Comparison

eBooks.com vs BookShelves eBook Reader

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

Head to head
About

eBooks.com

Access your purchased eBooks from eBooks.com on any device. Read offline, sync progress, and customize your reading experience with notes, highlights, and adjustable settings. Organize your library and enjoy accessibility features.

Highlights
  • Offline reading
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Highlighting and note-taking
  • Customizable reading settings
  • Library organization
  • Accessibility features
Features
Read full description

Your personal eBooks.com library, right in your pocket. Pick up any book you've purchased from eBooks.com and start reading, whether you're at home, on the go, or somewhere without internet. Your reading progress syncs across all your devices, so you never lose your place. PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF Start reading on your phone, continue on your tablet. Your progress, bookmarks, and annotations sync automatically across every device linked to your eBooks.com account. READ OFFLINE, ANYWHERE Download your ebooks to your device and enjoy them without an internet connection. Perfect for flights, commutes, or anywhere life takes you. MAKE EVERY BOOK YOUR OWN Highlight your favorite passages in multiple colors, add notes in the margins, and bookmark the pages that matter most. Your annotations stay with you across all your devices. READ YOUR WAY Customize your reading experience to suit you. Adjust font size, font style, text color, background color, line spacing, margins, and more. Choose between page-flip or scroll mode. ORGANIZE YOUR LIBRARY Create collections to sort your books your way. Browse by grid or list view, and sort by title, author, or recent activity. ACCESSIBILITY BUILT IN Full VoiceOver support, high-contrast options, and toolbar labels help make reading accessible to everyone. GETTING STARTED Download the app for free, sign in with your eBooks.com account, and your library is ready to read. Don't have an account yet? Create one at eBooks.com and start building your library today.

About

BookShelves eBook Reader

This app allows you to read EPUB, PDF, and comic books with access to over 1.5 million free public domain books. Organize your library, customize your reading experience with multiple themes and fonts, and sync your progress across devices.

Highlights
  • 1.5 million+ free books
  • EPUB, PDF, and comic reader
  • Customizable themes and fonts
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Smart library management
  • Highlighting and note-taking
  • Export highlights
Features
Read full description

BookShelves is an EPUB, PDF, and comic book reader with a built-in catalog of 1.5 million free books. Discover public domain classics, organize your digital library, and sync seamlessly across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud (Pro). WHAT READERS SAY "Phenomenal book reading and management app, 'just works'." "My everlasting search for the perfect ePub reader might be coming to an end." "Among the best and actively developed." DISCOVER 1.5 MILLION+ FREE BOOKS • 1.5 million+ classic works — Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, more • 1,100+ premium editions from Standard Ebooks • Internet Archive — millions of historical texts and rare books • 1,200+ Spanish classics from the Biblioteca Nacional de España • 16,000+ Japanese classics from Aozora Bunko • Browse OPDS catalogs from external libraries and servers One tap to download. No account required. POWERFUL READING EXPERIENCE • Paginated or continuous scroll — read your way • 10 themes including Sepia, Dark Academia, Night Sky, and more • 10 bundled fonts including OpenDyslexic for accessible reading • Adjustable line spacing, margins, text justification, and font weight • Highlight in 5 colors and add notes to any passage • Export highlights to Markdown, JSON, or CSV • Dictionary look-up with language detection • Full-text search across chapters • Nested table of contents navigation • Bookmarks (iCloud sync with Pro) • Vertical text (tategaki) for Japanese and CJK books • Right-to-left reading for Arabic, Hebrew, and CJK texts • Full keyboard and trackpad support • Multi-window reading on Mac COMIC BOOKS AND MANGA • CBZ, CBR, and CB7 format support • Two-page spreads for landscape reading • Right-to-left mode for manga with reversed tap zones and swipes • Auto-detected from metadata or toggled manually SEAMLESS ICLOUD SYNC (Pro) • Books and cover images • Reading progress and current page • Shelves, tags, and ratings • Highlights, notes, and bookmarks • Reader preferences (font, theme, layout) Start reading on your iPhone, continue on your iPad, finish on your Mac. SMART LIBRARY MANAGEMENT • Edit metadata -- title, author, series, publisher, ISBN, and cover image • Automatic metadata and cover art fetching • System shelves: All Books, Recently Added, Reading, Finished, Favorites • Custom shelves for any collection • Color-coded tags for categorization • Search and filter by title, author, or tag • Grid and list views • 5-star ratings • Drag-and-drop import, Files app sharing, or OPDS catalogs • EPUB repair — auto-fixes broken navigation and missing metadata • Import from Calibre libraries with best-format selection FORMAT SUPPORT • EPUB — professional rendering with beautiful typography • PDF — native viewer with smooth scrolling and search • CBZ / CBR / CB7 — comic book archives • FB2 — FictionBook 2 format (auto-converts to EPUB) • MOBI / AZW3 / KF8 / KEPUB — auto-converts to EPUB for reading • TXT / Markdown — plain text and Markdown files (auto-converts to EPUB) MAC EXTRAS • Calibre wireless sync — connect KOReader or other devices over Wi-Fi • OPDS server — share your library on your local network PRIVACY FIRST • Your data stays on your devices • No personal data collected • No ads — clean, distraction-free reading • iCloud keeps your library private and secure FREE AND PRO Free: 10 books with all reading features. Pro unlocks unlimited books, iCloud sync, email to Kindle/reMarkable, highlight export, and OPDS server. Pro is available as a one-time purchase or subscription (monthly/annual, select regions). Subscriptions auto-renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage subscriptions in Apple ID account settings. Privacy Policy: https://getbookshelves.app/privacy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://getbookshelves.app/terms/ All books from discovery sources are public domain or openly licensed.

Screenshots

eBooks.com4 screens
BookShelves eBook Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: BookShelves eBook Reader at 62% against eBooks.com's 0%. BookShelves eBook Reader also leads on rating (3.8 vs 1.9) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 weeks). eBooks.com's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. BookShelves eBook Reader sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. eBooks.com asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BookShelves eBook Reader holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 1.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 19 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of eBooks.com's written reviews are positive against 62% of BookShelves eBook Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

eBooks.com ships an update every 3 weeks, BookShelves eBook Reader every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
eBooks.com versus BookShelves eBook Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametereBooks.comBookShelves eBook Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.9 (9 ratings)3.8 (19 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews61.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings919 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.4
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB63 MB
Age rating12++4
DeveloperEBOOKS.COM PTY LIMITEDCPE Verm. GmbH

Customer experience

eBooks.com

All ratings7 ratings
Positive28.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative71.4%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

BookShelves eBook Reader

All ratings19 ratings
Positive57.9%
Neutral21.1%
Negative21.1%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive61.8%
Neutral11.8%
Negative26.5%

In-app purchases

None

eBooks.com

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

BookShelves eBook Reader

One-time4
  • Small Tip$2.99
  • Medium Tip$3.99
  • Large Tip$8.99
Show 1 more
  • Unlock Pro$9.99

Questions

Is eBooks.com free?
eBooks.com is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BookShelves eBook Reader free?
BookShelves eBook Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, eBooks.com or BookShelves eBook Reader?
BookShelves eBook Reader is rated higher. eBooks.com averages 1.9 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while BookShelves eBook Reader averages 3.8 from 19 ratings.
Do eBooks.com or BookShelves eBook Reader have ads?
Neither eBooks.com nor BookShelves eBook Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, eBooks.com or BookShelves eBook Reader?
eBooks.com ships an update every 3 weeks, and BookShelves eBook Reader every 8 days. Most recently, eBooks.com was updated on October 30, 2026 and BookShelves eBook Reader on October 28, 2026.

Other comparisons