# Bookshelf vs BookJournal

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: BookJournal at none against Bookshelf's 6. Bookshelf's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (15.5 vs 18.5). On price, update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Bookshelf sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. BookJournal asks for nothing beyond the download.

Bookshelf ships an update every 2 weeks, BookJournal weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bookshelf | BookJournal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (27 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookshelf-reading-tracker/id6654913138/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **27** | — |
| Positive reviews | 87.5% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Size | 171 MB | 23 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.5** | 18.5 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Tiago Almeida](https://appshunter.io/developer/1764252329) | [Garip Koeyluece](https://appshunter.io/developer/1863708345) |

## What reviewers say

### Bookshelf

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookshelf-reading-tracker/id6654913138)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Features | $2.49 | per month |
| Premium Features | $2.99 | per month |
| Premium Features | $22.99 | per year |
| Premium Features | $29.99 | per year |
| Lifetime (promo) | $99.99 | one-time |
| Lifetime | $199.99 | one-time |


### BookJournal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookjournal-reading-tracker/id6756924976)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bookshelf free?

Bookshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is BookJournal free?

BookJournal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Bookshelf or BookJournal have ads?

BookJournal shows ads; Bookshelf does not.

### Which is updated more often, Bookshelf or BookJournal?

Bookshelf ships an update every 2 weeks, and BookJournal weekly. Most recently, Bookshelf was updated on October 5, 2026 and BookJournal on October 16, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*