Margins vs Bookspark
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Margins
This app helps you discover, track, and share your reading journey. It offers detailed tracking options, customizable features, and powerful search capabilities. Stay focused on your reading goals with built-in tools to minimize distractions.
- Half-star ratings
- Track recommendations
- Customizable book covers
- Fuzzy date tracking
- Advanced book search
- Reading goals
- Reading timer
- Distraction blocking
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Margins is a beautifully designed app for people who love books. - App of the Day in 20+ countries - 4.9 rating (40,000+ reviews) - Featured in USA Today, BookRiot, and more TRACK YOUR READING - Log books, series, authors, recommendations, and more - Track Strava-style goals, stats, and streaks - Curate lists of books you care about SEARCH BOOKS BY VIBES - Search books by mood, plot, setting, vibe, and more - Try things like “books like 1920s Paris,” “thriller with a love triangle,” or “indie romantasy” - You can even turn images from Pinterest or your camera roll into book recommendations BLOCK DISTRACTING APPS - Block social media, notifications, and other apps while you read - Use meditation reading timer for soothing rain sounds CHOOSE YOUR COVERS - Pick the cover that matches your version of the book - Curate covers to fit your aesthetic - Sort your library by color CUSTOMIZE YOUR PROFILE - Turn your picture into a sketched portrait you’d see in a book - Show off your favorite books SEE WHAT FRIENDS ARE READING - Find and follow other book lovers - See what they’re reading in Stories - Enjoy gorgeous, hand-illustrated monthly recaps INVITE YOUR BOOK CLUB - Schedule gatherings - Suggest and vote on books - Log your club’s history LEAVE GOODREADS FOR GOOD - Import from Goodreads, StoryGraph, and Fable - Half-star ratings - Support a small, indie team WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING “LOVE this app! so easy to import data from goodreads. it excels where others fail. like letterboxd for books. Really glad there’s finally a good book app out there, i’ve been waiting for something like this!” — scruffythejanitor01 “I love the UI of this app, easy to use and aesthetically pleasing. Also, I've been struggling getting back into reading and the screentime feature has helped me loads. I haven't been able to read this much since 4 years ago. Thank you Margins” — mitakaluvr “The search by vibes is so cool. I am a WWII buff, but this search popped up a two-book WWII saga I had never even heard of, much less read. It ended up being my top read of 2025.” —Michigancolt FREE TO USE Almost all features are free to use. An optional subscription unlocks premium features and priority support. FOLLOW US Instagram: @readwithmargins TikTok: @margins TERMS OF USE Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Margins Terms of Service: https://margins.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://margins.app/privacy “Without the margins, writing is just words on a page. But with them, each of us is invited to leave our mark in the endless conversation between books and the people that love them.” — Excerpt from the Margins manifesto
Bookspark
This app helps you build a reading habit by tracking your progress, logging reading sessions, and saving memorable quotes. It offers a calm, personal experience without social pressure or competition. Organize your library, set goals, and visualize your reading journey.
- Track current, finished, and TBR books
- Organize books into personal lists
- Time focused reading sessions
- Save memorable passages as Spark Cards
- Set annual reading goals
- Visualize reading streaks and insights
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Bookspark turns reading into a habit you can feel and a story you can see. Track the books you want to read, time focused sessions, save the lines that stay with you, and watch quiet daily effort become real momentum. Bookspark is intentionally calm: no noisy social feed, no competition, and no pressure to read at someone else’s pace. YOUR READING, IN ONE PLACE • Keep current reads, finished books, and your TBR together • Update pages and see progress at a glance • Organize books into personal lists STAY WITH THE PAGE • Time focused reading sessions • Follow your daily spark and reading streak • Explore calendars and reading-time insights KEEP WHAT MOVES YOU • Save memorable passages as immersive Spark Cards • Revisit the lines you want to remember • Set an annual goal and optional reading reminders BOOKSPARK PRO Upgrade for an unlimited library, unlimited lists and sessions, and advanced longer-term insights. Choose monthly, yearly, or lifetime access. Pricing is shown in your local currency before purchase. Auto-renewable subscriptions can be managed or cancelled in Bookspark Customer Center or Apple ID settings. Your reading data stays on your device. No account is required. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://workit.fitness/privacy-policy/
Screenshots
Verdict
Margins and Bookspark both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 95% of Margins's written reviews are positive against 50% of Bookspark's. Margins also leads on ratings volume (20K vs 2) and chart position (#63 vs unranked). Bookspark's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Margins sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Bookspark sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Margins against 5.0 for Bookspark. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Margins has 20K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Margins's written reviews are positive against 50% of Bookspark's.
Margins ships an update every 4 days, Bookspark weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Margins | Bookspark |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (20K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 95.2% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 20K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #63 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 115 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Paratext Inc. | Workit Inc |
Customer experience
Margins
Bookspark
Bugs and requests
Margins
Reported bugs
3 issues- Reading time not saving correctly
- Inability to delete or edit books from lists
- Inconsistent behavior when importing data from Goodreads
Requested features
4 requests- Add ability to track page progress and percentage read
- Implement a profile system with custom avatars and bios
- Introduce a social feed to share reading activity with friends
- Add more advanced statistics and reading analytics
Bookspark
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Margins
- Monthly$5.991 Month
- Monthly$9.991 Month
- Annual$59.991 Year
Bookspark
- Bookspark Pro Monthly$6.991 Month
- Bookspark Pro Yearly$34.991 Year
- Bookspark Pro Lifetime$79.99









