Tertulia vs Wordshelf
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tertulia
Discover your next favorite book with curated recommendations from across the web. Organize your reading lists and purchase books seamlessly. Enjoy the best bookstore membership for passionate readers.
- Book recommendations from social media, podcasts, and web
- Reading list tracking
- Seamless book purchasing (US only)
- Bookstore membership benefits
- Discover trending books
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Welcome booklovers! Tertulia is a one-stop shop for finding your next great read, keeping track of your reading lists and purchasing books with the best bookstore membership for avid readers. Tertulia serves up book recommendations from across social media, podcasts, and the web — all in one app which incorporates seamless book purchasing (US only). If a book has moved someone enough to get them talking, you can find it, buy it, and share it on Tertulia.
Wordshelf
Effortlessly capture, understand, and remember new words encountered while reading or studying. Utilize AI-powered mnemonics and visual aids to enhance retention. Track your vocabulary growth and organize learned words by the book you're reading.
- Scan pages or type words to look up
- Definitions, pronunciation, examples, synonyms, etymology
- Personalized AI mnemonics and memory images
- Words organized by book
- Vocabulary progress tracking
- Supports 20+ languages
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Learn smarter while you read. Wordshelf makes it effortless to capture, understand, and remember every new word you come across — whether you're reading a book, studying, or exploring ideas. HOW IT WORKS Scan any page with your camera to instantly identify and look up words, or type them in. Get definitions, pronunciation, examples, synonyms, and etymology. Each word gets a personalized mnemonic and AI-generated memory image to make it stick. Every word is saved and organized by the book you're reading. BUILT FOR READERS Unlike generic dictionary apps, Wordshelf is designed around how you actually read. Set your current book, and every word you look up is automatically linked to it. When you finish, you'll have a beautiful collection of everything you learned. REMEMBER MORE WITH AI Each word gets a custom mnemonic using the keyword method — linking the word's sound to a vivid mental image. Plus an AI-generated illustration to reinforce it. No more forgetting words you've looked up before. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS Watch your vocabulary grow with a visual activity grid. See your streaks, total words learned, word difficulty stats, and books completed at a glance. 20+ LANGUAGES Supports English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, and more. Start building your vocabulary today. Every book you read becomes an opportunity to learn. Terms of Use: https://wordshelfapp.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://wordshelfapp.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Wordshelf at 100% against Tertulia's 67%. Wordshelf also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.7) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Tertulia's advantage is ratings volume (507 vs 122) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). 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.
Wordshelf holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 507 and 122 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Tertulia's written reviews are positive against 100% of Wordshelf's.
Tertulia ships an update weekly, Wordshelf every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tertulia | Wordshelf |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (507 ratings) | 4.9 (122 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 67.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 507 — better | 122 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 110 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Tertulia, Inc. | Sourse Labs LLC |
Customer experience
Tertulia
Wordshelf
Bugs and requests
Tertulia
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent crashes and freezes
- Login and account issues
- Disappearing user book lists
- Inconsistent pricing and shipping information
Requested features
4 requests- iPad app version
- Ability to rate and review books read
- Improved personalized recommendations
- Smoother scrolling and list management
Wordshelf
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Tertulia
No in-app purchases
Wordshelf
No in-app purchases









