Comparison

Readwise Books vs Commonplace

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

Head to head
About

Readwise Books

This reading app allows you to buy, read, and track all your books in one place. It automatically logs your reading sessions and provides detailed metrics to help you improve. Share your reading progress with friends in a low-pressure feed.

Highlights
  • Centralized book library
  • Automatic reading session logging
  • Detailed reading metrics
  • Print book tracking
  • Highlighting and note-taking
  • Optional social feed
  • EPUB audio playback
Currently charting
Read full description

Readwise Books is invite-only for now. You'll need an invite code from a friend to create an account. (If you're an existing Readwise subscriber, you already have early access.) A reading app unlike any other. Buy, read, and track all your books in one beautiful place. ONE PLACE FOR EVERY BOOK Read the ebooks you buy or upload. Track the rest, whether print, audio, or ebooks from elsewhere. Import your shelves from Goodreads and your Kindle library to start. THE STRAVA OF READING Every page flip is logged automatically, the way a pedometer counts steps. Pages roll up into reading sessions. Sessions roll up into weeks, months, and years. METRICS THAT MATTER Visualize rich reading data like words read, time read, pace, depth, immersion, and more. That which is measured is improved. EVERY BOOK COUNTS Reading on paper? Capture your starting and ending page, then save your session. Highlight print books with your camera. READING, ELEVATED Beautiful typography, light and dark modes, pagination or scroll, and best-in-class highlighting, notes, and tags. READING ALONE IS BETTER, TOGETHER Your sessions post to a light feed where friends can see that you're reading. No likes to chase, nothing to perform. More coffee shop than social network. And only if you want to. LISTEN, TOO Upload any DRM-free EPUB and listen with lifelike voices while the text follows along. READWISE ECOSYSTEM One account across Readwise Books, Reader, and Highlights. Every highlight syncs instantly.

About

Commonplace

Log books, magazines, and short fiction, track your reading progress, and capture notes. Visualize your reading year with stats and a timeline. Your library is private and syncs via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Log books, magazines, and short fiction
  • Track reading progress (To Read, Started, Finished)
  • Record start/finish dates and ratings
  • Capture notes before, during, and after reading
  • Yearly reading statistics and timeline
  • Private iCloud sync, no account needed
Features
Read full description

Commonplace is a personal reading tracker for books, science fiction/fantasy magazines, and short fiction. Log what you're reading, keep notes as you go, and look back on your reading year. BOOKS • Add books instantly by search, or share a link from Safari, Libby, or any bookstore page. • Track your pile: To Read, Started, Finished, Did Not Finish. • Record start and finish dates, rate books, and tag them print, audio, or digital. • Track the books you re-read. Commonplace can count and log multiple readings. MAGAZINES & SHORT FICTION • Import issues from Clarkesworld, Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. • Track every story you read with its own rating and notes. • Add stories by hand or from an EPUB. NOTES • Capture thoughts during each phase of reading: before, during, and after. Commonplace will tag and sort them. • Search and filter notes across your whole library, and export them all as Markdown. YOUR READING YEAR • Yearly stats: books, stories, pages, ratings, and month-by-month charts. • A Reading Timeline that lays your whole year out visually. YOURS, PRIVATELY • No account. No ads. No tracking. Your library lives on your device and syncs privately through your own iCloud. • Import your history from Goodreads or Libby CSV exports; back up everything to JSON anytime. • Optionally connect micro.blog to share your bookshelves. Commonplace is for readers who want to remember what they read and how they felt about it.

Screenshots

Readwise Books4 screens
Commonplace4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Readwise Books at 64 against Commonplace's 2. Readwise Books also leads on chart position (#81 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Readwise Books against 5.0 for Commonplace. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Readwise Books has 64 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Readwise Books versus Commonplace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadwise BooksCommonplace
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (64 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings64 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#81 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size134 MB23 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperReadwise, IncTim Lockridge

Customer experience

Readwise Books

All ratings64 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Commonplace

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Readwise Books

No in-app purchases

None

Commonplace

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Readwise Books free?
Readwise Books is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Commonplace free?
Commonplace is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Readwise Books or Commonplace?
Readwise Books and Commonplace are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 64 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Readwise Books or Commonplace have ads?
Neither Readwise Books nor Commonplace shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Readwise Books or Commonplace?
Readwise Books ships an update every 3 days, and Commonplace every 3 days. Most recently, Readwise Books was updated on October 30, 2026 and Commonplace on October 31, 2026.

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