The Palace Project vs Solano County Library
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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.
Solano County Library
Access your local library's collection on the go. Search the catalog, reserve items, manage checkouts and holds, and explore digital resources like eBooks. Stay updated on branch events and enjoy a world of books from your mobile device.
- Search library catalog
- Reserve items
- Manage checkouts and holds
- Access eBooks and digital resources
- View upcoming events
Read full descriptionHide full description
Take the Solano County Library everywhere you go! Search the library catalog and reserve items, view upcoming events at your local branch, manage checkouts and holds, access eBooks and other digital resources, and much, much more!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: The Palace Project at 4.6 against Solano County Library's 3.9. The Palace Project also leads on ratings volume (5.5K vs 8) and chart position (#104 vs unranked). Solano County Library's advantage is review sentiment (50% vs 27%) and update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). 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.
The Palace Project holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Palace Project has 5.5K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 27% of The Palace Project's written reviews are positive against 50% of Solano County Library's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
The Palace Project ships an update fortnightly, Solano County Library weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Palace Project | Solano County Library |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5.5K ratings) — better | 3.9 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 27.1% of reviews | 50.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5.5K — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #104 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Palace Project | Solano County Library |
Customer experience
The Palace Project
Solano County Library
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
Solano County Library
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Palace Project
No in-app purchases
Solano County Library
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Palace Project free?
Is Solano County Library free?
Which has better reviews, The Palace Project or Solano County Library?
Do The Palace Project or Solano County Library have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Palace Project or Solano County Library?
Other comparisons
