Comparison

Character Memo vs StackBooks

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

Head to head
About

Character Memo

Features
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This app allows you to easily register characters, their notes, and the pages on which they appear when reading a novel. [ Features ] - In addition to characters, you can also categorize and register various terms. - Text recognition allows you to copy and paste text from images in your camera and photo library. - The registered data can be output to a CSV file. [ Privacy ] - The registered data is stored securely on your device and cannot be accessed from outside. - Passcode lock function available. Your passcode information is securely stored in Keychain, provided by Apple. Please use it as a companion while reading. You can also use it for movies, dramas, comics, etc.

About

StackBooks

Features
Read full description

A reading tracker that makes adding books easy โ€” and stacks up every book you finish. ADDING A BOOK IS ONE SCAN Point the camera at the barcode (ISBN) on the back of a book and the title, author, cover and page count are filled in. Scans run back to back, so a whole shelf takes a couple of minutes. You can also search by title or author and add a book from the results. WHAT YOU READ BECOMES HEIGHT The page count of each book turns into thickness, and your finished books pile up. Look back on how tall your stack has grown. A mug, an ostrich, a utility pole โ€” your stack is drawn next to things you know, so you can see how far it has come. You can also turn the stack into an image and share it. YOUR TBR PILE AND YOUR READS, SORTED Five statuses keep your books sorted: Wishlist, TBR, Reading, Read and Paused. Books you're curious about go to Wishlist; books you own but haven't read yet go to TBR. Move them to Reading when you start, Read when you finish, or Paused if you set them aside. You can also see how tall your TBR pile alone has grown. Finished books can hold a star rating, the date you finished, and a note about what you thought. Add tags and you can filter later by "fiction", "work", or anything else you use. RE-READS COUNT TOO When you read a book again, each read gets its own finish date and notes. EVERYTHING STAYS ON YOUR DEVICE Titles, notes, ratings and the cover photos you take are kept on your device, not on a server. There is no account and nothing to log in to. When you change phones, export a backup and import it on the new one. LOOK BACK ON YOUR READING Built-in reading stats. Books read, pages read and the height of your stack, whenever you want to see them. See how much you read by author or by tag. WHO IT IS FOR - Readers whose TBR pile got out of hand - Anyone who wants to count books and pages, not just titles - Readers who want to keep notes instead of a separate reading journal - Fiction, non-fiction and comics, tracked in one place - Anyone looking for a book tracker that works without an account FREE, WITH NO BANNER OR FULL-SCREEN ADS Every feature is free. No banner or full-screen ads, and no in-app purchases. ALSO - English and Japanese, following your device language - Stack height in cm/m or inches/feet, whichever you prefer - Works offline; only book search needs a connection

Screenshots

Character Memo4 screens
StackBooks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: StackBooks at none against Character Memo's shown. StackBooks also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 days) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.2). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Character Memo ships an update every 4 days, StackBooks every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Character Memo versus StackBooks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCharacter MemoStackBooks
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 2 days โ€” better
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS18.216.4 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size10 MB119 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTakatoshi SuzukiKenta Nobutani

In-app purchases

None

Character Memo

No in-app purchases

None

StackBooks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Character Memo free?
Character Memo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is StackBooks free?
StackBooks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Character Memo or StackBooks have ads?
Character Memo shows ads; StackBooks does not.
Which is updated more often, Character Memo or StackBooks?
Character Memo ships an update every 4 days, and StackBooks every 2 days. Most recently, Character Memo was updated on October 6, 2026 and StackBooks on October 8, 2026.

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