Comparison

Gutenberg Project vs Librivox

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

Head to head
About

Gutenberg Project

Access over 60,000 classic books and 7,000 human-read audiobooks from Project Gutenberg. Enjoy a beautiful reading experience with synchronized audio and text, intelligent table of contents, and personalized recommendations based on user data. Export books with notes and bookmarks.

Highlights
  • Access 60,000+ classic books
  • 7,000+ human-read audiobooks
  • Synchronized read-along audio/text
  • Intelligent Table of Contents
  • Big data-driven recommendations
  • Export books with notes/bookmarks
Features
Read full description

【Premier Reader】: This app costs $6, and our users are paying for it each and every day. Why? It is the best Gutenberg Reader: beautiful images, elegant formatting, and graceful page turning. 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. 【Audio books】: There are more than 7,000 human-read audio books, all for the price of a cup of coffee. Alternatively you could pay $3-5 for a single audiobook as some of the "Audio app" would ask you to pay. 【Book recommendation】: Every app gives you a list of book recommendation, but where did they find the list? dreamed up in 'lala' land? We base our recommendation solidly on big data, tens of millions of pages actually read by our users. Downloading or page flipping has no effect on the ranking of our recommendation list. 【Number of Books】: No other apps have more Gutenberg books, and many competitors are missing some classic Gutenberg books, and many competitors use outdated data from Gutenberg. 【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). 【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 bookmarks and the notes you inserted into the book to anyone and any device, or save it i the cloud (google drive, one drive, or iCloud). * The PAID version "Gutenberg Books" allows unlimited reading and listening.

About

Librivox

Access a vast library of public domain e-books and audiobooks from Librivox and Project Gutenberg. Explore over 10,000 audiobooks and 50,000 written books in multiple languages, including classics and popular titles.

Highlights
  • Public domain e-books
  • Public domain audiobooks
  • 10,000+ audiobooks
  • 50,000+ written books
  • Multiple languages
  • Classic literature
Features
Read full description

Librivoxer app is a collection of largest public domain e-book and audiobooks from Librivox and Project Gutenberg. This app contains more than 10.000 audiobooks and more than 50.000 written books in different languages such as Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog. With this application you will be able to reach world's greatest literature from your device. Top 50 e-books: 1- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 2- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 3- The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman 4- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 5- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle 6- Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 7 -The Bayeux Tapestry Elucidated by John Collingwood Bruce 8- Why Men Fight by Bertrand Russell 9- Dracula by Bram Stoker 10- The Young Train Dispatcher by Burton Egbert Stevenson Top Audio Books: 1- Pride and Prejudice 2- Jane Eyre 3- Persuasion 4- Anne of Green Gables 5- Emma 6- Little Women 7- The Count of Monte Cristo 8- Mansfield Park 9- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 10- Wuthering Heights Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.webronsoftware.co.uk/mobile-apps/librivox-ebooks-audiobooks/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Gutenberg Project4 screens
Librivox4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Librivox at 4.4 against Gutenberg Project's 3.3. Librivox also leads on review sentiment (53% vs 41%) and monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs paid). Gutenberg Project's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support 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. Gutenberg Project sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Librivox sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Librivox holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Librivox has 239 ratings behind it against 43, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Gutenberg Project's written reviews are positive against 53% of Librivox's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gutenberg Project ships an update every 2 months, Librivox every 3 months. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Gutenberg Project versus Librivox: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGutenberg ProjectLibrivox
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (43 ratings)4.4 (239 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.7% of reviews53.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings43239 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB42 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developerhimalaya-softWebron Software LTD

Customer experience

Gutenberg Project

All ratings43 ratings
Positive53.5%
Neutral9.3%
Negative37.2%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive40.7%
Neutral6.8%
Negative52.5%

Librivox

All ratings239 ratings
Positive84.9%
Neutral4.6%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive53.3%
Neutral13.3%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Gutenberg Project

One-time2
  • Unlimited Reading$2.99
  • Unlimited Listening$2.99
5 purchases

Librivox

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Weekly Subscription$6.997 Days
  • Yearly Subscription$39.991 Year
One-time2
  • Premium$49.99
  • Lifetime Premium$49.99

Questions

Is Gutenberg Project free?
Gutenberg Project is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Librivox free?
Librivox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Gutenberg Project or Librivox?
Librivox is rated higher. Gutenberg Project averages 3.3 out of 5 from 43 ratings, while Librivox averages 4.4 from 239 ratings.
Do Gutenberg Project or Librivox have ads?
Librivox shows ads; Gutenberg Project does not.
Which is updated more often, Gutenberg Project or Librivox?
Gutenberg Project ships an update every 2 months, and Librivox every 3 months. Most recently, Gutenberg Project was updated on September 23, 2026 and Librivox on September 23, 2026.

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