Waterstones vs Dear Jane
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Waterstones
Access the UK's largest bookseller on your mobile device. Browse, buy, and collect books, gifts, and games. Manage wish lists, earn rewards, and find local store information.
- Browse and buy books, gifts, and games
- Click & collect from local shops
- Earn and redeem Waterstones Plus rewards
- Create multiple wish lists
- Read and write customer reviews
- Scan Plus card from phone
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- The UK's biggest bookseller at your fingertips. - Sign up to Waterstones Plus in seconds to start earning and redeeming rewards online, in our shops and in our cafes. - Browse, buy or click & collect directly from the app or check stock in your local shop. Please note if no local shops have stock of your item the search results will be blank. - Build multiple wish lists as required: great for saving items for later or building a gifting list. - Find all your local shop information and set your favourite local shop for convenient click & collect options and stock information. - Read reviews from booksellers and customers and write your own. - You can share items with others by sending a link from the product screen. - Plus in your pocket at all times: scan your Plus card straight from your phone, even if you're offline. - Pay by Apple Pay, PayPal or Card.
Dear Jane
Engage with Jane Austen's world through AITA-style confessions, personality quizzes, and novel knowledge tests. Progress through Meryton society by earning Society Honours for your wit and judgment. This app is crafted for dedicated fans of Jane Austen's literature.
- AITA-style confessions from Austen's world
- Personality quizzes
- Novel knowledge tests
- Progress tracking for scandals and quizzes
- Society Honours system
- Debate participation
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For those who know Jane Austen by heart. Read AITA-style confessions from Austen's world, pass judgement, then name the culprit. Discover who you'd be with personality quizzes, test your knowledge of the novels, and weigh in on the debates. As you play, rise from a new arrival in Meryton to an Austen aficionado, tracking your completed scandals, finished quizzes, and Society Honours earned for your judgement, wit, and thorough reading. Made independently by a lifelong Jane Austen fan, for everyone who never quite left Meryton. The assembly awaits!
Screenshots
Verdict
Waterstones and Dear Jane both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Dear Jane's written reviews are positive against 63% of Waterstones's. Waterstones's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (62 vs 6). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Waterstones against 4.8 for Dear Jane. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Waterstones has 62 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 63% of Waterstones's written reviews are positive against 100% of Dear Jane's.
Waterstones ships an update every 3 weeks, Dear Jane every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.
| Parameter | Waterstones | Dear Jane |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (62 ratings) | 4.8 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 62 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Waterstones Booksellers Ltd | Frances Maxwell |
Customer experience
Waterstones
Dear Jane
In-app purchases
Waterstones
No in-app purchases
Dear Jane
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Waterstones free?
Is Dear Jane free?
Which has better reviews, Waterstones or Dear Jane?
Do Waterstones or Dear Jane have ads?
Which is updated more often, Waterstones or Dear Jane?
Other comparisons
