Comparison

Bookshelf vs Bookology

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

Head to head
About

Bookshelf

Organize your entire reading life, tracking physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks. Set reading goals, log sessions, save quotes, and visualize your progress with detailed statistics and a reading habits heat map. Discover new books and connect with friends.

Highlights
  • Smart book organization with custom shelves
  • Reading timer and session tracking
  • Save quotes and notes with OCR
  • Flexible reading goals and progress tracking
  • Detailed statistics and insights
  • Reading habits heat map
  • Monthly and yearly recaps
  • Purchase and borrowing logs
Features
Read full description

The best reading tracker for physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks. Whether you're managing your TBR pile, tracking a BookTok recommendation, or building a reading habit - Bookshelf is the book journal, reading log, and library organizer you've been looking for. Switching from Goodreads or StoryGraph? Import your entire library in minutes. SMART BOOK ORGANIZATION Organize your books into Reading, To Read, Wishlist, Finished, and Abandoned shelves - or create unlimited custom shelves with your own icons and colors. Drag and drop books between shelves. Tag books with custom color-coded labels for easy filtering. Sort by title, author, rating, date added, start date, finish date, last read, pages, publication date, and more. Track series, editions, and co-authors. Add books by searching or by scanning ISBN barcodes - even in bulk scan mode. MULTIPLE VIEWS, YOUR WAY See your library the way you love it: a cozy 3D bookcase view, a flexible grid with adjustable cover size and spacing, or a detailed list. Customize progress indicators, goal badges, and shelf appearance down to the smallest detail. READING TIMER & SESSION TRACKING Start the built-in reading timer whenever you pick up a book. Use the stopwatch for open-ended sessions or set a countdown alarm for timed reading. Log pages read, reading percentage, and session duration. Track audiobooks with chapter-level, minute-precise listening sessions. Re-reading a favorite? Track multiple readings per book. Quick-start a session right from your home screen widget. QUOTES, NOTES & REVIEWS Save your favorite quotes by typing or scanning straight from the page with OCR text recognition. Attach photos to your notes for a richer book journal. Write reviews and rate every book you finish. FLEXIBLE READING GOALS Set goals for pages, reading time, or number of books across any date range - daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or anything in between. Pin your most important goals, show visual badges on book covers, and celebrate completions with animated confetti. DEEP STATS & INSIGHTS Explore your reading like never before: reading pace and velocity, rating trends, abandoned-book rate, genre and author distribution charts, a reading-pattern clock showing when you read best, milestones, history, and year-over-year comparisons. Unlock tiered achievements as your library grows. MONTHLY & YEARLY RECAPS Beautiful monthly summaries and full yearly recaps - your longest and shortest books, five-star reads, first and last finishes, top quotes, genre breakdowns, streaks, and month-by-month highlights. Like Spotify Wrapped, but for your reading life. Export and share as an image or PDF. PURCHASE LOGS Track purchases, borrowed books, and lending history. Set return-date reminders so you never forget to return - or get back - a book. Log price, location, and personal notes. READING FEED Follow friends and explore their shelves, reviews, and stats. Stay inspired with a feed of reading activity from people you follow and the global community. Control exactly what's visible on your public profile. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Keep your reading front and center with customizable home screen widgets for your current reads and reading timer. 18 STUNNING THEMES Choose from themes like Nordic, Forest, Cyberpunk, Lavender, Pink, and more - each in light and dark. Decorate your shelves with 50+ adorable book nooks across 11 categories. Personalize shelf size, spacing, progress indicators, and your profile widget layout. EASY IMPORT Import from Goodreads or StoryGraph with a CSV file, or scan your physical books with the built-in barcode scanner. Sync your reading across devices, with Kobo e-reader sync supported. Build your shelves. Set your goals. Track your reading streak. Fall in love with reading again. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Bookology

This app helps avid readers organize their book collection, track reading progress, and analyze their habits. It offers features like barcode scanning for easy book entry, customizable virtual bookshelves, and a reading timer with lock screen updates. Users can also capture notes, import data from other platforms, and view detailed reading statistics.

Highlights
  • Library management with barcode scanning
  • Customizable virtual bookshelf
  • Reading timer with Live Activities
  • Progress tracking by pages or percentage
  • Notes, quotes, and reviews
  • Import from Kindle, Goodreads, and more
  • Detailed reading statistics
Features
Read full description

Bookology is a reading tracker and analytics app. Whether you're a casual reader or a devoted bookworm, it helps you organize your library, track your progress, and build a lifelong reading habit with ease. [Library Management] - Quickly add books via barcode scanning, online search, or manual entry - Track reading status: Want to Read, Reading, Finished, Abandoned, On Hold - Organize your collection with custom booklists - Support for categories and series management [Visual Bookshelf] - Skeuomorphic bookshelf with spine and cover display modes - Customize decorations and ornaments to create your own reading space - Sync shelves and lists across devices via the cloud [Reading Timer] - Dedicated reading timer that automatically logs each session - Supports Live Activities for real-time lock screen updates - Start / pause / resume without breaking your tracking - Literary Clock: shows excerpts from literature based on the current time - Add countdown timers to stay focused and goal-oriented [Progress Tracking] - Log progress by pages or percentage - Reading calendar for a clear daily overview [Notes & Reflection] - Capture quotes, thoughts - Support for images and export - Write reviews and rate books - Daily note review: rediscover past notes with a curated daily selection [Multi-Platform Import] - Import notes from Kindle, Apple Books, WeRead, and DiMo Reader - Import your library from Goodreads - Automatic deduplication [Reading Stats & Insights] - Analyze reading time and session patterns - Track formats: print, eBook, audiobook - Monthly and yearly reading summaries - Annual book showcase - Most-read books statistics [Widgets] - Home screen widgets for quick progress tracking - Reading streak widget to help maintain your habit [Bookology Pro] - Cloud backup and cross-device sync - Unlimited booklists - Advanced stats and historical data - Unlimited reading session logs - Full access to bookshelf decorations - Goodreads library import - Continuous access to future Pro features Bookology is dedicated to being your best reading companion, exploring the joy of reading together with you. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://empty.mt/privacy_policy_bookology

Screenshots

Bookshelf4 screens
Bookology4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Bookology at 939 against Bookshelf's 37. Bookology also leads on chart position (#178 vs unranked) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks). Bookshelf's advantage is iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). On price, rating, review sentiment 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

Both are free to download. Bookshelf sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month and Bookology sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Bookshelf against 4.8 for Bookology. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookology has 939 ratings behind it against 37, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 88% of Bookshelf's written reviews are positive against 85% of Bookology's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bookshelf ships an update every 2 weeks, Bookology every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Bookshelf versus Bookology: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBookshelfBookology
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (37 ratings) — better4.8 (939 ratings)
Positive reviews87.5% of reviews — better85.1% of reviews
Number of ratings37939 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
Best chart rank—#178 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.5 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size171 MB174 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTiago AlmeidaEmpty Studio

Customer experience

Bookshelf

All ratings27 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral3.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%

Bookology

All ratings872 ratings
Positive96.1%
Neutral2.1%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews202 reviews
Positive85.1%
Neutral6.4%
Negative8.4%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Bookshelf

Subscriptions4
  • Premium Features$2.491 Month
  • Premium Features$2.991 Month
  • Premium Features$22.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Premium Features$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime (promo)$99.99
  • Lifetime$199.99
4 purchases

Bookology

Subscriptions3
  • Bookology Pro$5.991 Month
  • Bookology Pro$24.991 Year
  • Bookology Pro$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Bookology Pro Lifetime$99.99

Questions

Is Bookshelf free?
Bookshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bookology free?
Bookology is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bookshelf or Bookology?
Bookshelf is rated higher. Bookshelf averages 4.8 out of 5 from 37 ratings, while Bookology averages 4.8 from 939 ratings.
Do Bookshelf or Bookology have ads?
Neither Bookshelf nor Bookology shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bookshelf or Bookology?
Bookshelf ships an update every 2 weeks, and Bookology every 6 days. Most recently, Bookshelf was updated on October 30, 2026 and Bookology on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons