading goals and reminders
  • Import from Goodreads and Kindle
  • Sync across iOS devices
Features
Read full description

Bookshelf helps you track your books, build a lasting reading habit, and better remember what you read—now with powerful AI-powered discovery tools to help you find your next great read! Add books you’ve read, books you’re reading, and books you want to read. Improve your reading habits with insightful stats and trend reports. Stay motivated with reading goals, streaks, and reminders. Remember what you read by writing and reviewing notes and quotes. BUILD YOUR LIBRARY • Import & Sync – Import your existing libraries from Goodreads, Kindle, StoryGraph, or Reading List with a tap. • Quick Add – Build your library by searching millions of books, scanning any book's barcode, or adding your own. • Book Recommendations* – Discover trending books, find books based on your mood or any prompt, and browse curated collections to find your next read. • Everything Tracker – Easily manage book collections, reading status, star ratings, reading dates, and more for all your books. • Reading Sessions* – Pick up a book, start a session, and we’ll track everything so you can focus on reading. IMPROVE YOUR READING HABITS • Book Chat – Chat with our AI librarian to generate summaries and flash cards, discuss key ideas, and much more! • Reading Stats – Visualize your reading habits over time with charts and reading stats. • Reading Goals – Create a reading goal for the year to motivate yourself to read more or challenge your friends! • Estimated Completion Time – See how long it will take to finish any book with your average reading speed. • Reading Streaks* – Stay motivated by keeping up your streak! REMEMBER WHAT YOU READ • Smart Notes* – Use cards to jot down notes or vocab, write a summary, or prepare study questions. Scan text directly from books or add rich text of your own. • Knowledge Quizzes* – Spaced-repetition quizzes on your note cards that will significantly increase your retention, guaranteed. • Reading Reminders* – Never forget to read or test your knowledge with timely notifications. OTHER FEATURES • Cloud Sync* & Daily Backups – Sync between your iOS devices so your library is always up-to-date, or restore from previous backups. • App Icons – Make Bookshelf your own with beautiful custom home-screen icons. • Library Export* – Never fear losing your books or notes with CSV library exports. • Dark Mode – Beautiful during the day, gorgeous and eye-saving at night. *Some features require Bookshelf Gold for access or unlimited use Gold Lifetime charges your Apple ID once for permanent Gold status. Gold Yearly charges your Apple ID for 12 months of Gold status after a 7-day free trial unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the trial ends. Gold Monthly charges your Apple ID for 1 month of Gold status on purchase confirmation. Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime in your iTunes account settings. For more information, see our Terms and Conditions at bit.ly/2NNm93Z and Privacy Policy at bit.ly/31Mad8s.

About

Book Queue

Manage your reading lists with this app. Organize books into TBR, currently reading, and finished categories. Track progress, rate books, and get series recommendations. Your data stays private on your device.

Highlights
  • Organize books into TBR, Reading, Finished, DNF
  • Manual ordering of TBR list
  • Track reading progress by pages or percent
  • Save reading dates, ratings, format, and notes
  • Series-aware suggestions
  • Export and import library as JSON
  • Privacy-first, data on device
Features
Read full description

BookQueue helps you stay on top of what to read next, what you’re reading now, and what you’ve already finished. Search books by title, author, or ISBN, then add them to the right list in one tap. Keep your reading organized with clean list management, progress updates, ratings, and detailed book metadata. Features: - Organize books into To Be Read (TBR), Reading, Finished, and DNF - Manual ordering of your To Be Read list - Track reading progress by pages or percent - Save reading dates, ratings, format, and notes - Get series-aware suggestions, including next-in-series recommendations - Own your data, export and import your full library as JSON - Privacy first, keep your data on your device BookQueue is designed for readers who want a simple To Be Read (TBR) list manager with manual ordering.

Screenshots

Bookshelf4 screens
Book Queue4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Book Queue at none against Bookshelf's 10. Book Queue also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Bookshelf's advantage is ratings volume (4.2K vs 1) and update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). On price, ads, 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

Both are free to download. Bookshelf sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Book Queue asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Book Queue holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookshelf has 4.2K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bookshelf ships an update fortnightly, Book Queue monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Bookshelf versus Book Queue: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBookshelfBook Queue
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (4.2K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4.2K — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size283 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexander GerreseSvetlana Stolyarova

Customer experience

Bookshelf

All ratings4,095 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral4.0%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews465 reviews
Positive52.0%
Neutral15.7%
Negative32.3%

Book Queue

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Bookshelf

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Books disappearing from library after updates
  • Reading progress not syncing correctly
  • Inconsistent behavior of reading mode and session tracking
  • Search function frequently returning incorrect results

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to import/export data
  • Implement better sorting and filtering options
  • Allow customizable book covers and collections
  • Add support for audiobook tracking
  • Integrate with other reading apps and services

Book Queue

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Bookshelf

Subscriptions2
  • Bookshelf Gold (Monthly)2 variants$6.991 Month
  • Bookshelf Gold (Yearly)7 Days trial2 variants$29.991 Year
One-time5
  • Tokens Refill (Small)$0.99
  • Tokens Refill (Medium)$4.99
  • 250 Tokens$9.99
Show 2 more
  • Tokens Refill (Large)$9.99
  • Bookshelf Gold (Lifetime)2 variants$79.99
None

Book Queue

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bookshelf free?
Bookshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Book Queue free?
Book Queue is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bookshelf or Book Queue?
Book Queue is rated higher. Bookshelf averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.2K ratings, while Book Queue averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Bookshelf or Book Queue have ads?
Neither Bookshelf nor Book Queue shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bookshelf or Book Queue?
Bookshelf ships an update fortnightly, and Book Queue monthly. Most recently, Bookshelf was updated on October 29, 2026 and Book Queue on October 28, 2026.

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