Comparison

Literal vs Softgoods

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

Head to head
About

Literal

This app transforms reading into an engaging group chat experience. It presents books with profile pictures and speech bubbles, making it easy to follow conversations. Users can read alone or invite friends to discuss books in real-time.

Highlights
  • Group chat reading format
  • Interactive book discussions
  • Invite friends to read together
  • Track reading progress
  • Access classic and modern titles
  • Suitable for educators
Features
Read full description

Wish you read more books? Literal is what would happen if your favorite messaging app and ebook app had a baby. We make the books you love even more addictive. Literal lets you read the world's best content (Books) in the world's most engaging format (Group Chat). Read for Free or upgrade to access even more books! Read like you chat and Never get lost or confused in a story again. Literal adds profile pictures and speech bubbles to an author’s original text. This makes it super simple to understand who is speaking and what they said. Even if you're an excellent reader. Literal delivers books in a format that will keep you more engaged throughout the entire book! Start a book group and read together. Invite your friends to join a book with you the same way that you would invite them to a group chat. See where everyone is in the story, chat, laugh, and comment. Together. Browse or binge – the choice is yours. No time to read? No problem. At home or on the go, Literal makes it easy. Browse or binge through our library of titles whenever and wherever you want. Unlike other chat fiction apps, Literal lets you read real books. This makes it ideal for English teachers, ELA instructors and literacy educators to provide an alternative reading format to students who need a modern way to read. Read classics like Shakespeare, pride and Prejudice and Alice in Wonderland. Or Enjoy modern tiles from our publishing partners.

About

Softgoods

Organize and journal your favorite fan fiction. Create custom shelves, add notes to stories, and track your reading habits. Share your discoveries and thoughts with friends.

Highlights
  • Store and bookmark fan fiction
  • Create custom shelves
  • Add notes to stories
  • Track reading statistics
  • Share shelves and notes publicly
  • Tag stories for easy searching
Features
Read full description

What you can do with Softgoods: • Save and bookmark fics from anywhere on the web! Paste a link or use the share sheet • Build shelves by fandom, ship, trope, mood, or anything you want • Tag fics with warnings, characters, and freeform tags for instant search • Journal your thoughts on every fic and rate them with stars • Log reading sessions chapter by chapter for works in progress • Track stats: total fics read, monthly word count, authors followed, and how this month compares to last • Make shelves and notes public to share with friends or keep them private just for you • Export your data anytime For fic readers, by fic readers We built Softgoods because spreadsheets and browser bookmarks weren't cutting it. We're a small team and we ship updates often. Your feedback shapes what we build next. Got a feature request or hit a bug? Email contact@softgoods.app A real person reads every message. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://softgoods.app/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Literal4 screens
Softgoods4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Literal at none against Softgoods's 2. Literal also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and review sentiment (94% vs 74%). Softgoods's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 20 months). On price, ratings volume, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Softgoods sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Literal asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Literal holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 33 and 74 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Literal's written reviews are positive against 74% of Softgoods's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Literal ships an update every 20 months, Softgoods fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Literal versus Softgoods: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLiteralSoftgoods
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (33 ratings) — better4.4 (74 ratings)
Positive reviews94.1% of reviews — better74.4% of reviews
Number of ratings3374 — better
Update frequencyEvery 20 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLiteral LLCJordan Wagner

Customer experience

Literal

All ratings32 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive94.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.9%

Softgoods

All ratings74 ratings
Positive85.1%
Neutral6.8%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive74.4%
Neutral5.1%
Negative20.5%

In-app purchases

None

Literal

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Softgoods

Subscriptions2
  • Premium$1.991 Month
  • Premium$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Literal free?
Literal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Softgoods free?
Softgoods is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Literal or Softgoods?
Literal is rated higher. Literal averages 4.8 out of 5 from 33 ratings, while Softgoods averages 4.4 from 74 ratings.
Do Literal or Softgoods have ads?
Neither Literal nor Softgoods shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Literal or Softgoods?
Literal ships an update every 20 months, and Softgoods fortnightly. Most recently, Literal was updated on October 26, 2026 and Softgoods on October 27, 2026.

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