Comparison

Fish vs StoryGraph

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

Head to head
About

Fish

Explore the nuanced difference between internet 'liking' and genuine 'loving' through an interactive tap essay. This unique format uses typography, color, and surprises to present a heartfelt manifesto.

Highlights
  • Interactive tap essay format
  • Explores internet liking vs. loving
  • Uses typography and color
  • Includes surprises
  • Short reading time
Features
Read full description

This is a short but heartfelt manifesto about the difference between liking something on the internet and loving something on the internet. It's also an experiment in a new format: a "tap essay," presenting its argument tap by tap, using typography, color, and a few surprises to make its case. The essay takes about ten minutes to read, maybe less if you're fast. It's perfect for a coffee break or a train ride.

About

StoryGraph

Track your reading habits with insightful stats and personalized book recommendations powered by AI. Discover new books based on mood, pace, and genre, and connect with friends for shared reading experiences.

Highlights
  • Import Goodreads data
  • Personalized book recommendations
  • Track reading habits with stats
  • Discover books by mood and pace
  • Read with friends (buddy reads)
  • Custom reading challenges
  • Content warnings for books
Features
Read full description

Import your Goodreads data: We will import all of your currently-reading, read, to-read, and did-not-finish shelves. Any custom shelves will be mapped to a custom tag on The StoryGraph. Simple tracking and insightful stats: Easily track and learn about your reading habits with our wide range of charts and graphs. See how your reading develops over time and use that to help you pick better books. Get smart personalized recommendations: Our machine learning AI is like your trusted go-to friend for book recommendations. It'll understand your reading preferences and find the best books for you. Discover books by mood: In the mood for something adventurous, funny, and fast-paced? What about a darker, slower, more emotional read? Mix and match our comprehensive set of filters to choose your next perfect book. Read with friends: Add live reactions to specific parts of the book without fear of spoilers. Comments are locked for other participants until they reach that point in their reading. Don't have people to read with? We’ve got machine learning-powered suggestions for great reading buddies. Reading Challenges: Want to read one book from every country in the world? Or how about read a book per week across a range of genres? Our reading challenges feature help you set up personal goals or join in with others. Custom Tags: Enhance your book tracking and discovery by making use of our custom tags feature. You can search and filter books by your tags and share curated lists with friends. Content Warnings: When you review a book, you can let us know if there's any content within it that might be triggering for others. Then, when searching for your next read, all of this information is at your disposal. Features: • Import your Goodreads account • Sync with Kobo • Reading charts and graphs • Streaks • Favorites • Buddy reads • Readalongs • Book Clubs • Personalized machine learning recommendations • Follow your friends to see what they're reading • Annual reading, page, and listening goals • Search/browse books by mood, pace, and more • Custom tags • Lists to share with your friends or the public • Create your own reading challenge or join in with others • Dark Mode • Barcode Scanner • Giveaways • Browse similar books • Find similar users • Half and quarter star ratings • Built-in DNF (Did Not Finish) functionality (including tracking pages read) • Progress updates with built-in reading journal • Author-approved and user-submitted content warnings Want to support an independent, Goodreads alternative? Consider upgrading to Plus! • Keep the platform ad-free: You'll help The StoryGraph stay independent! • Custom Charts: Create your own pie and bar charts. • Extra Stats Filters: Filter down your stats to a custom time period, or view stats for your fiction or nonfiction reads, your custom tags, any particular mood or genre, and more. • Custom Wrap-Up Graphics: Pick any custom date range and instantly generate shareable graphics for your reading. • Compare Stats: Compare any two stats segments of your StoryGraph library, whether that's a particular year against a custom time period, your To-Read Pile against your owned books, or a combination of several other options. You can also compare any stats segment with any segment from any other user — mix and match however you like. • Exclusive Charts: When comparing your reading across two different years, see exclusive year-on-year charts on the number of books read and their genres. • Shape the roadmap: You get to vote and comment on upcoming features as well as submit official requests for new ones • Priority Support: Your support tickets and requests for book information updates will be handled first Privacy Policy: https://app.thestorygraph.com/privacy Terms of Service:https://app.thestorygraph.com/terms-of-service

Screenshots

Fish1 screens
StoryGraph4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Fish at none against StoryGraph's 2. Fish also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (99% vs 70%). StoryGraph's advantage is ratings volume (3.6K vs 38) and update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). On price, ads and device support 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. StoryGraph sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Fish asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Fish holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: StoryGraph has 3.6K ratings behind it against 38, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 99% of Fish's written reviews are positive against 70% of StoryGraph's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fish ships an update every 4 months, StoryGraph monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Fish versus StoryGraph: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFishStoryGraph
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (38 ratings) — better4.5 (3.6K ratings)
Positive reviews98.7% of reviews — better70.3% of reviews
Number of ratings383.6K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
Best chart rank—#32 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB3 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperRobin SloanThe StoryGraph

Customer experience

Fish

All ratings38 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral2.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews79 reviews
Positive98.7%
Neutral1.3%
Negative0.0%

StoryGraph

All ratings3,594 ratings
Positive85.6%
Neutral5.0%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews1,039 reviews
Positive70.3%
Neutral12.4%
Negative17.3%

User reviews

Fish

From 38 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Thought-provoking content
  • 🔄 Highly rewatchable/rereadable
  • ✨ Beautiful presentation/design
  • 🤔 Inspires reflection and deeper thinking
  • ⏳ Timeless and enduring appeal

Room to improve

  • ⏳ Updated version too long (compared to original)
  • 📱 Not optimized for newer devices (e.g., retina iPad)

StoryGraph

From 3.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🚀 Excellent reading stats and data visualization
  • 💡 Innovative features like buddy reads and reading challenges
  • 👍 Clean and modern design
  • 💡 Independent company, not owned by big tech

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🐛 Slow performance and loading times
  • 🐛 Issues with importing data from other platforms
  • 🐛 Missing some basic features like custom shelves/lists
  • 🐛 Confusing navigation and UI in places

Bugs and requests

Fish

Requested features

1 request
  • Option to include the original version

StoryGraph

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes or freezes when trying to update reading progress
  • Incorrect book details and page counts
  • Login issues where users get logged out frequently

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to track re-reads and multiple editions of books
  • More robust social features like following friends, liking reviews
  • Barcode scanning to easily add books
  • Customizable reading challenges and goal tracking
  • Dark mode option

In-app purchases

None

Fish

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

StoryGraph

Subscriptions2
  • The StoryGraph Plus Monthly$4.991 Month
  • The StoryGraph Plus Annual$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Fish free?
Fish is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is StoryGraph free?
StoryGraph is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Fish or StoryGraph?
Fish is rated higher. Fish averages 4.9 out of 5 from 38 ratings, while StoryGraph averages 4.5 from 3.6K ratings.
Do Fish or StoryGraph have ads?
Neither Fish nor StoryGraph shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fish or StoryGraph?
Fish ships an update every 4 months, and StoryGraph monthly. Most recently, Fish was updated on November 1, 2026 and StoryGraph on November 9, 2026.

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