Comparison

My Book List vs LibraryThing

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

LibraryThing

Catalog your personal book, DVD, and CD collections. Easily add items by searching or scanning barcodes. Enhance your catalog with high-resolution cover photos and browse your collection visually.

Highlights
  • Catalog books, DVDs, and CDs
  • Search for media items
  • Scan ISBN barcodes
  • Add high-resolution cover photos
  • Browse collection by cover type
Features
Read full description

The LibraryThing app allows LibraryThing members to catalog and browse their collections. LibraryThing is focused on books, but you can add most media, including books, DVDs and CDs. LibraryThing relies on data from Amazon, and over 65 million library records. Add books by searching for them or scanning their ISBN barcode with the camera. Add high-resolution cover photos of your books with the cover editor and browse your books by cover type to find copies that need better covers.

Screenshots

My Book List4 screens
LibraryThing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: My Book List at 4.1 against LibraryThing's 3.5. My Book List also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 4 weeks). LibraryThing's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 14) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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. LibraryThing asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

My Book List holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 639 and 278 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 49% and 48% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

My Book List ships an update every 4 days, LibraryThing every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
My Book List versus LibraryThing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMy Book ListLibraryThing
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (639 ratings) — better3.5 (278 ratings)
Positive reviews48.5% of reviews — better48.2% of reviews
Number of ratings639 — better278
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBigBalli Consulting llcLibraryThing.com

Customer experience

My Book List

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

LibraryThing

All ratings278 ratings
Positive55.4%
Neutral20.1%
Negative24.5%
Written reviews170 reviews
Positive48.2%
Neutral26.5%
Negative25.3%

User reviews

My Book List

From 639 App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

  • 🐛 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

LibraryThing

From 278 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Quick barcode scanning
  • 👍 Useful for cataloging library
  • 🚀 Fast book addition

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitches and crashes
  • 🔍 Limited search and editing capabilities
  • 🤖 Outdated and dated UI

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

LibraryThing

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Barcode scanner not working
  • Books disappearing from catalog
  • Editing and saving issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to create custom collections
  • Offline access to library
  • Integration with other book apps
  • Lending/loan tracking feature

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

LibraryThing

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is My Book List free?
My Book List is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LibraryThing free?
LibraryThing is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, My Book List or LibraryThing?
My Book List is rated higher. My Book List averages 4.1 out of 5 from 639 ratings, while LibraryThing averages 3.5 from 278 ratings.
Do My Book List or LibraryThing have ads?
Neither My Book List nor LibraryThing shows ads.
Which is updated more often, My Book List or LibraryThing?
My Book List ships an update every 4 days, and LibraryThing every 4 weeks. Most recently, My Book List was updated on September 23, 2026 and LibraryThing on September 24, 2026.

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