Comparison

My Book List vs Booklyst

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

Booklyst

Organize your personal library by tracking books you've read, want to read, or are currently reading. Search for books by ISBN, online, or manually, and add personal notes, ratings, and categories. Visualize your reading habits with easy-to-understand statistics.

Highlights
  • Track read, reading, and to-be-read books
  • Manage library and wishlist collections
  • Search books via ISBN, internet, or manual entry
  • Add ratings, notes, categories, and quotes
  • Visualize reading statistics and habits
Features
Read full description

TRACK THE BOOKS YOU HAVE READ AND WOULD LIKE TO READ. - Track and manage your books, ebook and audiobooks. - Manage your "Library" and "Wish List" collections. - Search your books by scanning ISBN, searching on the internet or manually. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS - Mark your saved book as "Reading", "Read" or "To Be Read". - Add your own rating and notes. - Add category, quotes and notes for the book. TRACK YOUR STATISTICS - With using easy UI, see your library book count. - Change your reading habits.

Screenshots

My Book List4 screens
Booklyst4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: My Book List at none against Booklyst's shown. My Book List also leads on ratings volume (641 vs 7). Booklyst's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 49%) and update cadence (daily vs every 4 days). On price, rating, 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

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 and Booklyst sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for My Book List against 4.1 for Booklyst. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: My Book List has 641 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 49% of My Book List's written reviews are positive against 75% of Booklyst's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

My Book List ships an update every 4 days, Booklyst daily. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
My Book List versus Booklyst: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMy Book ListBooklyst
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (641 ratings)4.1 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.7% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings641 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysDaily — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBigBalli Consulting llcAtalay Asa

Customer experience

My Book List

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

Booklyst

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Booklyst

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
1 purchases

Booklyst

One-time1
  • Booklyst Pro Features$2.99

Questions

Is My Book List free?
My Book List is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Booklyst free?
Booklyst is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, My Book List or Booklyst?
Booklyst is rated higher. My Book List averages 4.1 out of 5 from 641 ratings, while Booklyst averages 4.1 from 7 ratings.
Do My Book List or Booklyst have ads?
Booklyst shows ads; My Book List does not.
Which is updated more often, My Book List or Booklyst?
My Book List ships an update every 4 days, and Booklyst daily. Most recently, My Book List was updated on October 24, 2026 and Booklyst on September 25, 2026.

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