Bookwise vs REF
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bookwise
Quickly get the gist of fiction and nonfiction books with concise summaries. Decide if a book is worth reading, discover new titles, and explore curated shelves. Access public domain books and save your favorites.
- Concise book summaries
- Fiction and nonfiction picks
- Discover trending and new books
- Browse by genre
- Search by title or author
- Save favorite books
- Access public domain books
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Bookwise gives you book summaries in a few minutes, for fiction and nonfiction, so you can get the gist of a book, see whether it is worth reading and find the next one. No account and no subscription. Each book has a brief built from the plot and idea sections of its Wikipedia article, shown as written with the sources listed. Which section counts as a summary and which books are similar are worked out automatically, so they can occasionally be off. • Today: a nonfiction pick and a fiction pick of the day, plus what is trending and new • Browse shelves such as self-help, psychology, fantasy and classics • Search by title or author • Book pages with a summary, covers, ratings and similar books • Free copies of older public domain books where available • Save favourites and see what you viewed recently • Optional daily reminder, light and dark themes, backup and restore Use it to decide what to read next, to refresh a book you read long ago, or to check a plot before you commit to a novel. Summaries are not a replacement for reading the book. Covers and ratings come from Open Library, free copies from Project Gutenberg.
REF
Access a vast and growing library of curated Christian audiobooks. Enjoy unlimited listening across all genres with a monthly membership, including offline playback and new titles added regularly. Get your first month free and cancel anytime.
- Curated Christian audiobooks
- New titles added monthly
- Unlimited listening access
- Offline playback
- All titles available to all members
- Family plan option
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Your ultimate library of thoughtful Christian audiobooks awaits! REF-UL is the only app that gives you access to a large, continually growing, and thoughtfully curated list of Christian audiobooks. - Enjoy selections from every genre - See new titles added every month - Listen to any book you can find, any time you want - Curators that will guide you in your search for theologically sound, thoughtful, and inspirational Christian audiobooks With your membership, you will gain unlimited access to our entire catalog of Christian audiobooks. Unlike many membership services, ALL of our titles will be available to all members for listening. - Get access to dozens of new titles each month - Stream books from our user-friendly mobile apps - Queue up an unlimited number of titles for listening - No time limit to finish each title - Listen anywhere, including offline (airports, planes, remote locations) A typical audiobook can cost from $15 to $25. For $9.99 per month ($19.99 per month for a Family Plan), you can stream multiple audiobooks each month. - Get your first month free - Cancel at any time - All titles available for listening all the time (no premium or exclusive tiers) - 6+ books per month* for less than the price of 1 (*based on an average of 5 hours per audiobook)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Bookwise at free against REF's subscription. REF's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.
| Parameter | Bookwise | REF |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 1.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 35 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dhiraj Sharma | Refuel Media LLC |
Customer experience
Bookwise
REF
In-app purchases
Bookwise
No in-app purchases
REF
No in-app purchases









