Softgoods vs Margins
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Softgoods
Organize and journal your fan fiction reading experience. Save stories from the web, categorize them into custom shelves, and track your reading progress and stats. Share your collections or keep them private.
- Save fics from the web
- Organize into custom shelves
- Tag fics with warnings and characters
- Journal thoughts and rate fics
- Log reading sessions chapter by chapter
- Track reading stats
- Share shelves publicly or privately
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What you can do with Softgoods: • Save and bookmark fics from anywhere on the web! Paste a link or use the share sheet • Build shelves by fandom, ship, trope, mood, or anything you want • Tag fics with warnings, characters, and freeform tags for instant search • Journal your thoughts on every fic and rate them with stars • Log reading sessions chapter by chapter for works in progress • Track stats: total fics read, monthly word count, authors followed, and how this month compares to last • Make shelves and notes public to share with friends or keep them private just for you • Export your data anytime For fic readers, by fic readers We built Softgoods because spreadsheets and browser bookmarks weren't cutting it. We're a small team and we ship updates often. Your feedback shapes what we build next. Got a feature request or hit a bug? Email contact@softgoods.app A real person reads every message. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://softgoods.app/privacy-policy
Margins
Track your reading habits, discover new books through unique vibe-based searches, and block distracting apps to focus on your reading. This app offers a beautifully designed interface to curate your library, connect with friends, and manage book clubs.
- Log books, series, and authors
- Track reading goals and streaks
- Search books by mood and vibe
- Block distracting apps
- Customize book covers and library
- Connect with friends and book clubs
- Import from Goodreads and other platforms
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Margins is a beautifully designed app for people who love books. - App of the Day in 20+ countries - 4.9 rating (40,000+ reviews) - Featured in USA Today, BookRiot, and more TRACK YOUR READING - Log books, series, authors, recommendations, and more - Track Strava-style goals, stats, and streaks - Curate lists of books you care about SEARCH BOOKS BY VIBES - Search books by mood, plot, setting, vibe, and more - Try things like “books like 1920s Paris,” “thriller with a love triangle,” or “indie romantasy” - You can even turn images from Pinterest or your camera roll into book recommendations BLOCK DISTRACTING APPS - Block social media, notifications, and other apps while you read - Use meditation reading timer for soothing rain sounds CHOOSE YOUR COVERS - Pick the cover that matches your version of the book - Curate covers to fit your aesthetic - Sort your library by color CUSTOMIZE YOUR PROFILE - Turn your picture into a sketched portrait you’d see in a book - Show off your favorite books SEE WHAT FRIENDS ARE READING - Find and follow other book lovers - See what they’re reading in Stories - Enjoy gorgeous, hand-illustrated monthly recaps INVITE YOUR BOOK CLUB - Schedule gatherings - Suggest and vote on books - Log your club’s history LEAVE GOODREADS FOR GOOD - Import from Goodreads, StoryGraph, and Fable - Half-star ratings - Support a small, indie team WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING “LOVE this app! so easy to import data from goodreads. it excels where others fail. like letterboxd for books. Really glad there’s finally a good book app out there, i’ve been waiting for something like this!” — scruffythejanitor01 “I love the UI of this app, easy to use and aesthetically pleasing. Also, I've been struggling getting back into reading and the screentime feature has helped me loads. I haven't been able to read this much since 4 years ago. Thank you Margins” — mitakaluvr “The search by vibes is so cool. I am a WWII buff, but this search popped up a two-book WWII saga I had never even heard of, much less read. It ended up being my top read of 2025.” —Michigancolt FREE TO USE Almost all features are free to use. An optional subscription unlocks premium features and priority support. FOLLOW US Instagram: @readwithmargins TikTok: @margins TERMS OF USE Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Margins Terms of Service: https://margins.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://margins.app/privacy “Without the margins, writing is just words on a page. But with them, each of us is invited to leave our mark in the endless conversation between books and the people that love them.” — Excerpt from the Margins manifesto
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Margins at 4.9 against Softgoods's 4.4. Margins also leads on ratings volume (20K vs 75) and review sentiment (95% vs 74%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Softgoods sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Margins sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Margins holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Margins has 20K ratings behind it against 75, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Softgoods's written reviews are positive against 95% of Margins's.
Softgoods ships an update fortnightly, Margins every 4 days. Both last shipped on November 12, 2026.
| Parameter | Softgoods | Margins |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (75 ratings) | 4.9 (20K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 74.4% of reviews | 95.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 75 | 20K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | — | #50 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 135 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Jordan Wagner | Paratext Inc. |
Customer experience
Softgoods
Margins
User reviews
Softgoods
From 75 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for tracking fanfics
- 💡 Organizes fics by shelves/ships
- 🚀 Easy to use and navigate
- ✨ Imports fic data from links
- ✅ Allows manual fic input
Room to improve
- 🐛 Stats not always accurate (word count, fic count)
- 🐛 Search function is slow and ineffective
- 🐛 App/website not importing/working for some users
- 🐛 Updates sometimes break functionality
- 🐛 Font size/style changes negatively
Margins
From 20K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing design
- 🔍 Helpful search and recommendation features
- 📚 Comprehensive book tracking capabilities
- 🔄 Smooth import from Goodreads
Room to improve
- 🐛 Missing books in the database
- 🔍 Limited search and filtering options
- 🔒 Concerns about using phone number for sign-up
- 🔢 Lack of social features and community
Bugs and requests
Softgoods
Reported bugs
15 issues- Words read stat stuck at 0
- Fic display limited to 7 at a time
- Stats off by 1 fic count
- Search not finding correct results
- Links/searches returning errors or no results
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- Importing not working via any method
- Uploads giving errors, slow performance
- Forced in-app purchase pop-up freezing phone
- Font size and style changed negatively in update
- Ship, shelf, fandom not populating correctly after update
- 'Pull latest' not working properly after update
- Back button to home page not working
- Subscription not recognized after payment
- All-time data locked behind paywall
- Reading filter glitch on webpage
Requested features
7 requests- Calculate words read per chapter
- Add fic to multiple shelves easily
- More stats for fandoms, ships, tags
- Add custom images for shelves
- Track reading progress for WIPs (chapter logging)
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- More icons (e.g., a/b/o)
- Dark mode option
Margins
Reported bugs
3 issues- Reading time not saving correctly
- Inability to delete or edit books from lists
- Inconsistent behavior when importing data from Goodreads
Requested features
4 requests- Add ability to track page progress and percentage read
- Implement a profile system with custom avatars and bios
- Introduce a social feed to share reading activity with friends
- Add more advanced statistics and reading analytics
In-app purchases
Softgoods
- Premium$1.991 Month
- Premium$19.991 Year
Margins
- Monthly$5.991 Month
- Monthly$9.991 Month
- Annual$59.991 Year








