Comparison

Gengou Free vs bookBeo

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

Head to head
About

Gengou Free

Quickly convert between Japanese era names and Christian era years. Features include era and year searching, period and era pickers, and the ability to display the current year in either system. Texts can be shown in Japanese or English.

Highlights
  • Era and year search
  • Period picker
  • Era picker
  • Christian era year picker
  • Japanese era year picker
  • Show this year button
  • Multi-language text display
Features
Read full description

"Gengou Free" is a quick reference of the Japanese era system. This application has functions as below. - Era and Year Search - Period picker - Era picker - Christian era year picker - Japanese era year picker - Show this year button - Texts can be shown in Japanese or English independently of the default language setting. - Application badge can show this year number in the Japanese era or the Christian era. The Japanese era system identifies a year by the combination of the era name (Gengou or Nengou) and the year number within the era. For example, A.D. 2001 is Heisei 13. Please note that two Gengou schemes were used in Parallel from 1331 to 1392 during Nanboku-chō period. This application would be very useful if you are working with the governments, municipal offices and/or certain companies in Japan.

About

bookBeo

This app bridges the gap between print and digital content by reading QR codes and specialized BeoCodes. Access exclusive offers, interact with creators, and share multimedia content with friends. Download videos for offline viewing.

Highlights
  • QR code and BeoCode scanning
  • Access exclusive offers and content
  • Interact with creators and brands
  • Share content via social media and email
  • Download videos for offline viewing
  • Archive scanned content
Features
Read full description

Thanks to BookBeo, multimedia is now onto all printed supports. This bridge between the real and the virtual give you access and possibility to share with your friends exclusive offers and contents, interact with bands, artists, companies and newspapers who adopted this band new media. The BookBeo application is dedicated to 2D code reading (QR code and Datamatrix) and especially BeoCodes (video 2D codes). It allows You to archive BeoCodes content (pictures, videos, forms) and display them for other mobiles and/or readers. You can share content on Facebook, Twitter and mail and You can download video contents to watch them offline. BookBeo is a french startup specialized in communication and new technologies through the development of mobile application. Don't hesitate to make feedback and suggestions, we will take them in consideration to improve and add more functionality in the application.

Screenshots

Gengou Free4 screens
bookBeo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: bookBeo at 3.0 against Gengou Free's 2.5. bookBeo also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 6 months vs every 44 months). Gengou Free's advantage is review sentiment (84% vs 74%). On price, ratings volume, 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

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

bookBeo holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 84% of Gengou Free's written reviews are positive against 74% of bookBeo's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gengou Free ships an update every 44 months, bookBeo every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Gengou Free versus bookBeo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGengou FreebookBeo
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.5 (2 ratings)3.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews84.5% of reviews — better74.1% of reviews
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyEvery 44 monthsEvery 6 months — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMasayuki AkamatsuBookBeo

Customer experience

Gengou Free

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews58 reviews
Positive84.5%
Neutral10.3%
Negative5.2%

bookBeo

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive74.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.9%

In-app purchases

None

Gengou Free

No in-app purchases

None

bookBeo

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Gengou Free free?
Gengou Free is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is bookBeo free?
bookBeo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Gengou Free or bookBeo?
bookBeo is rated higher. Gengou Free averages 2.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while bookBeo averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Gengou Free or bookBeo have ads?
Gengou Free shows ads; bookBeo does not.
Which is updated more often, Gengou Free or bookBeo?
Gengou Free ships an update every 44 months, and bookBeo every 6 months. Most recently, Gengou Free was updated on October 31, 2026 and bookBeo on November 6, 2026.

Other comparisons