Comparison

iBookworm vs Librarian BookShelf

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

Head to head
About

iBookworm

Easily catalog your reading by scanning book ISBNs. Find and purchase books from various online stores, and share your discoveries with friends through social networks, email, or SMS. The app intelligently retries downloads in areas with weak signals.

Highlights
  • Quick ISBN barcode scanning
  • Manual ISBN input
  • Find books to buy online
  • Share book discoveries
  • Offline download retry
Features
Read full description

iBookworm is for people who like to read. Simply scan a book's ISBN bar code, and iBookworm will quickly download information about the book, and add it to your reading list. You can buy books from your reading list too. Tap on a book, then tap Find a Copy. You can search the iBook Store, and several other stores, for the book you'd like to buy. You have more fun reading if you share. To help you, iBookworm lets you share books on your favorite social networks, via email, and even SMS. Tap on a book, then tap Share. Features: • Quick and Easy Scanning: With a redesigned scanner, you can scan many books without stopping. iBookworm looks up books online in the background, so you can keep scanning while it works. • Manual ISBN Input: If you have a book with no barcode on the back, you can manually enter an ISBN number too. • Find a Copy: See a book you like at a friend's house or in the office? iBookworm helps you find a copy of the book you're looking for in the iBook Store, and several online stores. • Share: If you've recently discovered a great book, iBookworm lets you share that with your friends, really easily. • Bounceback: If you're in an area where your signal isn't strong enough to download information about a book, iBookworm will bounce back and try again the next time it's opened up. iBookworm is for readers, by a reader. In fact, I prototyped it in Barnes and Noble in New York City. I hope you like it!

About

Librarian BookShelf

Features
Read full description

Librarian allows organize books in a easy way. Start store your books using ISBN manually or using your camera. You could use Tags to categorize, also you can see with book information you can see estimate prices. Works perfectly with large fonts!

Screenshots

iBookworm4 screens
Librarian BookShelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Librarian BookShelf at none against iBookworm's 1. Librarian BookShelf also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 17 months). iBookworm's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 13.0). On price 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. iBookworm sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Librarian BookShelf asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iBookworm ships an update every 17 months, Librarian BookShelf monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
iBookworm versus Librarian BookShelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriBookwormLibrarian BookShelf
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 17 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS7.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMoshe BermanNamocode

In-app purchases

1 purchases

iBookworm

One-time1
  • Bookworm Premium$1.99
None

Librarian BookShelf

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iBookworm free?
iBookworm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Librarian BookShelf free?
Librarian BookShelf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do iBookworm or Librarian BookShelf have ads?
Librarian BookShelf shows ads; iBookworm does not.
Which is updated more often, iBookworm or Librarian BookShelf?
iBookworm ships an update every 17 months, and Librarian BookShelf monthly. Most recently, iBookworm was updated on October 23, 2026 and Librarian BookShelf on October 4, 2026.

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