# My Book List vs Shelfie

The clearest difference is monetization model: My Book List at free with in-app purchases against Shelfie's subscription. My Book List also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (641 vs 201). Shelfie's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (76% vs 49%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. My Book List sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Shelfie sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Shelfie holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 641 and 201 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of My Book List's written reviews are positive against 76% of Shelfie's.

My Book List ships an update every 4 days, Shelfie fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | My Book List | Shelfie |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.1 (641 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/my-book-list-library-tracker/id443391908/reviews) | **[4.5 (201 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfie-book-tracker/id1229716523/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **641** | 201 |
| Positive reviews | 48.5% of reviews | **76.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 days** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | **Free with in-app purchases** | Subscription |
| Size | 41 MB | 85 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [BigBalli Consulting llc](https://appshunter.io/developer/363765325) | [志鹏 刘](https://appshunter.io/developer/1184833270) |

## What reviewers say

### My Book List

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/my-book-list-library-tracker/id443391908)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (8)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full unlock | $4.99 | per month |
| Premium Yearly Offer | $14.99 | per year |
| Full unlock | $24.99 | per year |
| 500 Tokens | $4.99 | one-time |
| 1000 Tokens | $9.99 | one-time |
| 10000 Tokens | $49.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime Full Unlock | $49.99 | one-time |
| 20000 Tokens | $79.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to use
- 📚 Helpful for tracking books
- 💻 Convenient virtual bookshelf
- 🔍 Useful barcode scanning feature

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

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

**Requested features**

- 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


### Shelfie

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfie-book-tracker/id1229716523)

Effortlessly manage your reading notes by scanning book barcodes or using your camera with advanced OCR. Organize your collection, track progress, and share insights with elegant templates. Syncs across all your devices.

**Highlights:** Scan books by barcode or search, Capture notes with OCR technology, Organize books by shelves, Track reading progress, Share notes with templates, Full-text search of notes, Export notes as PDF/HTML

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Monthly Subscription | $2.99 | per month |
| Premium Annually Subscription | $12.99 | per year |
| Shelfie Lifetime (for yearly) | $6.99 | one-time |
| Shelfie Lifetime (for monthly) | $14.99 | one-time |
| Sheifle Premium Lifetime | $19.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is My Book List free?

My Book List is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Shelfie free?

Shelfie is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, My Book List or Shelfie?

Shelfie is rated higher. My Book List averages 4.1 out of 5 from 641 ratings, while Shelfie averages 4.5 from 201 ratings.

### Do My Book List or Shelfie have ads?

Neither My Book List nor Shelfie shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, My Book List or Shelfie?

My Book List ships an update every 4 days, and Shelfie fortnightly. Most recently, My Book List was updated on October 30, 2026 and Shelfie on October 29, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*