Comparison

Penguin Random House Audio vs ChapterPals

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Penguin Random House Audio

Access and listen to a vast catalog of audiobooks from Penguin Random House. Designed for publishing industry professionals, it allows for downloading review copies and offline listening. Features include a user-friendly player, bookmarking, and sharing capabilities.

Highlights
  • Listen to full-length audiobooks
  • Download audiobooks for review
  • Offline listening
  • User-friendly audio player
  • Sleep timer and variable speed
  • Bookmark passages
  • Share recommendations
Read full description

Listen to full-length audiobooks from the Penguin Random House Audio catalog, including thousands of adult, children’s, and young adult titles. Book reviewers, booksellers, librarians, and other publishing industry professionals can create an account to download audiobooks for review or promotion. Accounts are subject to verification and approval. • Listen to audiobook samples and access review copies of new and past releases. • Offline listening with downloaded content. • Simple and easy to navigate audio player. • Sleep timer and variable narration speed. • Add favorites for easy retrieval. • Bookmark your favorite passages. • Easy-to-use chapter navigation. • Share recommendations through email or messaging apps.

About

ChapterPals

This app helps you track your reading progress and manage your book club. Organize your reading lists, log progress, and discover new books. It also facilitates book club discussions, voting on the next read, and tracking member progress.

Highlights
  • Track reading progress by page or percent
  • Organize books into custom shelves
  • Set and track reading goals
  • Create and manage book clubs
  • Vote on next book selections
  • Chapter-based discussion threads
  • Daily 'Guess the Book' puzzle
Features
Read full description

Track every book you read, and keep your book club actually running. ChapterPals does both in one calm, friendly place. Most reading apps track books alone. Most club tools are a group text that slowly goes quiet. ChapterPals puts the two together, so the book you are reading and the people you are reading it with live side by side. TRACK YOUR READING Shelves for what you are reading, what you finished, and what you want to read next, plus custom shelves for anything else you want to keep. Log your progress by page or percent, rate books when you finish, and write reviews you will actually want to reread later. Set a reading goal and watch it fill in over the year. Already have a list somewhere else? Import it and pick up where you left off. Point your camera at a real bookshelf and ChapterPals will read the spines and find the titles, or scan a barcode to add a single book fast. Browse by genre, follow an author, or see a whole series in order. RUN YOUR BOOK CLUB Start a club in under a minute, or join one with an invite code from a friend. You can also browse public clubs by city, filter for in person or virtual, and search by the vibes you are after. Pick the next book together with a vote, so nobody has to be the one who decides. Set the night and the place, let everyone RSVP going, maybe or cannot make it, and add it to your calendar in a tap. See how far along everyone is, so nobody arrives half a book behind. Discussion threads stay organized by chapter, so you can talk about what you have read without spoiling what you have not. Stuck for something to say? Starter questions are ready when you need them. Every book your club has read together is kept as a history you can look back on. READ WITH FRIENDS Add pals and see what they are reading right now. Share a shelf, recommend a book straight to someone, and get a nudge when a friend finishes something you have been eyeing. AND A LITTLE FUN Guess the Book is a new puzzle every day. A blurred cover, five tries, and a fresh clue with every guess. Build a streak and compare notes with your club. Tier boards let you rank everything you have read exactly how you want, then share the result. ChapterPals is free to use, works on your phone and in your browser, and never sells your reading history. Reading is better with friends.

Screenshots

Penguin Random House Audio4 screens
ChapterPals4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ChapterPals at 100% against Penguin Random House Audio's 11%. ChapterPals also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.9) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 months). Penguin Random House Audio's advantage is ratings volume (45 vs 5). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ChapterPals holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Penguin Random House Audio has 45 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 11% of Penguin Random House Audio's written reviews are positive against 100% of ChapterPals's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Penguin Random House Audio ships an update every 3 months, ChapterPals every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Penguin Random House Audio versus ChapterPals: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPenguin Random House AudioChapterPals
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (45 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews11.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings45 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.5 — better
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB55 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperPenguin Random House LLC NYEdward Buchholz

Customer experience

Penguin Random House Audio

All ratings44 ratings
Positive31.8%
Neutral27.3%
Negative40.9%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive11.1%
Neutral41.7%
Negative47.2%

ChapterPals

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Penguin Random House Audio

No in-app purchases

None

ChapterPals

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Penguin Random House Audio free?
Penguin Random House Audio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChapterPals free?
ChapterPals is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Penguin Random House Audio or ChapterPals?
ChapterPals is rated higher. Penguin Random House Audio averages 2.9 out of 5 from 45 ratings, while ChapterPals averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Penguin Random House Audio or ChapterPals have ads?
Neither Penguin Random House Audio nor ChapterPals shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Penguin Random House Audio or ChapterPals?
Penguin Random House Audio ships an update every 3 months, and ChapterPals every 2 days. Most recently, Penguin Random House Audio was updated on November 3, 2026 and ChapterPals on October 31, 2026.

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