Comparison

SORARI vs shelff

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

Head to head
About

SORARI

Features
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!!"SORARI - nonAD" is a buy-only version that does not display ads. Other than that, it is exactly the same as "SORARI". ◆Let me present to you SORARI "SORARI" is an application that you can read books published in Aozora Bunko. It corresponds to the latest iPhone · iPad, and layouts ruby and wordwrap beautifully. You can also set font size, color, margin and line spacing. ◆Let's search for your favorite books In Aozora Bunko, new books are added every day. Also, books that were popular every month are ranked. If you use "SORARI", you will surely find a book of your choice. 【Latest information】 We inform you of the latest information at this URL. You can also inquire about points and bug information you care about here. Please do not hesitate to contact us. https://sorariblog.wordpress.com/

About

shelff

Manage and read your PDF books with this app. Organize your library, customize your reading experience, and access your books through iCloud. It offers advanced PDF features and seamless integration with Siri and Shortcuts.

Highlights
  • Organize books with folders, tags, and collections
  • Full-text search across PDFs
  • Customizable PDF reader with margin cropping
  • Metadata editing and auto-extraction
  • Siri and Shortcuts integration
  • Data stored in iCloud Documents
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

shelff is a bookshelf for the books you own as PDFs — technical books, scanned books, DRM-free ebooks. One-time purchase, no subscription, no account. And no ads. Everything lives in your iCloud Documents. You are never locked into a proprietary database. Metadata is saved as JSON files alongside your PDFs, so even if you stop using the app, your data remains yours. ■ Library - Organize with folders or browse in a flat list - Filter by categories and tags - Group multi-volume works and magazine back issues into collections, with custom ordering - Sort by title, author, date added, or last read - Filter by reading status (unread, reading, finished) - Full-text search across your PDFs - Switch between grid and list views ■ PDF Reader - Immersive full-screen reader - Single page, two-up, and two-up with cover layouts - Left-to-right (LTR) and right-to-left (RTL) support - Highlights with optional comments - Jump from table of contents or annotation list - In-document text search - Crop margins per book, with mirrored or separate settings for facing pages and optional cover exclusion - Brightness adjustment - Encrypted PDFs supported ■ Metadata Management - Edit title, author, publisher, publication date, and more - Auto-extract initial values from PDF metadata - Automatic reading status transitions (starts reading, finishes at last page) ■ Siri, Shortcuts, and Spotlight - Open a book, continue reading, or change reading status from Siri and Shortcuts - Find and open books in your library from Spotlight ■ Data Transparency - All data stored as files in iCloud Documents - Metadata and display settings (layout, crop, etc.) in JSON; annotations in the PDF itself - Annotations are saved as incremental updates, so existing content such as OCR text layers in scanned books stays intact - Accessible anytime from the Files app - On your Mac, an AI agent with shelff-mcp can search and organize the metadata JSON in your iCloud

Screenshots

SORARI4 screens
shelff4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: shelff at none against SORARI's 1. shelff also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 4 months) and chart position (#42 vs unranked). SORARI's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $6.99) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On ads and device support 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

SORARI costs $1.99 and shelff $6.99 up front. SORARI sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. shelff asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SORARI ships an update every 4 months, shelff every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 4 level
SORARI versus shelff: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSORARIshelff
Price$1.99 — better$6.99
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Paid
Best chart rank—#42 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developersatoshi kumagaiSatoshi Kojima

In-app purchases

1 purchases

SORARI

One-time1
  • Front cover$0.99
None

shelff

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SORARI free?
SORARI costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is shelff free?
shelff costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do SORARI or shelff have ads?
Neither SORARI nor shelff shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SORARI or shelff?
SORARI ships an update every 4 months, and shelff every 4 days. Most recently, SORARI was updated on October 30, 2026 and shelff on October 31, 2026.

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