The Palace Project vs Libraries Online
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.
Libraries Online
Access your library's digital catalog to search for books, reserve items, and manage your account on the go. Explore a wide range of online resources directly from your mobile device.
- Search library catalog
- Reserve items
- Manage library account
- Access online resources
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Take Libraries Online everywhere you go! -Search the catalog and reserve items -Manage your library account -Access online resources and much more!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Libraries Online at 100% against The Palace Project's 27%. Libraries Online also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.6). The Palace Project's advantage is ratings volume (5.2K vs 139) and chart position (#84 vs unranked). 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.
Libraries Online holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Palace Project has 5.2K ratings behind it against 139, 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 Libraries Online's.
The Palace Project ships an update fortnightly, Libraries Online every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Palace Project | Libraries Online |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5.2K ratings) | 4.9 (139 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 26.6% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5.2K — better | 139 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #84 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Palace Project | Capira Technologies |
Customer experience
The Palace Project
Libraries Online
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
Libraries Online
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Palace Project
No in-app purchases
Libraries Online
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Palace Project free?
Is Libraries Online free?
Which has better reviews, The Palace Project or Libraries Online?
Do The Palace Project or Libraries Online have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Palace Project or Libraries Online?
Other comparisons
