Comparison

Anobii™ vs My Book List

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

Head to head
About

Anobii™

Connect with a global community of book enthusiasts. Discover new titles, read and write reviews, and participate in discussions. Organize your personal library and wishlist by scanning book barcodes.

Highlights
  • Social network for book lovers
  • Discover new books and read reviews
  • Write your own reviews and ratings
  • Participate in reading groups
  • Curate digital library and wishlist
  • Scan book barcodes to add to library
Features
Read full description

Anobii is the independent social network for book lovers. Discover new books, read reviews from the community, chat and discuss with other readers. - Engage with a vast community of people who share a passion for books. - Browse reviews and quotations, write your own. - Participate in reading groups. - Search books and discover your next great read. - Curate your own digital library, build your own wishlist. - Scan book barcodes to turn your physical library into a digital one in minutes - or to instantly read insightful reviews and comments of the book in front of you in a bookshop or public library. WHAT IS ANOBII? Anobii features a vast database of millions of books, constantly updated, 2M+ reviews and 25M+ ratings. Curate your own digital library, keep track of your reading progress, build a wishlist, write reviews, rate books, visit fellow readers' libraries and engage with other Anobians. Anobii is the home of people who love reading.

About

My Book List

Effortlessly catalog your personal book collection with this library organizer. Easily add books by scanning barcodes or searching online, and view your library with customizable sorting and filters. Keep track of reading status, ratings, and notes for each title.

Highlights
  • ISBN barcode scanning
  • Online book search
  • Customizable library views
  • Read status and ratings
  • Multi-device syncing
  • Import/export library data
Features
Read full description

Catalog your entire home library in an afternoon. Snap a photo of any shelf and the AI adds every title. No typing, no spreadsheets, no scattered notes. Trusted by 600+ readers and rated 4.1 stars on the App Store since 2011. • Catalog a 200-book shelf in five minutes. Point your camera. AI reads the spines and adds the books. • Add a single book in seconds by scanning the barcode on the back cover. • Bring your Kindle library across in one tap. No CSV juggling. • Find anything in plain English. "That biography about the architect" works. • AI sorts your shelves by genre, mood, and theme so you stop tagging by hand. • Read on iPhone, edit on iPad, look something up offline at the bookstore. Sync handles the rest. How it works: 1. Point your camera at a shelf and let AI populate your library. 2. Sort, tag, and mark books as Read, Reading, or To Read. 3. Pick up on any device. Share with friends, join a club, ask for a recommendation when you want one. Coming from another app or a spreadsheet? Import CSV, TSV, JSON, XLSX, BibTeX, or RIS files. Field mapping is built in. Real review: "I had a bunch of books I needed to inventory and the barcode scanner made it incredibly easy. Great app." BuckeyeCityCates, App Store review, 2024 Free to start with twenty books and three barcode scans. Open the app and add your first shelf. Payment will be charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions in your Account Settings on the App Store after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when purchasing a subscription. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://BigBalli.com/privacy

Screenshots

Anobii™4 screens
My Book List4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: My Book List at 4.1 against Anobii™'s 3.4. My Book List also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 6 weeks). Anobii™'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 14). On price, review sentiment, device support 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. My Book List sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Anobii™ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

My Book List holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: My Book List has 641 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Anobii™'s written reviews are positive against 49% of My Book List's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Anobii™ ships an update every 6 weeks, My Book List every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Anobii™ versus My Book List: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAnobii™My Book List
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (5 ratings)4.1 (641 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.8% of reviews48.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5641 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size68 MB41 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperOvolabBigBalli Consulting llc

Customer experience

Anobii™

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive40.8%
Neutral6.1%
Negative53.1%

My Book List

All ratings639 ratings
Positive78.1%
Neutral6.9%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews339 reviews
Positive48.7%
Neutral10.9%
Negative40.4%

Bugs and requests

Anobii™

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

My Book List

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Books disappearing from user libraries
  • Scanning and importing issues
  • Crashes and freezes when using certain features
  • Inconsistent behavior across iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to sort books by series or genre
  • Option to manually add book details
  • Offline access to book lists
  • Improved search and filtering capabilities
  • Sync across multiple devices

In-app purchases

None

Anobii™

No in-app purchases

14 purchases

My Book List

Subscriptions3
  • Full unlock$4.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly Offer$14.991 Year
  • Full unlock$24.991 Year
One-time11
  • extra details for all books$0.99
  • Barcode scanner$0.99
  • remote database & device sync$1.99
Show 8 more
  • CSV Import$3.99
  • Amazon Kindle eBook import$3.99
  • BibTeX and Zotero export$4.99
  • 500 Tokens$4.99
  • 1000 Tokens$9.99
  • 10000 Tokens$49.99
  • Lifetime Full Unlock$49.99
  • 20000 Tokens$79.99

Questions

Is Anobii™ free?
Anobii™ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is My Book List free?
My Book List is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Anobii™ or My Book List?
My Book List is rated higher. Anobii™ averages 3.4 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while My Book List averages 4.1 from 641 ratings.
Do Anobii™ or My Book List have ads?
Anobii™ shows ads; My Book List does not.
Which is updated more often, Anobii™ or My Book List?
Anobii™ ships an update every 6 weeks, and My Book List every 4 days. Most recently, Anobii™ was updated on October 22, 2026 and My Book List on October 23, 2026.

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