Comparison

Bookends vs xLibrary

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

Head to head
About

Bookends

Build a reading habit with personalized goals and reminders. Organize your physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks with custom shelves and track your progress over time. Connect with friends for motivation and import your existing library.

Highlights
  • Reading habit building
  • Customizable reading goals
  • Physical, ebook, audiobook tracking
  • Organized bookshelves
  • Reading progress insights
  • Friend activity feed
  • Goodreads library import
Features
Read full description

Make time for more books. Bookends helps you build a reading habit, organize your bookshelves, and see your progress. Track physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks in the way that works for you. BUILD A HABIT THAT FITS YOUR DAY Set daily goals in pages, minutes, or percentage of a book. Use reading reminders and streaks to keep showing up. TRACK EVERY WAY YOU READ Time a reading session or log your progress. Track pages, percentage, or audiobook listening progress alongside your reading time. GIVE EVERY BOOK A PLACE Keep your current reads, finished books, and TBR organized. Create custom shelves and make your library your own. SEE YOUR READING ADD UP Look back at your reading time, pages, completed books, and streaks. Explore detailed insights into your reading habits. KEEP A LITTLE COMPANY Connect with friends and follow their recent reading activity for a little extra motivation. BRING YOUR BOOKS ALONG Import your Goodreads library to bring your existing reading history into Bookends. Bookends is free to download. Some features require Bookends Premium, available through in-app purchases. Terms and conditions: https://bookends.app/terms/ Privacy policy: https://bookends.app/privacy-policy/

About

xLibrary

Features
Read full description

xLibrary is your personal home library manager, built for readers who want everything about their collection in one place. Whether you have 50 books or 5,000, xLibrary helps you catalogue, track, and rediscover your physical collection, and now comes with a private ebook library built right in. SCAN AND SEARCH Scan any book barcode to add it instantly, or search by title and author. Rich metadata loads automatically: cover, synopsis, publisher, genres, page count and more. TRACK YOUR READING Tag books as Currently Reading, Next to Read, Must Re-Read, Read, or Wishlist. Log your current page and watch your progress bar fill up. Rate every book out of 5 stars and write personal notes. YOUR LIBRARY, YOUR WAY Browse in list view or switch to a 2 or 3-column grid. Filter by reading status, genre, or star rating. Search instantly across your entire collection. READING STATS See your library at a glance: total books, pages read, favourite genres, top authors, and a chart of your books by publication year. WISHLIST AND STORE AVAILABILITY Connect your favourite bookstore, and your wishlist checks live availability as you browse, so you always know which books you can pick up today. SHARE YOUR WISHLIST Tap one button to generate a shareable link to your wishlist. Anyone can open it in any browser, no app required. Perfect for sending to friends or family before your birthday. NYT BEST SELLERS Browse the New York Times Best Sellers lists and add books directly to your library or wishlist with a single tap. EBOOK MODE Tap and hold the xLibrary logo to switch into your own private, on-device ebook library, kept completely separate from your physical collection. Import your own EPUBs and PDFs, browse and download thousands of free classics from Project Gutenberg, or connect your Calibre-Web server to bring in your existing ebook collection. Read with a built-in EPUB and PDF viewer, adjust fonts, themes and layout to your liking, highlight passages and jot down notes, and track your ebook reading stats separately from your physical library. Switch back any time, the same way you got in. CLOUD BACKUP Sign in with your email, no password needed, just a 6-digit code. Your entire library is securely backed up and syncs across devices automatically. Works fully offline too. CUSTOM COVERS Not happy with the automatic cover? Take a photo of your physical book and use the built-in perspective crop editor to get a perfect shot. xLibrary works offline from the moment you open it.

Screenshots

Bookends4 screens
xLibrary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: xLibrary at none against Bookends's 3. xLibrary also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 10 days). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bookends sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. xLibrary asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bookends ships an update every 10 days, xLibrary every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Bookends versus xLibrary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBookendsxLibrary
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (7 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size49 MB23 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBookendsK2 Labs

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Bookends

Subscriptions2
  • Bookends Premium$3.991 Month
  • Bookends Premium Annnual$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$49.99
None

xLibrary

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bookends free?
Bookends is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is xLibrary free?
xLibrary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Bookends or xLibrary have ads?
Neither Bookends nor xLibrary shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bookends or xLibrary?
Bookends ships an update every 10 days, and xLibrary every 2 days. Most recently, Bookends was updated on October 30, 2026 and xLibrary on October 28, 2026.

Other comparisons