Comparison

Bookshop.org vs Addabook

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

Head to head
About

Bookshop.org

Read your ebooks and discover new titles while supporting independent bookstores. All ebook purchases made through this platform directly benefit local bookshops, ensuring their continued success in the digital age.

Highlights
  • Read ebooks from your library
  • Browse millions of ebooks
  • Add titles to wishlist
  • Support local bookstores with purchases
  • Connect seamlessly with Bookshop
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Bookshop.org’s mission is simple: We help local, independent bookstores thrive by giving more than 80% of our profits back to our network of 3,000+ stores. In our app, you can read millions of ebooks - and every purchase supports an independent bookstore near you! In the Bookshop app you can: - Read your ebooks in our customizable ebook reader. - Browse millions of titles and discover your next favorite read in romance, thrillers, mystery, fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and more. - Organize your TBR into custom shelves. - Highlight in five different colors, and add notes to your highlighted passages. - Sort & filter highlights and notes by date created, book order, and more. - Save titles to your wishlist so you can read them later. - Shop knowing that over 80% of the profit goes directly to local, independent bookstores. We’re a Certified B Corp, and we’ve raised more than $50 million for independent bookstores nationwide since 2020. Download the Bookshop.org app to support bookstores, not billionaires.

About

Addabook

This app provides a distraction-free space to reflect on your reading, discover new books through community recommendations, and track your reading progress. Create custom lists and access your journal across multiple devices.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free reading reflections
  • Community-driven book discovery
  • Track reading progress and stats
  • Create custom book lists
  • Web platform access
  • Private or community-shared notes
Features
Read full description

Beautifully-Designed, No Distractions: We have no desire to become yet another social media app. You won’t find infinite scrolls, comment threads, or disruptive ads cluttering your view and competing for your attention. Just a quiet place for you to focus and write your own reading reflections. Discover New Books: One of the reasons that browsing through a bookstore is so satisfying is because of the serendipity. You never know what you will find to spark your curiosity--from the art on a book cover to a compelling staff review. It’s our goal to recreate that feeling. You’ll see book recommendations from fellow readers, nonprofit organizations, independent booksellers, book clubs, and more. You won’t see book lists that are generated by AI or based on TikTok trends because who wants more of the same when you can discover something unexpected? Easily Track Your Reading: Every time you add a rating or a Note to a book, it will be added to your Collection where you can easily see at-a-glance what you’ve read. These books can be filtered or sorted to help you find specific titles. The homepage features your reading stats so you can track your reading progress – books in your Collection, pages read, and Notes. Read & Reflect. Write to Remember: Books offer us so much – they inspire us, make us feel deeply, and take us on epic journeys. Reflecting on your reading makes the experience even richer. Not only do you get to relive your favorite moments when writing out your thoughts, you’ll also better remember them. Your Notebook is easy to access so you can jot down your reflections and reference them later. Mark Notes as private or share with the community. Lists That Go Beyond TBR: In addition to the standard Wishlist, on Addabook, you can also make custom lists for whatever theme or reason you’d like. Whether you want to keep a separate list of book suggestions for your book club, keep a running gift list for friends, track who recommended a book to you, and so on – you can customize your lists how you’d like. Web Platform: Your Addabook account works across iPhone, iPad, and the web, so your books, notes, and lists stay available wherever you read and reflect. Supporting Small Business: We couldn’t find a reading journal app that wasn’t full of distractions or overly-focused on quick ratings and categorization. So we made our own. Addabook is a small, independently-owned business that values and supports a vibrant reading culture. If you buy a book through one of our Bookshop.org links, it will help sustain our efforts as well as support independent booksellers throughout the United States. Other ways to support: sharing Addabook with friends, giving us a rating on the App Store, sending us feedback, and writing Notes about your favorite books and sharing them with the community.

Screenshots

Bookshop.org4 screens
Addabook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Addabook at 100% against Bookshop.org's 57%. Addabook also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Bookshop.org's advantage is ratings volume (2.3K vs 5) and chart position (#196 vs unranked). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Addabook holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookshop.org has 2.3K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Bookshop.org's written reviews are positive against 100% of Addabook's.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Bookshop.org versus Addabook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBookshop.orgAddabook
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (2.3K ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews56.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.3K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 5 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#196 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size111 MB19 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperBookshop, Inc.Addabook, LLC

Customer experience

Bookshop.org

All ratings2,175 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews180 reviews
Positive56.7%
Neutral22.8%
Negative20.6%

Addabook

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Bookshop.org

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to remember last page read
  • Scrolling issues and unexpected page skipping
  • Formatting problems (stripped italics, weird paragraph spacing)
  • Settings not persisting between app sessions

Requested features

7 requests
  • More font and theme options
  • Ability to adjust line spacing, margins, and other formatting
  • Implement highlighting, annotation, and note-taking features
  • Add search functionality
  • Improve page turning and navigation
Show 2 more
  • Provide better dark mode/night reading experience
  • Sync reading progress across devices

Addabook

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Bookshop.org

No in-app purchases

None

Addabook

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bookshop.org free?
Bookshop.org is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Addabook free?
Addabook is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bookshop.org or Addabook?
Addabook is rated higher. Bookshop.org averages 4.8 out of 5 from 2.3K ratings, while Addabook averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Bookshop.org or Addabook have ads?
Neither Bookshop.org nor Addabook shows ads.

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