Comparison

Softgoods vs Pagebound

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

Pagebound

This app allows users to discuss books in real-time forums tied to specific titles. Earn points and badges for tracking your reading progress and engaging with the community. Organize your reading list, rate books, and connect with fellow readers based on shared literary tastes.

Highlights
  • Book-specific discussion forums
  • Gamified reading challenges
  • Points and badge system
  • Organize TBR lists
  • Half-star book ratings
  • Anonymous reader profiles
Features
Read full description

Pagebound combines old-school internet forums with robust book tracking—every book has its own forum. We are indie, anti-AI, and built by 2 women. Discuss books as you read them, view reading stats, and earn points & badges for tracking your reading. EXPERIENCE SOCIAL READING Read with others, without the commitment of a book club. Whatever you’re currently reading, post thoughts, theories, ideas, reactions, and more to that book’s forum. Sort posts by % read to read along with people from all over the world. Anyone with that book in their library will see and can interact with your post, so it’s really easy to start discussions and make new reader friends. VIEW READING STATISTICS & WRAPUPS Everything you log on Pagebound powers robust reading statistics and monthly wrapups. Look back at your reading habits across beautiful charts and graphs. Share your reading progress at the end of each month with summary views. GAMIFY BOOK TRACKING Earn badges that reflect your reading taste by joining Quests. Accumulate points for logging your reading, sharing your thoughts, and contributing to the community. Showcase your badges on your profile and unlock fun rewards. ORGANIZE YOUR LIBRARY Plan your TBR (to-be read) by month or year. Rate books in half-star increments with sub-ratings for enjoyment, quality, characters, and plot. Track your books accurately with Interested, Paused, and DNF (did not finish) reading statuses. Mute books, track tandem reads, and more. MAKE READER FRIENDS Connect with other readers solely based on what you think and read. With anonymous profiles, no algorithm, and private follower counts, we connect readers based on shared taste in books, not clout. Terms of Use: https://support.pagebound.co/terms_of_use

Screenshots

Softgoods4 screens
Pagebound4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pagebound at 4.8 against Softgoods's 4.4. Pagebound also leads on review sentiment (89% vs 74%) and ratings volume (530 vs 74). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Softgoods sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Pagebound sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pagebound holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pagebound has 530 ratings behind it against 74, 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 89% of Pagebound's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Softgoods versus Pagebound: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSoftgoodsPagebound
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (74 ratings)4.8 (530 ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.4% of reviews88.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings74530 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB64 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperJordan WagnerPagebound LLC

Customer experience

Softgoods

All ratings74 ratings
Positive85.1%
Neutral6.8%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive74.4%
Neutral5.1%
Negative20.5%

Pagebound

All ratings525 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral1.7%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews342 reviews
Positive88.9%
Neutral2.9%
Negative8.2%

User reviews

Softgoods

From 74 App Store ratings

What 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

Pagebound

From 530 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Obsessed with the app
  • 👍 Amazing and user-friendly UI
  • 🤝 Great social features and community
  • 🎨 Beautiful and visually appealing design
  • 🎯 Excellent for book tracking and planning

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Difficulty finding specific language editions of books

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
Show 10 more
  • 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)
Show 2 more
  • More icons (e.g., a/b/o)
  • Dark mode option

Pagebound

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • Occasional spoilers in forums

Requested features

2 requests
  • Save reading progress across forums
  • Dark mode option

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Softgoods

Subscriptions2
  • Premium$1.991 Month
  • Premium$19.991 Year
1 purchases

Pagebound

Subscriptions1
  • Pagebound Royalty$9.991 Month

Questions

Is Softgoods free?
Softgoods is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pagebound free?
Pagebound is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Softgoods or Pagebound?
Pagebound is rated higher. Softgoods averages 4.4 out of 5 from 74 ratings, while Pagebound averages 4.8 from 530 ratings.
Do Softgoods or Pagebound have ads?
Neither Softgoods nor Pagebound shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Softgoods or Pagebound?
Softgoods ships an update fortnightly, and Pagebound fortnightly. Most recently, Softgoods was updated on November 7, 2026 and Pagebound on November 8, 2026.

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