Comparison

Now Reading vs Reading Journal

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

Head to head
About

Now Reading

Log books you are currently reading, have finished, or want to read. Display original or custom book covers and share your reading progress with friends through widgets or by swiping through your logged books.

Highlights
  • Track current reads
  • Archive finished books
  • Manage wishlist
  • Display book covers
  • Share reading progress
  • Widget support
Features
Read full description

Introducing Now Reading - a simple yet crafted book journal app. You can add what you're reading, archive what you already have read, and books you'd like to read in the future. This app displays the original book cover (direct attachment needed) or with the custom designed beautiful original book covers. Share what you read with your friends by swiping through books you logged or through the widget.

About

Reading Journal

This app helps you remember what you read by tracking your library, reading status, and favorite quotes. Set reading goals, join challenges, and keep your progress organized with personal notes and summaries.

Highlights
  • Track books (want to read, reading, finished)
  • Save quotes, reviews, and summaries
  • Set reading goals and track progress
  • Join reading challenges
  • Sync library with iCloud
  • Export/import data (JSON/CSV)
Features
Read full description

Reading Journal is a warm, quiet home for the books you read and everything they leave behind. Just say what page you're on. Reading Journal keeps the rest: pages read today, your week at a glance, how many sessions are left in the book, and a streak worth keeping. YOUR LIBRARY • Shelves for Reading, To Read, Finished and Did Not Finish • Add books by title, author or ISBN, or scan the barcode on the back • Real covers, and handsome cloth covers for books without one • Series kept in reading order A DIARY FOR EVERY BOOK • Every session with its pages and minutes • The lines you loved, with chapter and page • Stars, a one-line review, a summary and your favorite moment • Notebook pages on lined, dotted, grid or blank paper GOALS AND CHALLENGES • A yearly goal that fills a shelf with your covers • Monthly goals, a page target and a mood board • A–Z, Reading Bingo, 52 Books in 52 Weeks, genres, romance tropes and more • Finish a book and it lands in the right challenge slot Your library syncs through iCloud across iPhone and iPad, looks lovely in light and dark, and backs up to a JSON file or exports your books as CSV whenever you like.

Screenshots

Now Reading4 screens
Reading Journal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Now Reading at none against Reading Journal's 3. Reading Journal's advantage is ratings volume (35 vs 2) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). 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. Reading Journal sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Now Reading asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Now Reading holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Reading Journal has 35 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

Now Reading ships an update fortnightly, Reading Journal every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Now Reading versus Reading Journal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNow ReadingReading Journal
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.8 (35 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings235 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMinsang choiSergii Nesterenko

Customer experience

Now Reading

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Reading Journal

All ratings35 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral2.9%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Now Reading

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Reading Journal

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Access$3.991 Month
  • Yearly Access$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$12.99

Questions

Is Now Reading free?
Now Reading is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Reading Journal free?
Reading Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Now Reading or Reading Journal?
Now Reading is rated higher. Now Reading averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Reading Journal averages 4.8 from 35 ratings.
Do Now Reading or Reading Journal have ads?
Neither Now Reading nor Reading Journal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Now Reading or Reading Journal?
Now Reading ships an update fortnightly, and Reading Journal every 3 weeks. Most recently, Now Reading was updated on October 27, 2026 and Reading Journal on October 28, 2026.

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