Comparison

Gutenberg Project vs Summit Free Public Library

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have more Gutenberg books, and many competitors are missing some classic Gutenberg books, and many competitors use outdated data from Gutenberg.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

Summit Free Public Library

Access your local library's catalog on the go. Search for books, place holds, manage your account, and even check out items using your mobile device. Explore a world of resources from anywhere.

Highlights
  • Search catalog
  • Reserve items
  • Manage library account
  • Mobile checkouts
  • Access online resources
Features
Read full description

Take the Summit Free Public Library everywhere you go! -Search the catalog and reserve items -Manage your library account -Check out items using your device -Access online resources and much more!

Screenshots

Gutenberg Project4 screens
Summit Free Public Library4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Summit Free Public Library at 4.8 against Gutenberg Project's 3.3. Summit Free Public Library also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). Gutenberg Project's advantage is review sentiment (41% vs 0%). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. Summit Free Public Library asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Summit Free Public Library holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 43 and 80 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 41% of Gutenberg Project's written reviews are positive against 0% of Summit Free Public Library's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gutenberg Project ships an update every 2 months, Summit Free Public Library every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Gutenberg Project versus Summit Free Public Library: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGutenberg ProjectSummit Free Public Library
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (43 ratings)4.8 (80 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.7% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4380 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB11 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developerhimalaya-softCapira Technologies, LLC.

Customer experience

Gutenberg Project

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

Summit Free Public Library

All ratings80 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Gutenberg Project

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • 504 bad gateway errors
  • App not working at all
  • App not showing any pages
  • Search doesn't find anything but error 404
  • Stopped working, will not load catalog
Show 11 more
  • Close when attempt to open current book
  • Could not download more than four pages
  • Downloaded books became confused
  • Every time you touch the screen wrong it flips the page
  • Sets you back to page one
  • Deleted all offline books and audiobook
  • Missing offline books
  • Cannot read the description of the book
  • Books open at the end
  • Too many redirects
  • Most buttons go to an 'email a friend' page or 'Access forbidden'

Requested features

10 requests
  • Ability to choose favorite colors for reading
  • Paid premium version with custom color combinations
  • Sourcing more Gutenberg sites
  • Option to make text black on white
  • Continuous ad at bottom or top instead of full page
Show 5 more
  • Less stylized page turn option (swipe or continuous scroll)
  • One app for finding, downloading, and reading
  • Ability to search Audiobooks by Genre
  • Ability to favorite and build a library
  • Night reading mode facility

Summit Free Public Library

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Gutenberg Project

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

Summit Free Public Library

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Gutenberg Project free?
Gutenberg Project is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Summit Free Public Library free?
Summit Free Public Library is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Gutenberg Project or Summit Free Public Library?
Summit Free Public Library is rated higher. Gutenberg Project averages 3.3 out of 5 from 43 ratings, while Summit Free Public Library averages 4.8 from 80 ratings.
Do Gutenberg Project or Summit Free Public Library have ads?
Neither Gutenberg Project nor Summit Free Public Library shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Gutenberg Project or Summit Free Public Library?
Gutenberg Project ships an update every 2 months, and Summit Free Public Library every 4 weeks. Most recently, Gutenberg Project was updated on October 26, 2026 and Summit Free Public Library on October 24, 2026.

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