The Palace Project vs Zoundy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Palace Project
Access and enjoy e-books and audiobooks from your local library for free. Discover new titles, borrow them instantly with your library card, and read or listen anywhere. Even without a participating library, enjoy a collection of free books.
- Borrow e-books and audiobooks
- Access local library collections
- Read or listen to books
- Free Palace Bookshelf collection
- Requires library card for full access
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Palace is a free, easy-to-use e-reader app that lets you find, check out, and read or listen to books from your local library. It’s been said that libraries are “palaces for the people” and the Palace app gives you instant access to your local “palace” any time, right from the palm of your hand. All you need to sign up is your library card! And even if your library isn’t using Palace yet, you can still read more than 10,000 books--from children’s books to classics to foreign language books--for free from our Palace Bookshelf. The Palace app is built and maintained by Lyrasis, a not-for-profit organization working in partnership with Digital Public Library of America with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more, visit https://thepalaceproject.org.
Zoundy
Access a library of free audiobooks and discover new authors. Enjoy exclusive content through a leading mobile application designed for audiobook listeners.
- Free audiobooks
- Discover new authors
- Exclusive content
- Mobile app access
- Industry-leading platform
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Discover new Authors & Enjoy FREE audiobooks Zoundy listeners can access FREE audiobooks, find new authors, and enjoy exclusive content in our industry-leading mobile apps.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Zoundy at 100% against The Palace Project's 27%. Zoundy also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). The Palace Project's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (5.5K vs 6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Zoundy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Palace Project has 5.5K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of The Palace Project's written reviews are positive against 100% of Zoundy's.
The Palace Project ships an update fortnightly, Zoundy every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Palace Project | Zoundy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5.5K ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 27.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5.5K — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #117 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | The Palace Project | Blisstech, Inc. |
Customer experience
The Palace Project
Zoundy
Bugs and requests
The Palace Project
Reported bugs
4 issues- Books not downloading properly
- Losing place in audiobooks
- Crashing and freezing issues
- Incompatibility with certain devices
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to track read/listened books
- Improved audiobook playback controls
- Dark mode option
- Integration with Kindle
Zoundy
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Palace Project
No in-app purchases
Zoundy
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Palace Project free?
Is Zoundy free?
Which has better reviews, The Palace Project or Zoundy?
Do The Palace Project or Zoundy have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Palace Project or Zoundy?
Other comparisons
