Comparison

Shelf Scanner. vs BookScout

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

Head to head
About

Shelf Scanner.

Easily discover the value of books by scanning barcodes or taking photos of entire shelves. Get live pricing data from major online sellers to maximize your profit when selling your books.

Highlights
  • Scan book barcodes for value
  • Photo scan entire bookshelves
  • Live pricing data
  • Sell books for profit
  • Source from major online sellers
Features
Read full description

Find Valuable Books. That's what Shelf Scanner makes it easy to do, our app can: - Scan book barcodes to find their values - Take a photo of a bookshelf and find the value of each book on the shelf - Provide live pricing data on any book you scan With Shelf Scanner you can easy find what your bookshelf, those old books you have laying around, or books from thrift stores, are worth, and sell them for a profit. Unlike other book scanning apps, we provide live pricing data of what your book is worth, sourced from the largest online book sellers and based on current listing prices. This means you get the most money for your books, quick and easy. Download Shelf Scanner today and start turning books into cash. Terms Of Use can be found at: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.termsfeed.com/live/619c315c-27b8-4e47-9aaf-20bad24d5d6e

About

BookScout

Features
Read full description

Scan your books, keep your quotes, ask your library anything: everything stays on your device. - Instant ISBN scanning - AI that actually knows your books - 100% on-device search; fully local AI option on Mac (Ollama) - Transparent about AI, compliant with the EU AI Act - Available in French, English, German, and Spanish - Zero data collected - A one-time purchase, never a subscription SMART BOOK MANAGEMENT Build and organize your personal library with ease. Add books manually or use the built-in ISBN scanner to instantly import details, covers, and metadata. Track reading progress, rate favorites, and filter by genre, language, or rating. MULTI-LIBRARY ORGANIZATION Create as many libraries as you need — by location, by theme, or shared with family. Personalize each library with its own name, icon, and color, and move books between them anytime. Deleting a library never deletes your books — they simply move to another library. QUOTE COLLECTION Never lose a memorable quote again. Capture inspiring passages from your books and associate them directly with their source book. Import your Kindle highlights in one tap, or share a passage from any app (Safari, Notes, Apple Books...) to add it instantly to your collection. Search through all your quotes instantly and build your personal collection of wisdom. PRIVATE, TRANSPARENT AI ASSISTANT Ask questions about your collection and get instant answers actually grounded in your books and quotes — not generic responses. Choose from leading AI services — Gemini, OpenAI, Mistral, Anthropic, with your own API key — or, on Mac, stay entirely on device with Ollama running locally, with nothing ever leaving your device. Library search (vectorization) always runs entirely on your device. Before first use, a clear screen tells you exactly which provider receives your messages — the transparency required by the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act). Turn a helpful AI conversation into a saved quote with one tap. Your conversations are kept, can be reopened anytime, and export to Markdown. ICLOUD SYNCHRONIZATION Your entire library (books, quotes, libraries) syncs automatically and securely, encrypted, across all your Apple devices — Mac, iPhone, and iPad. PRIVACY FIRST No data is collected by the developer. Your API keys are stored securely in the Keychain. Your local data stays on your device, and library search is computed on-device. On Mac, you can even run the AI assistant 100% locally with Ollama. SIRI SHORTCUTS & WIDGET Add a book by ISBN or ask your AI assistant a question in one gesture, from Siri, Spotlight, or the Shortcuts app. On iPhone, iPad, and Mac, add the BookScout widget to your home screen or desktop to keep your current read or latest quote one glance away. THEMES & CUSTOMIZATION Personalize with multiple themes: Light, Dark, Sepia, High Contrast, and Voyelles (an artistic theme inspired by Rimbaud's manuscript). Adjust display density from compact to spacious. SIMPLE, HONEST PRICING Free for up to 50 books. Unlock unlimited books with a one-time purchase — no subscription, ever, no hidden fees. Download BookScout today and give your library the home it deserves.

Screenshots

Shelf Scanner.2 screens
BookScout4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: BookScout at fortnightly against Shelf Scanner.'s every 7 months. BookScout also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Shelf Scanner.'s advantage is iOS requirement (17.6 vs 26.2). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. Shelf Scanner. sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and BookScout sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shelf Scanner. ships an update every 7 months, BookScout fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Shelf Scanner. versus BookScout: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShelf Scanner.BookScout
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (271 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews8.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings271 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.6 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGabe RogersDamien Zilka

Bugs and requests

Shelf Scanner.

Reported bugs

27 issues
  • No button to press to cash in
  • Barcode scanner doesn't work
  • Typing barcode clears screen
  • App stopped working
  • No updates to app
Show 22 more
  • Shelf scan doesn't work at all
  • Cannot get it to work at all
  • Tried taking photos of books on the shelf, nothing worked
  • Tried scanning the barcode, nothing worked
  • Tried typing in the ISBN, nothing worked
  • App doesn't scan shelf's
  • Could not find any books on my shelves
  • Could not find manually entered ISBN
  • Only found 50% of the barcodes it read
  • Misidentified every single book
  • App wouldn't function correctly
  • Scanned shelves and it said it found no books
  • Tried entering in the numbers directly and it just sat there doing nothing
  • It gets the books mostly wrong on a shelf
  • Massively overinflated the value
  • Impossible to do anything with results of a scan
  • Still not working after giving full access to pics
  • Still not working when typing in isbn
  • Still not working when using camera
  • Said I had denied access even after giving full access
  • It just doesn’t give me any suggestions or information
  • It just clears the screen

Requested features

3 requests
  • Way to cash in
  • Ability to remove wrong books
  • Ability to save correct books

BookScout

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Shelf Scanner.

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Pro$4.997 Days
  • Monthly Pro$15.991 Month
  • Annual Pro7 Days trial$48.991 Year
1 purchases

BookScout

One-time1
  • BookScout Premium$4.99

Questions

Is Shelf Scanner. free?
Shelf Scanner. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BookScout free?
BookScout is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Shelf Scanner. or BookScout have ads?
Neither Shelf Scanner. nor BookScout shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shelf Scanner. or BookScout?
Shelf Scanner. ships an update every 7 months, and BookScout fortnightly. Most recently, Shelf Scanner. was updated on November 8, 2026 and BookScout on November 8, 2026.

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