The Palace Project vs LiterallyForBooks
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.
LiterallyForBooks
This app helps you track your reading progress, manage your book lists, and connect with other readers. Organize your library, set reading goals, and discover new books through social features and book clubs.
- Track reading progress
- Multiple goal formats
- Half-star review scale
- Keyword labeling
- Prioritize want-to-read list
- Book club feeds
- Spoiler-protected posts
Read full descriptionHide full description
Book tracking: Track your book progress, multiple formats of goals, half star review scale, label books with keywords, prioritize want to read list with priority. Social: Suggest or request books, generic posts, spoiler protected posters, book clubs with their own feeds and tracking Profiles: Create an about me, favorite genres, profile photos, top 10 of all time, recent favorites, and see your LiterAllies lists and goals Privacy Policy: https://www.literallyforbooks.com/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: LiterallyForBooks at daily against The Palace Project's fortnightly. LiterallyForBooks also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). The Palace Project's advantage is ratings volume (5.5K vs 2) and chart position (#107 vs unranked). 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.
LiterallyForBooks 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 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
The Palace Project ships an update fortnightly, LiterallyForBooks daily. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Palace Project | LiterallyForBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (5.5K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 27.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5.5K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #107 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | The Palace Project | Matthew Dornbos |
Customer experience
The Palace Project
LiterallyForBooks
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
LiterallyForBooks
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
The Palace Project
No in-app purchases
LiterallyForBooks
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Palace Project free?
Is LiterallyForBooks free?
Which has better reviews, The Palace Project or LiterallyForBooks?
Do The Palace Project or LiterallyForBooks have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Palace Project or LiterallyForBooks?
Other comparisons
