Bookbear vs Papyrus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bookbear
Easily track your reading progress, build a virtual library of your collection, and discover trending books. Scan barcodes to add books instantly and share your reading list with friends.
- Seamless book tracking
- Build and admire your collection
- Scan and discover instantly
- Discover trending books
- Share reading lists
- Track progress at a glance
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FEATURES [[ Seamless Book Tracking ]] We tried using the other top book tracker apps. Honestly? We couldn’t. Buttons were confusing, and some apps even crashed on us. So we made bookbear—designed to be the easiest and most beautiful book tracker you'll ever use. Seriously, no more guessing or frustration. Download now and see how effortless tracking can be! [[ Build and Admire Your Collection ]] Who doesn’t love gazing at a gorgeous bookshelf? We’ve recreated that feeling in bookbear—your personal library on your phone! Add the books you want to read, are reading, or have read, and watch your virtual collection grow. You’ll be admiring it in no time! [[ Scan and Discover Instantly ]] POV: You're at a book store and you found a book that caught your eye. Skip the typing! Just use bookbear to scan the barcode, and boom—get all the details you need in seconds. Two taps, and you’re in the know. [[ Discover the Hottest Books ]] Stay in the loop with the latest trending books. The New York Times Best Sellers? Just one tap away. Never miss out on the book everyone’s talking about! [[ Share What You’re Reading ]] Want to show off your current read? With bookbear, you can easily share what’s on your reading list with friends. It’s quick, it’s fun, and hey, who doesn’t love a good book recommendation? [[ Check Your Progress at a Glance ]] Reading multiple books at once? We get it. With bookbear, you can track your progress on all your books at a glance. Stay on top of every chapter, effortlessly.
Papyrus
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Papyrus turns everything you've read into a warm, real bookshelf — right on your iPhone home screen. A cozy private library you actually want to look at. BRING YOUR LIBRARY HOME Every book you've read, standing on a beautiful shelf you can glance at without opening anything. As you finish books, the newest ones slide to the front — so your home screen quietly tells the story of what you've been reading, all year long. Still fully customizable, move the books around how you want, make changes to the shelf and background. THE WIDGET One of our premium paid features is to add the Papyrus widget in small, medium, or large. Your shelf lives on your home screen, gorgeous and glanceable. If you aren't interested in seeing the books then you can see your reading statistics - how many books and pages you've read this year. IMPORT IN SECONDS Bring your reading history over from Goodreads, StoryGraph, or any CSV in a single tap. Your past library fills your shelf instantly. No problem if you don't have any accounts - you can add books individually from our massive library. THREE WAYS TO SEE YOUR SHELF - Spine view with procedurally illustrated, cover-matched spines - Cover view to show off your front covers - A 3/4 perspective "crate" mode that feels like a real shelf Press and scrub to browse, and drag to reorder your books exactly how you like them. STATS THAT FEEL LIKE A FOLIO, NOT A DASHBOARD See how you rate, your fiction vs. nonfiction split, the decades you read across, and your favorite authors and genres — all rendered in big serif numerals with room to breathe. Look back on your year with Reading Wrapped. YOUR DATA STAYS YOURS Export your whole library any time — as a spreadsheet (CSV/XLSX) or a self-contained offline webpage. Free or Pro, your library is always yours to take with you. FREE TO START Try everything with up to 10 books in your collection — a real, full-fidelity trial, not a locked demo. Your wishlist is always unlimited and free. Upgrade to Pro to remove the collection cap and unlock your full library. Upgrade to Pro to unlock the full experience: - Unlimited collection — shelve every book you've ever read, no cap - Your complete library on every widget size and display mode - Full reading stats and Reading Wrapped across your entire history - Export your whole library any time — CSV, XLSX, or a self-contained offline webpage - No ads, no tracking, and your data is never sold — free or Pro Built by one person who wanted their bookshelf on their home screen. No ads. Your data is not sold. Just a beautiful place to keep the books you love. Bring your library home. Terms of Use (EULA): https://papyrus-b03fd.web.app/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://papyrus-b03fd.web.app/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bookbear at none against Papyrus's 3. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Papyrus sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Bookbear asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Bookbear | Papyrus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (21 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 94.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 21 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 35 MB | 20 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | WOO MIN PARK | Tyler Nam |
Bugs and requests
Bookbear
Reported bugs
3 issues- Book search not working (Lazykit.XOR error)
- Unable to delete incorrectly added books
- Calendar date selection jumps unexpectedly
Requested features
20 requests- Add ability to manually add books
- Implement account/login for data backup
- Add a memo/note-taking feature for books
- Include statistics (annual/monthly reading count, genre/author rankings)
- Allow editing of release dates
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- Add dark mode
- Option to customize calendar view (show ongoing books, book cover size)
- Add a reading timer
- Ability to record quotes or important sentences
- Allow multiple user profiles for family accounts
- Option to sort bookshelf by completion date
- Ability to hide star ratings
- Option to display only book titles in bookshelf
- Add a feature to mark 'favorite' or 'life books'
- Allow capturing the entire bookshelf as an image
- Add ability to record re-reads
- Improve book search speed
- Add option to select book start/read dates in calendar
- Allow adding photos to book entries
- Add option to export reading data
Papyrus
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bookbear
No in-app purchases
Papyrus
- Papyrus_monthly$1.991 Month
- papyrus yearly$14.991 Year
- papyrus lifetime$39.99









