Comparison

RedShelf vs BARBRI

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

Head to head
About

RedShelf

Access and read your digital textbooks on any device. Highlight text, take notes, create flashcards, and have content read aloud. Your notes and highlights sync across all your devices.

Highlights
  • Access textbooks on any device
  • Highlight text and take notes
  • Create flashcards from content
  • Define unfamiliar words
  • Text-to-speech functionality
  • Sync notes and highlights across devices
Features
Read full description

The RedShelf eReader companion app provides access to read and engage with your textbooks located in your RedShelf account on the My Shelf page. Access your textbooks no matter where you go with a unified experience across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices. eReader Features: - Access textbooks on your device for seamless reading - Easily highlight text, take notes, and share with classmates - Create flashcards while reading to test your understanding of the content - Define unfamiliar words quickly and easily - Have text read aloud and select the voice and pace - Sync all of your notes and highlights to your account and across devices App Requirements: - Active RedShelf account - One or more books available in your RedShelf account

About

BARBRI

This app offers comprehensive legal education resources for students and professionals. It provides tools for LSAT prep, law school success, bar exam preparation, and continuing legal education. Access video lectures, customized study plans, and performance tracking to advance your legal career.

Highlights
  • LSAT prep courses
  • 1L law school material
  • Customized study calendars
  • Downloadable video lectures
  • Bar exam review modules
  • SQE preparation tools
  • Mini MBA for lawyers
Read full description

Empower every step of your legal learning journey with unrivaled, tech-enabled legal education. BARBRI is here to support students, professionals, law schools, universities, law firms, and organizations with trusted mobile-optimized resources. 1. Attain admission to your goal law school with flexible proven PowerScore LSAT prep courses 2. Access core 1L material to build academic skill before your first day of law school (Law Preview) 3. Create a customized study calendar that adjusts your exam prep assignments as you progress (Bar Review, Extended Bar Review, and SQE1 Prep) 4. Easily grasp challenging concepts with engaging downloadable video lectures 5. Reinforce critical bar exam principles with a last-minute Mini Review (Bar Review) 6. Stay a step ahead in building key bar exam skills with Early Start (Bar Review) 7. Work short modules + multiple-choice questions + mocks for tried and tested SQE prep 8. Supplement your knowledge of accounting + finance concepts with Mini MBA for lawyers 9. Have multiple, active BARBRI courses? Easily switch back and forth between study plans BARBRI is the trusted global leader in legal education, providing a comprehensive suite of legal learning solutions for law students, professionals, and law schools. Download the BARBRI app to experience educational outcomes rooted in learning science through engaging content, innovative technology, and data-driven insights + solutions. From LSAT practice tests to bar preparation, study aids, and SQE prep, through continuing lifetime legal education, there is a BARBRI solution designed, published, or taught by renowned experts in the legal field, and right at your fingertips. Learners and legal professionals around the world have access to preparation for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) in England and Wales as well as bar exam preparation programs for international lawyers. BARBRI legal and non-legal skills courses reflect our mission to open the doors to legal education and career advancement to the next generation. Preparing for a U.S. bar exam? BARBRI has helped over 1.43 million learners worldwide pass the bar. BARBRI Bar Review’s proprietary adaptive online Personalized Study Plan is the only bar prep that allows you to create a customized study calendar based on the days you choose to study (or not), and which will automatically adjust your daily assignments based on priority and your performance. With BARBRI’s most accurate Pass Predictor, you can see your rankings by subject compared to other students prepping for the same exam. It's the most accurate pass prediction because BARBRI has more students studying for the bar each year than all other bar prep programs combined. BARBRI’s 1L Success and 2L/3L Success programs for law students work in concert with classroom learning to provide highly effective study aids and final exam tools covering required courses and essential topics. Feel confident and gain an advantage with proven outlines, on-demand video lectures from top law professors, and practice questions complete with model answers. BARBRI supported learning includes: - PowerScore LSAT prep in new test format - Law Preview pre-law school prep - U.S. Bar and Extended U.S. Bar (6 + 10 Month) prep - BARBRI Mini Review for MBE prep - BARBRI Bar Prep Preview - Early Start for Bar Review - MPRE prep - 1L Success and 2L/3L Success for law students - SQE1 prep courses, supplements, and mock exams - Foundations in U.S. Law - BARBRI SQE Preview - Mini MBA for lawyers - And more!

Screenshots

RedShelf4 screens
BARBRI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: RedShelf at free against BARBRI's free with in-app purchases. BARBRI's advantage is review sentiment (17% vs 3%). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for RedShelf against 4.6 for BARBRI. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7.1K and 2.9K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 3% of RedShelf's written reviews are positive against 17% of BARBRI's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RedShelf ships an update every 5 weeks, BARBRI every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 16, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
RedShelf versus BARBRI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRedShelfBARBRI
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (7.1K ratings)4.6 (2.9K ratings) — better
Positive reviews3.1% of reviews16.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7.1K — better2.9K
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB63 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRedShelfBARBRI, Inc.

Customer experience

RedShelf

All ratings7,078 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral2.1%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews228 reviews
Positive3.1%
Neutral4.4%
Negative92.5%

BARBRI

All ratings2,876 ratings
Positive90.4%
Neutral2.3%
Negative7.3%
Written reviews102 reviews
Positive16.7%
Neutral7.8%
Negative75.5%

User reviews

RedShelf

From 7.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Convenient to access textbooks in one place
  • 🚀 Decent overall performance

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
  • 💤 Slow loading and page turning
  • 👎 Unreliable highlighting and note-taking features
  • 🤖 Poor text-to-speech functionality
  • 📵 Inability to access books offline

BARBRI

From 2.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Convenient and knowledgeable
  • 👍 Great content

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and poorly designed
  • 🔋 Drains battery and disconnects
  • 👎 Unreliable and frequently crashes
  • 💤 Video player issues (freezing, losing place)

Bugs and requests

RedShelf

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Books not loading or showing blank screens
  • Highlighting issues (selecting wrong text, unable to edit)
  • Sync issues between devices and web version

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improve highlighting and annotation tools
  • Add support for split-screen mode
  • Enhance text-to-speech capabilities
  • Allow offline access to downloaded books

BARBRI

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent login issues and lost progress
  • Compatibility problems with newer devices
  • Lectures and content not loading properly
  • Offline mode not functioning as expected

Requested features

3 requests
  • Improve video player and offline experience
  • Add progress tracking and schedule features
  • Optimize app for mobile devices

In-app purchases

None

RedShelf

No in-app purchases

None

BARBRI

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RedShelf free?
RedShelf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BARBRI free?
BARBRI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RedShelf or BARBRI?
BARBRI is rated higher. RedShelf averages 4.5 out of 5 from 7.1K ratings, while BARBRI averages 4.6 from 2.9K ratings.
Do RedShelf or BARBRI have ads?
Neither RedShelf nor BARBRI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RedShelf or BARBRI?
RedShelf ships an update every 5 weeks, and BARBRI every 2 months. Most recently, RedShelf was updated on October 16, 2026 and BARBRI on October 16, 2026.

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