Comparison

Book End vs Simple Book Recommendations

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

Head to head
About

Book End

Easily track your reading progress with this app. Scan or import books, log reading sessions, and receive personalized statistics like reading speed and time remaining predictions. Develop your reading habit with helpful insights.

Highlights
  • Scan, search, and import books
  • Log reading sessions with a timer
  • Generate personalized reading statistics
  • Predict time remaining for books
  • Track reading speed and pages per hour
  • Develop reading habits
Features
Read full description

Book End is an app that helps you keep track of the books you're reading and generates reading statistics. Just like how a physical bookend holds up books on a shelf, this app helps you keep your books and reading organised. Book End allows you to easily scan, search and import books that you're reading into the app. Once you have your physical book open, you can use Book End to set a reading session timer. After completing your reading session, return to the app to log it, and it will automatically create personalized statistics for you. These include precise time remaining predictions for each book and exclusive metrics like your reading speed, and average pages read per hour. Overall, Book End helps you stay on track and develop your reading habit.

About

Simple Book Recommendations

Features
Read full description

This app allows simple book recommendations to be entered, shared with other users, and reviewed by other users. It provides an ISBN Scanner to scan images for ISBN numbers. The App uses an ISBN number to look up information about a book. A book can have multiple recommendations from different users. It attempts to focus on recent recommendations by providing lists that show recommendations recently, but the user can off course opt to view all recommendations. Users can choose to keep their recommendations and books private if they so desire, but that is not really why the App exists. Shared Data is stored in the iCloud, and users need a iCloud account to access it, you can elect to keep the data to your device, but again that is not really the point of the App.

Screenshots

Book End4 screens
Simple Book Recommendations4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Simple Book Recommendations at every 4 days against Book End's every 10 days. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Book End sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Simple Book Recommendations sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 6 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Book End ships an update every 10 days, Simple Book Recommendations every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Book End versus Simple Book Recommendations: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBook EndSimple Book Recommendations
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (21 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews85.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings21 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBenjamin WheelerPeter Shevill

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Book End

One-time3
  • Small Tip$1.99
  • Medium tip$4.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
2 purchases

Simple Book Recommendations

Subscriptions2
  • 6 Month Editing Subscription$0.996 Months
  • 1 Year Editing Subscription$1.991 Year

Questions

Is Book End free?
Book End is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Book Recommendations free?
Simple Book Recommendations is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Book End or Simple Book Recommendations have ads?
Neither Book End nor Simple Book Recommendations shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Book End or Simple Book Recommendations?
Book End ships an update every 10 days, and Simple Book Recommendations every 4 days. Most recently, Book End was updated on October 9, 2026 and Simple Book Recommendations on October 1, 2026.

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