# My Book List vs Shelfable

The clearest difference is review sentiment: My Book List at 49% against Shelfable's 0%. My Book List also leads on rating (4.1 vs 1.0) and ratings volume (639 vs 1). Shelfable's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 14). On price, update cadence, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. My Book List sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Shelfable asks for nothing beyond the download.

My Book List holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: My Book List has 639 ratings behind it against 1, 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 0% of Shelfable's.

My Book List ships an update every 4 days, Shelfable every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | My Book List | Shelfable |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.1 (639 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/my-book-list-library-tracker/id443391908/reviews)** | [1.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfable/id6740754533/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **639** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | **48.7% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 days** | Every 5 days |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 41 MB | 36 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 17.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [BigBalli Consulting llc](https://appshunter.io/developer/363765325) | [Frederick Andersen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1766765116) |

## 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 (14)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full unlock | $4.99 | per month |
| Premium Yearly Offer | $14.99 | per year |
| Full unlock | $24.99 | per year |
| extra details for all books | $0.99 | one-time |
| Barcode scanner | $0.99 | one-time |
| remote database & device sync | $1.99 | one-time |
| CSV Import | $3.99 | one-time |
| Amazon Kindle eBook import | $3.99 | one-time |
| BibTeX and Zotero export | $4.99 | one-time |
| 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


### Shelfable

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfable/id6740754533)

Effortlessly manage your book collection with barcode scanning and smart organization. Track reading progress and access detailed book information to find your next read faster.

**Highlights:** Barcode scanning for instant cataloging, Custom organization by room and shelf, Reading progress tracking, Access book metadata, Handles large collections

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is My Book List free?

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

### Is Shelfable free?

Shelfable is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

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

My Book List is rated higher. My Book List averages 4.1 out of 5 from 639 ratings, while Shelfable averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.

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

Neither My Book List nor Shelfable shows ads.

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

My Book List ships an update every 4 days, and Shelfable every 5 days. Most recently, My Book List was updated on October 10, 2026 and Shelfable on September 24, 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.*