Comparison

My Book List vs Library Catalog

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

Head to head
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

About

Library Catalog

Organize all your printed books digitally with this app. Easily add books, create custom lists, and attach them to virtual shelves for quick retrieval. Share collections, get expert recommendations, and access your library across all devices.

Highlights
  • Add books with a few clicks
  • Attach printed books to virtual shelves
  • Create book lists using a global database
  • Share book collections and links
  • Get expert recommendations
  • Make wish-lists and reading lists
  • Access lists on all devices
Features
Read full description

ALL YOUR BOOKS IN ONE APP: • Add books by a few clicks to the e-Catalog of books • Attach your printed books to your virtual shelves in the App to quickly find them in your home • Create easily any book lists using the App's global database • Share book collections, their content and links to books from the App by messengers or email • Preview the parts of the books you are interested in • Get recommendations from recognized experts • Make wish-lists and reading lists • Access your lists in all your devices • Edit books info, add book photos and links , Add tags to a book and search by a tag BEST SOLUTION FOR: • Lovers of books and reading • Sellers or Givers by lists of books • Personal and corporate libraries • Bloggers • Book clubs • Educational institutions • Professional communities

Screenshots

My Book List4 screens
Library Catalog4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Library Catalog at 4.8 against My Book List's 4.1. Library Catalog also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 14) and review sentiment (73% vs 49%). My Book List's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (639 vs 15). On price, ads, 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. Library Catalog asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Library Catalog holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: My Book List has 639 ratings behind it against 15, 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 73% of Library Catalog's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

My Book List ships an update every 4 days, Library Catalog every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
My Book List versus Library Catalog: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMy Book ListLibrary Catalog
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (639 ratings)4.8 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.5% of reviews72.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings639 — better15
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB62 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBigBalli Consulting llcVladimir Yakushev

Customer experience

My Book List

All ratings639 ratings
Positive78.1%
Neutral6.9%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews338 reviews
Positive48.5%
Neutral10.9%
Negative40.5%

Library Catalog

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive72.7%
Neutral18.2%
Negative9.1%

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

Library Catalog

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

Library Catalog

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is My Book List free?
My Book List is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Library Catalog free?
Library Catalog is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, My Book List or Library Catalog?
Library Catalog is rated higher. My Book List averages 4.1 out of 5 from 639 ratings, while Library Catalog averages 4.8 from 15 ratings.
Do My Book List or Library Catalog have ads?
Neither My Book List nor Library Catalog shows ads.
Which is updated more often, My Book List or Library Catalog?
My Book List ships an update every 4 days, and Library Catalog every 3 weeks. Most recently, My Book List was updated on September 24, 2026 and Library Catalog on August 24, 2026.

Other comparisons