My Book List vs Stacks
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
Stacks
Digitally catalog your physical book collection by simply photographing your shelves. The app automatically identifies titles, authors, and covers, then organizes your library with smart sorting and insightful analytics. Never forget if you own a book or who borrowed it again.
- Scan entire bookshelves with one photo
- Automatic book identification (title, author, cover)
- Visual library display with spine width and color
- Smart sorting by author, genre, or color
- Track lent books and borrower information
- Personalized reading recommendations based on owned books
- AI-powered book concierge for recommendations and discussions
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Your shelves, in your pocket. Catalog every book you own, then keep track of what you read. Photograph a shelf, scan barcodes, or import your Goodreads or StoryGraph library — your whole collection is with you everywhere, on iPhone and iPad. BUILD YOUR LIBRARY YOUR WAY • Shelf scan: one photo catalogs an entire shelf — 20, 30, 40 books at once • Barcode auto-add: scan, hear the beep, move to the next book — with undo if you catch a wrong one • Import from Goodreads or StoryGraph with a CSV export, and export your library back out any time • Real cover art, page counts, and publication years fill in automatically • Honest AI: spines it can't read are flagged with their position, never guessed TRACK YOUR READING • Mark each book Not started, Reading, Read, or Didn't finish, with start and finish dates • A Currently reading row and a Reading shelf keep what you're in the middle of up front • Set a yearly reading goal and see your pace for the year (Pro) A LIBRARY THAT LOOKS LIKE A LIBRARY • The Shelf view renders your books as actual spines — width from page count, color from the real cover • Sort by author, genre, or color: your shelves as a rainbow • Grid and list views, search, and smart shelves: Unread, Favorites, Lent Out SCOUT SHELVES & BUILD A WISHLIST • Scout mode: point your camera at a bookstore or thrift-shop shelf and see which books fit your taste — before you buy • Librarian's picks (Pro): curated recommendations you can browse by category or search across the whole catalog • Add any book to your Library or your Want list in a tap — from picks, a scout, or a search KNOW YOUR OWN TASTE • Every scan reads your shelf and tells you something true about your taste • "Read next" picks come from books you already own — starting with your unread pile • Insights: pages owned, top genres, most-shelved authors, books added over time DESIGNED FOR IPHONE & IPAD • On iPad: a sidebar, multi-column shelves, and a two-page book view that fills the screen • Portrait or landscape, with Split View and Stage Manager • Your library and Want list stay in sync across devices NEVER LOSE A BOOK AGAIN • Standing in a bookstore wondering if you own it? Search your library in a second • The lending tracker remembers who borrowed what, and since when • Rate, track what you're reading, and keep notes on every book YOUR LIBRARIAN (PRO) • A weekly note on what to start next — from your own unread shelves, with the reasons • Picks chosen for your shelves: real books you don't own yet, tuned to what you've loved • A book-loving AI that knows your entire library: what to read, buy, or gift — grounded in your actual shelves, not bestseller lists • Chat with any single book, in its own voice • Share a Shelfie: your library as a story card — rainbow shelf, reading fingerprint, most-shelved authors Your library is backed up privately and automatically — no account, no sign-up. Free for up to 100 books. Stacks Pro unlocks unlimited books, reading goals, 50 shelf scans a month and the Librarian: $2.99/month or $19.99/year with a 7-day free trial. Stacks is for people whose books are part of who they are. Catalog your shelves and see your library the way it deserves to be seen. — Terms of Use: https://zencodex.io/apps/stacks/terms Privacy Policy: https://zencodex.io/apps/stacks/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Stacks at 100% against My Book List's 49%. Stacks also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.1). My Book List's advantage is ratings volume (640 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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 Stacks sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Stacks holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: My Book List has 640 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 100% of Stacks's.
My Book List ships an update every 4 days, Stacks every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | My Book List | Stacks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (640 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 48.5% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 640 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BigBalli Consulting llc | Zenmonkeys Digital LLC |
Customer experience
My Book List
Stacks
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
Stacks
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
Stacks
- Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Pro Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- 3 Scans$0.99
- 15 Scans$3.99
Questions
Is My Book List free?
Is Stacks free?
Which has better reviews, My Book List or Stacks?
Do My Book List or Stacks have ads?
Which is updated more often, My Book List or Stacks?
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