Bookshelf vs Codex Reader Early Access
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Codex Reader Early Access
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Codex Reader turns the books you already own into one library you can read and listen to. Connect your own sources — Plex, Audiobookshelf, OPDS catalogs, and Storyteller — or bring files straight in from the Files app. Your EPUBs, M4Bs, and MP3 audiobooks all land in a single shelf. READ AND LISTEN, TOGETHER Readalouds keep the text and the narration in sync, highlighting each line as it's spoken. Switch between reading and listening whenever you like and pick up exactly where you left off. BUILT FOR iOS CarPlay for the drive. Siri and Spotlight to jump straight into a book. Home Screen widgets and a Live Activity for what you're in the middle of. Everything works offline once downloaded. MADE YOURS Choose your app icon, tune typography and playback to taste, organize shelves and reading lists, and follow authors or servers to hear about new arrivals. Codex Premium adds iCloud sync so your place in a book follows you between devices.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is chart position: Bookshelf at #186 against Codex Reader Early Access's unranked. Codex Reader Early Access's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Bookshelf sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Codex Reader Early Access sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Bookshelf ships an update fortnightly, Codex Reader Early Access weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bookshelf | Codex Reader Early Access |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (4.1K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 52.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4.1K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Best chart rank | #186 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 283 MB | 104 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alexander Gerrese | Cameron Green |
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
Codex Reader Early Access
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bookshelf
- Bookshelf Gold (Monthly)2 variants$6.991 Month
- Bookshelf Gold (Yearly)7 Days trial2 variants$29.991 Year
- Tokens Refill (Small)$0.99
- Tokens Refill (Medium)$4.99
- 250 Tokens$9.99
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- Tokens Refill (Large)$9.99
- Bookshelf Gold (Lifetime)2 variants$79.99
Codex Reader Early Access
- Codex Premium$6.99
Questions
Is Bookshelf free?
Is Codex Reader Early Access free?
Do Bookshelf or Codex Reader Early Access have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bookshelf or Codex Reader Early Access?
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