Comparison

Gutenberg Project 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 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apps have more Gutenberg books, and many competitors are missing some classic Gutenberg books, and many competitors use outdated data from Gutenberg.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

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 Project4 screens
Open Library Reader1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Open Library Reader at none against Gutenberg Project's 2. Open Library Reader also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Gutenberg Project's advantage is rating (3.3 vs 3.0) and review sentiment (41% vs 26%). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Gutenberg Project sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Open Library Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Gutenberg Project holds the better App Store score, 3.3 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 50 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Gutenberg Project'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 September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Gutenberg Project versus Open Library Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGutenberg ProjectOpen Library Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (43 ratings) — better3.0 (50 ratings)
Positive reviews40.7% of reviews — better26.2% of reviews
Number of ratings4350 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB24 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developerhimalaya-softLoomis House, LLC

Customer experience

Gutenberg Project

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

Open Library Reader

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

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Gutenberg Project

One-time2
  • Unlimited Reading$2.99
  • Unlimited Listening$2.99
None

Open Library Reader

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Gutenberg Project free?
Gutenberg Project is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Open Library Reader free?
Open Library Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Gutenberg Project or Open Library Reader?
Gutenberg Project is rated higher. Gutenberg Project averages 3.3 out of 5 from 43 ratings, while Open Library Reader averages 3.0 from 50 ratings.
Do Gutenberg Project or Open Library Reader have ads?
Neither Gutenberg Project nor Open Library Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gutenberg Project or Open Library Reader?
Gutenberg Project ships an update every 2 months, and Open Library Reader every 2 months. Most recently, Gutenberg Project was updated on September 23, 2026 and Open Library Reader on September 22, 2026.

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