# ShelfPlayer vs Liberotus

The clearest difference is rating: ShelfPlayer at 3.8 against Liberotus's 2.5. ShelfPlayer also leads on ratings volume (134 vs 2). Liberotus's advantage is monetization model (free vs paid) and ads (none vs shown). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. ShelfPlayer sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Liberotus sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $7.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ShelfPlayer holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ShelfPlayer has 134 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of ShelfPlayer's written reviews are positive against 50% of Liberotus's.

ShelfPlayer ships an update every 4 weeks, Liberotus every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | ShelfPlayer | Liberotus |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.8 (134 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfplayer-audio-book-shelf/id6475221163/reviews)** | [2.5 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/liberotus/id6770644270/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **134** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | **55.2% of reviews** | 50.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | **Every 9 days** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Size | 62 MB | 20 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [AI Tools Apps SRL](https://appshunter.io/developer/1854689122) | [Steve James](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896759791) |

## What reviewers say

### ShelfPlayer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfplayer-audio-book-shelf/id6475221163)

This app provides a native iOS experience for managing and listening to audiobooks and podcasts from your self-hosted Audiobookshelf library. It offers robust playback controls, offline access, and seamless integration with the Apple ecosystem.

**Highlights:** Unified audiobook and podcast management, Multi-server support, Flexible authentication options, Global and library search, Playback queues and chapter navigation, Configurable playback speed and skip intervals, Offline mode and automatic downloads

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Siri integration, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly premium | $2.99 | per 7 days |
| Weekly premium | $2.99 | per 7 days |
| Yearly premium | $29.99 | per year |
| Yearly premium | $29.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Runs on all Apple platforms
- 👍 Provides better UI experience
- 💡 Potential for great features
- 🚀 Smooth playback
- 👍 Beautiful and intuitive UI

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Critical bugs preventing usage
- 🐛 Constantly losing book progress
- 🐛 Crashes and instability issues
- 🐛 Offline mode not working
- 🐛 Slow startup and loading times

**Reported bugs**

- Unable to present all books from an author
- Keeps resetting book progress
- Offline mode broken, can't play downloaded books
- Crashes after recent update
- Widgets not updating with last played book

**Requested features**

- Option to load fully downloaded books without server handshake
- Ability to filter library view to only downloaded books
- Add support for ebooks and PDF files
- Customizable playback speed options beyond 2x
- Implement a static reading queue/playlist


### Liberotus

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/liberotus/id6770644270)

Access and read your self-hosted ebook collection from your Grimmory server. Enjoy a private, elegant reading experience with offline access and seamless progress syncing across devices.

**Highlights:** Connect to self-hosted Grimmory server, Browse entire ebook collection, Sync reading progress, Download books for offline reading, Fast metadata browsing and search, Support for large libraries, Privacy-first design

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Liberotus Annual | $7.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is ShelfPlayer free?

ShelfPlayer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Liberotus free?

Liberotus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, ShelfPlayer or Liberotus?

ShelfPlayer is rated higher. ShelfPlayer averages 3.8 out of 5 from 134 ratings, while Liberotus averages 2.5 from 2 ratings.

### Do ShelfPlayer or Liberotus have ads?

ShelfPlayer shows ads; Liberotus does not.

### Which is updated more often, ShelfPlayer or Liberotus?

ShelfPlayer ships an update every 4 weeks, and Liberotus every 9 days. Most recently, ShelfPlayer was updated on October 16, 2026 and Liberotus on October 10, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*