My Book List vs Reading List
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- ISBN barcode scanning
- Online book search
- Customizable library views
- Read status and ratings
- Multi-device syncing
- Import/export library data
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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
Reading List
Organize your reading journey by tracking books you've read, are currently reading, or want to read. Log progress, add custom lists, and record notes and ratings. Sync data across devices and export your library.
- Scan barcodes to add books
- Search online for books
- Manual book entry
- Track reading progress (start/finish dates)
- Create custom book lists
- Add ratings and notes
- View reading statistics
- iCloud data sync
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Easily track books you’ve read, books you’re reading, and books you want to read. Record your progress by adding the start and finish date of your books. ADD NEW BOOKS • Scan the barcode of a book to quickly add it to your list • Search online to find and add books • Alternatively, add a book manually by typing in its details • Sync your data between all devices via iCloud TRACK YOUR READING • Quickly log the dates you start and finish each book with a tap or swipe • Order the books, to help plan what to read next • Create your own custom lists, like "Wishlist", "Favourites", etc • Record the current page of books you're reading • Add your own rating and notes to each book • View your reading statistics PRIVATE & PERSONAL • No online account or signup needed • All data is private, stored on-device or in your iCloud account • Export and import all your data Some premium features require Reading List Pro, which can be purchased in the app. The app remains fully-featured when used without Reading List Pro. Terms of Use: https://readinglist.app/termsofservice Privacy Policy: https://readinglist.app/privacypolicy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Reading List at 93% against My Book List's 49%. Reading List also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.1) and ratings volume (30K vs 639). My Book List's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. My Book List sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Reading List sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Reading List holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Reading List has 30K ratings behind it against 639, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of My Book List's written reviews are positive against 93% of Reading List's.
My Book List ships an update every 4 days, Reading List fortnightly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | My Book List | Reading List |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (639 ratings) | 4.8 (30K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 48.5% of reviews | 93.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 639 | 30K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #200 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BigBalli Consulting llc | Andrew Bennet Ltd |
Customer experience
My Book List
Reading List
User reviews
My Book List
From 639 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 📚 Helpful for tracking books
- 💻 Convenient virtual bookshelf
- 🔍 Useful barcode scanning feature
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent glitches and bugs
- 💰 Excessive in-app purchases required
- 🔍 Barcode scanner not always reliable
- 🔒 Privacy concerns with mandatory Facebook login
- 🤔 Confusing pricing and feature structure
Reading List
From 30K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Very user-friendly
- 🚀 Easy to add and organize books
- 🔒 Private and non-social
- 💡 Barcode scanning feature
- 👍 Clean and simple interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Issues with syncing across devices
- 💡 Lack of ability to track re-reads or put books 'on hold'
- 💡 Limited sorting/organizing options for large book collections
- 💡 No ability to add audiobooks or track reading time
Bugs and 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
Reading List
Reported bugs
2 issues- Issues with date/time tracking when adding books
- Occasional crashes or data loss when using the app
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to track re-reads and 'on hold' books
- Improve sorting/organizing options for large collections
- Add support for audiobooks and reading time tracking
- Implement cloud sync and account features to preserve data
- Add more customization options for lists and book display
In-app purchases
My Book List
- Full unlock$4.991 Month
- Premium Yearly Offer$14.991 Year
- Full unlock$24.991 Year
- extra details for all books$0.99
- Barcode scanner$0.99
- remote database & device sync$1.99
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- 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
Reading List
- Reading List Pro (Monthly)$2.001 Month
- Reading List Pro (Monthly)$3.991 Month
- Reading List Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$14.001 Year
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- Reading List Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Small Tip$1.00
- Medium Tip$2.00
- Large Tip$3.00
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- Very Large Tip$5.00
- Giant Tip$10.00
- Reading List Pro (Lifetime)$38.00







