# RedShelf vs CState Cares

The clearest difference is rating: CState Cares at 5.0 against RedShelf's 4.5. RedShelf's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 23 months) and ratings volume (7.1K vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

CState Cares holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RedShelf has 7.1K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

RedShelf ships an update every 5 weeks, CState Cares every 23 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | RedShelf | CState Cares |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.5 (7.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/redshelf/id1511013608/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cstate-cares/id1619713361/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **7.1K** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 3.1% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 weeks** | Every 23 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 26 MB | 3 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [RedShelf](https://appshunter.io/developer/1511013606) | [The Lakeland Foundation](https://appshunter.io/developer/1356294770) |

## What reviewers say

### RedShelf

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/redshelf/id1511013608)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

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

**Requested features**

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


### CState Cares

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cstate-cares/id1619713361)

This app offers guidance for supporting individuals facing mental health challenges, including suicide prevention. It features a "My Support Network" for quick contact access and centralizes campus and community resources, including crisis hotlines. The goal is to better prepare users to help themselves or others.

**Highlights:** Mental health support guidance, Suicide prevention information, Customizable support network, Quick contact access, Campus and community resources, Crisis hotline access

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is RedShelf free?

RedShelf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is CState Cares free?

CState Cares is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, RedShelf or CState Cares?

CState Cares is rated higher. RedShelf averages 4.5 out of 5 from 7.1K ratings, while CState Cares averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do RedShelf or CState Cares have ads?

Neither RedShelf nor CState Cares shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, RedShelf or CState Cares?

RedShelf ships an update every 5 weeks, and CState Cares every 23 months. Most recently, RedShelf was updated on October 21, 2026 and CState Cares on October 11, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*