NetGalley Shelf vs PCL Mobile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NetGalley Shelf
Access and review digital books and audiobooks provided by publishers and authors. Discover new titles, download them for offline reading, or stream audiobooks directly within the app. This platform is designed for book advocates and industry professionals to provide valuable feedback.
- Access digital review copies
- Listen to audiobooks
- Download books for offline reading
- Stream audiobooks
- Discover new titles
- Request and review books
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NetGalley Shelf is a reading and listening app for NetGalley members. NetGalley helps publishers and authors promote digital review copies and audiobooks to book advocates and industry professionals. Publishers make digital review copies and audiobooks available for the NetGalley community to discover, request, read, and review. NetGalley does not sell any content, including books or audiobooks. Each book on NetGalley is provided to specific members by the publisher directly, at no cost to the NetGalley member. Books on the NetGalley site are used for review and promotional purposes only. Users of the NetGalley Shelf app will need to register as NetGalley members on NetGalley.com or NetGalley.co.uk, then all your approved NetGalley books and audiobooks will automatically appear in this app. No need to press Download on the NetGalley website! Reading is easy and convenient using the NetGalley Shelf app. Download approved books for access on the go, or start listening right away with streaming for audiobooks.
PCL Mobile
Access your library account, search the catalog, and reserve items. Discover digital collections, view event calendars, and make program reservations. Enjoy a comprehensive library experience on your mobile device.
- Catalog search
- Item reservation
- Account management
- Event calendar
- Program reservations
- Digital collections access
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PCL Mobile allows you to search the catalog, reserve items for pickup, take a look at your account, view our calendar, make reservations for programs and events, access our digital collections, and so much more!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: PCL Mobile at 100% against NetGalley Shelf's 20%. PCL Mobile also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.1). NetGalley Shelf's advantage is ratings volume (87 vs 2) and chart position (#178 vs unranked). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PCL Mobile holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NetGalley Shelf has 87 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of NetGalley Shelf's written reviews are positive against 100% of PCL Mobile's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NetGalley Shelf | PCL Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.1 (87 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 19.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 87 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #178 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NetGalley, LLC | Pendleton Community Public Library |
Customer experience
NetGalley Shelf
PCL Mobile
Bugs and requests
NetGalley Shelf
Reported bugs
5 issues- Login issues
- Downloading issues with audiobooks
- Books disappearing from shelf
- Inability to remove expired books
- Inconsistent behavior when opening books
Requested features
7 requests- Add ability to write reviews within the app
- Improve audiobook playback controls
- Add font size adjustment
- Implement dark mode
- Sync reading progress across devices
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- Add highlighting and note-taking features
- Improve organization and sorting of books
PCL Mobile
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
NetGalley Shelf
No in-app purchases
PCL Mobile
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is NetGalley Shelf free?
Is PCL Mobile free?
Which has better reviews, NetGalley Shelf or PCL Mobile?
Do NetGalley Shelf or PCL Mobile have ads?
Which is updated more often, NetGalley Shelf or PCL Mobile?
Other comparisons
