Comparison

Gutenberg Book Reader vs Open Library Reader

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

Head to head
About

Gutenberg Book Reader

Access over 60,000 classic books from Project Gutenberg with elegant formatting and customizable reading options. Enjoy synchronized audiobooks, read-along features, and the ability to export books with your notes and bookmarks.

Highlights
  • Vast Project Gutenberg library
  • Elegant text and image presentation
  • Graceful page turning/scrolling
  • Customizable color and contrast
  • Synchronized audiobooks and read-along
  • Headset controls for audiobooks
  • Export books with bookmarks and notes
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Beautiful images, elegant formatting, graceful page turning or scrolling, and precisely customized color and contrast. Contents live from Project Gutenberg with last-minute update, more than 60,000 most important books ever published in history. Plus more than 7,000 human-read audio books. Number of Books: No other apps have more Gutenberg books, and many competitors are missing some classic Gutenberg books. Reading: Texts and images are presented by a sophisticated book reader: beautiful presentation, graceful page turning, and the most intelligent Table of Contents (better than any other book reader for the same book). Listening: There are more than 6,000 human-read audio books. In addition. Full control through headset: pause, play, skip to next/previous track, forward/backward seeking. Read-along: Audio and Text are synchronized when possible. You can read, listen, or read-Along, and switch between them at will. Export: Export a book together with your bookmarks and the notes that you insert in the book to anyone and any device, or save it in google drive, one drive, or iCloud.

About

Open Library Reader

Access and read millions of books from an online library. Organize your reading lists, track borrowed books, and discover related titles within a familiar reading interface. Requires an internet connection.

Highlights
  • Browse and check out millions of books
  • Track reading progress and wishlists
  • Built-in search and related title discovery
  • Shelf management and edition changes
  • Checkout tracking for borrowed books
  • Customizable reading interface
Features
Read full description

Open Library is an online library with millions of books to browse or check out. You can track the books that you're reading, want to read, etc. and read many of them right there. PLEASE NOTE: This app is an interface to the openlibrary.org web site — if you don't use that site to read books, you may have trouble figuring out what the app is for. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the site first, and then you'll understand what the app offers. This app is one reader's effort to create the ideal portable experience for taking advantage of Open Library's amazing collection. You'll get the best experience out of this app on an iPad, but you can use it on a smaller screen (if you don't mind squinting). The moment you open the app and log in, any books you've already saved on the Open Library site are laid out on your screen. You can sort them by title, author, publication date, and date saved, see which books are available to read, and open them with a single tap. Once you've opened a book in the familiar reading interface, a tap at the top of the screen will trigger the full screen mode, removing every distraction and expanding the book pages to the limits of your screen for the perfect reading experience. Other features include: - Built-in search: find and add books to your shelves from inside the app. - Shelf management: move books between shelves, remove books, change the edition of a book. - Related title search: choose a book on your shelf and quickly find more books like it. - Checkout tracking: see at a glance how long you have left on limited-access books you've checked out. - Customization: choose which shelves you want to see and manage the size of the books and their titles. This app is essentially an alternative interface to the Open Library site — all of your data is stored there, and the books you read are hosted online, not in the app. As a result, an active internet connection is required when you are using this app. Open Library is an initiative of the Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. The developer of this app has no legal or contractual relationship with Open Library or the Internet Archive, and bears no responsibility for the content found there.

Screenshots

Gutenberg Book Reader4 screens
Open Library Reader1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Open Library Reader at Free against Gutenberg Book Reader's $2.99. Open Library Reader also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Gutenberg Book Reader's advantage is review sentiment (48% vs 26%) and chart position (#68 vs unranked). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Open Library Reader is free to download; Gutenberg Book Reader costs $2.99 up front. 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 — 3.0 for Gutenberg Book Reader against 3.0 for Open Library Reader. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 50 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 48% of Gutenberg Book Reader's written reviews are positive against 26% of Open Library Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Gutenberg Book Reader versus Open Library Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGutenberg Book ReaderOpen Library Reader
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (19 ratings)3.0 (50 ratings)
Positive reviews47.8% of reviews — better26.2% of reviews
Number of ratings1950 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#68 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB24 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developerhimalaya-softLoomis House, LLC

Customer experience

Gutenberg Book Reader

All ratings19 ratings
Positive47.4%
Neutral10.5%
Negative42.1%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive47.8%
Neutral4.3%
Negative47.8%

Open Library Reader

All ratings50 ratings
Positive44.0%
Neutral14.0%
Negative42.0%
Written reviews42 reviews
Positive26.2%
Neutral19.0%
Negative54.8%

In-app purchases

None

Gutenberg Book Reader

No in-app purchases

None

Open Library Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Gutenberg Book Reader free?
Gutenberg Book Reader costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Open Library Reader free?
Open Library Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Gutenberg Book Reader or Open Library Reader?
Gutenberg Book Reader and Open Library Reader are both rated 3.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 19 and 50 ratings respectively.
Do Gutenberg Book Reader or Open Library Reader have ads?
Neither Gutenberg Book Reader nor Open Library Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gutenberg Book Reader or Open Library Reader?
Gutenberg Book Reader ships an update every 2 months, and Open Library Reader every 2 months. Most recently, Gutenberg Book Reader was updated on October 7, 2026 and Open Library Reader on October 12, 2026.

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