Comparison

Book Tracking vs The Shelf

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

Head to head
About

Book Tracking

This app helps you track your reading progress by logging pages and time spent reading. Set goals, view your reading consistency on a heatmap, and organize your digital library. Earn badges and rewards to stay motivated and read more books.

Highlights
  • Smart progress tracking
  • Goals and challenges
  • Heatmap view for consistency
  • Intelligent reminders and badges
  • Digital library organization
  • Detailed reading statistics
Features
Read full description

Book Tracking helps you read more consistently by turning your books, pages, goals, notes and streaks into clear daily progress. Your reading life deserves more than scattered notes, forgotten page numbers, or messy spreadsheets. With Book Tracking, you can organize your personal library, manage your TBR, log pages in seconds, track reading time, save notes and quotes, follow your goals, and see your progress grow over time. YOUR PERSONAL LIBRARY Add books in seconds by searching online, scanning an ISBN barcode, or entering details manually. Organize every title by status: • To Read • Reading • Finished • DNF Keep your books easy to find, update, and beautifully displayed. TRACK PAGES & PROGRESS Always know where you stopped. Log your current page, track your completion percentage, and turn every reading session into visible progress. Track: • Pages read • Books finished • Reading sessions • Time spent reading • Daily streaks • Reading goals READING TIMER & SESSIONS Use the built-in timer to track focused reading sessions. Save your minutes, pages, and progress so you can better understand your real reading habits. TBR, GOALS & STREAKS Stay motivated with simple visual progress. Follow your TBR, set reading goals, build daily streaks, and keep moving toward the books you want to finish. READING STATS & HEATMAP See your activity with clear, motivating statistics. Track books, pages, time, consistency, goals, and habits with progress charts and a monthly reading heatmap. NOTES, QUOTES, RATINGS & REVIEWS Remember more from every book. Save personal notes, favorite quotes, star ratings, and reviews so your library becomes a real reading journal, not just a list. MADE FOR REAL READERS Book Tracking is perfect for: • Book lovers and avid readers • Students • Busy professionals • Book club readers • BookTok and Bookstagram readers • Readers clearing their TBR • Anyone who wants to build a consistent reading habit WHY BOOK TRACKING? Because reading more is easier when your progress is visible. Book Tracking helps you organize your library, remember what you read, stay consistent, and make every page count. Download Book Tracking today and fall in love with your library again. IMPORTANT Book Tracking is designed for book tracking, reading progress, library management, and reading journaling. Books are not read inside the app, and the app does not provide full book content or e-reader functionality. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS •Book Tracking offers optional auto-renewable subscriptions that unlock premium features. •Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. •Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. •Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. •You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your App Store account settings. •Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://readtracker.net/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://readtracker.net/terms-of-use/

About

The Shelf

Organize your entire book collection, track reading progress, and capture notes and quotes. This app offers a private, customizable space to manage your reading life, from adding new books to reviewing past sessions.

Highlights
  • Build and organize your book library
  • Track reading progress and focus sessions
  • Save notes, quotes, and journal entries
  • View detailed reading statistics
  • Customize app appearance
  • Sync and export library data
Features
Read full description

The Shelf is a private reading tracker for stories you love, books you study, and everything in between. Search or scan a book, choose the edition that matches yours, then track only what feels useful. BUILD YOUR LIBRARY • Search by title, author, or ISBN, explore author pages, or scan one book or a whole stack. • Keep each edition or physical copy as its own book with its own details, progress, sessions, and history. • Mark books as Owned, add to Wishlist, or Track borrowed books. • Organize books with reading status, your own Lists, shelf locations, and Subjects. • Import Goodreads or StoryGraph CSV files and export a complete backup whenever you want. TRACK READING WITHOUT FRICTION • Update pages, percentage, audiobook position, chapters, or study problems. • Start a focused Reading, Listening, or Study session from any book. • Record starting and ending pages, then see pace, pages read, records, session patterns, and estimated time to finish after your first session. • Keep every re-read separate, with its own dates, rating, mood, and notes. REMEMBER WHAT YOU READ • Save Book notes, dated notes, favorite quotes, page references, scanned text, and photographs. • Search across your Library and jump directly to a Book note or annotation, with the matching text brought into view. • Make chapters, study problems, and annotations easier to discover through gentle, dismissible suggestions on each Book. BORROW AND LEND WITH CLARITY • Keep editable borrowing and lending histories for each book. • Record people, dates, due dates, shelf locations, and optional notes. • Reuse recent people and locations while keeping every field free-form. SEE YOUR READING LIFE • Explore daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and recent activity. • See goals, streaks, totals, records, and finished books on a reading calendar. • Compare progress by Subject and view your library as a prerequisite map. • Revisit books, notes, and quotes from this day in earlier years. MAKE IT FEEL LIKE YOURS • Choose your own background and accent colors, or start with an included Look. • Pair a Solid or Gradient background with System, Glass, Soft Depth, Lined Paper, Dot Grid, or Dog-eared Page cards. • Invite Dewey into Book and Focus views, then choose his hat, accessory, prop, and colors. • Celebrate the moments you choose with Confetti, Sparkles, or Stars. MADE FOR IPHONE AND IPAD • Use widgets, Spotlight, Siri, Live Activities, Split View, and Stage Manager. • Sync with iCloud when you choose and keep a complete JSON backup. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No accounts, ads, tracking, analytics, or subscriptions. • Optional book lookup sends only a title, author, or ISBN after you ask the app to search or fetch. • Camera images and recognized text stay on your device or in your own optional private iCloud library. • Use the optional system privacy lock and outside-app redaction when you want them. • Turn Online Lookup off for a fully offline library. Pay once, own it forever.

Screenshots

Book Tracking4 screens
The Shelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Book Tracking at Free against The Shelf's $4.99. Book Tracking also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). The Shelf's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 3.7) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). On review sentiment, 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

Book Tracking is free to download; The Shelf costs $4.99 up front. Book Tracking sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. The Shelf asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Shelf holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 3 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Book Tracking ships an update every 3 months, The Shelf every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Book Tracking versus The Shelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBook TrackingThe Shelf
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating3.7 (3 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings33
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developersylvain loiratAntonio Gordillo Toledo

Customer experience

Book Tracking

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

The Shelf

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Book Tracking

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly Pro Full Access3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Yearly Pro Full Access3 Days trial$14.991 Year
None

The Shelf

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Book Tracking free?
Book Tracking is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Shelf free?
The Shelf costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Book Tracking or The Shelf?
The Shelf is rated higher. Book Tracking averages 3.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while The Shelf averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Book Tracking or The Shelf have ads?
Neither Book Tracking nor The Shelf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Book Tracking or The Shelf?
Book Tracking ships an update every 3 months, and The Shelf every 3 days. Most recently, Book Tracking was updated on October 20, 2026 and The Shelf on October 2, 2026.

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