Comparison

Bindery Books vs ShelfBee

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

Head to head
About

Bindery Books

Discover new books and connect with fellow readers through curated content and community features. Explore recommendations from trusted tastemakers and participate in the creation of new literary voices.

Highlights
  • Bookish content and commentary
  • Personalized reading recommendations
  • Thematic book collections
  • Join book communities and clubs
  • Participate in new author publishing
Features
Read full description

Bookish content, reading recommendations, book clubs, and the publishing of entirely new voices from tastemakers you trust. • Access bookish content: Get in depth commentary about books you love and notifications on the latest content from your favorite tastemakers • Discover your next read: Receive recommendations from leading tastemakers or browse their favorites in dynamic bookshelves and thematic collections • Build community: Discover people who share your taste by joining book communities, members-only Discords, and book clubs • A look inside publishing: Participate in the publication of brand new voices through tastemaker-led publishing imprints

About

ShelfBee

Instantly check ebook and audiobook availability in your local libraries directly from book pages on popular retail and review sites. Save desired titles to a list and get notified when they become available. Includes barcode scanning for quick lookups.

Highlights
  • Check availability on Amazon, Goodreads, B&N, etc.
  • See wait times and number of holds
  • Filter by ebook or audiobook
  • Save books to a Buzz List
  • Barcode scanning for book lookups
  • Syncs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Features
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See whether a book is available in your library's Libby/Overdrive collection — without leaving the page you're already on. ShelfBee adds a small button to book pages on Amazon, Goodreads, TheStoryGraph, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Hardcover, and Book of the Month, showing whether that title is available to borrow right now from the libraries you care about, how many people are waiting, and roughly how long a hold would take. A companion app adds barcode scanning and a Buzz List for books you want to check on later. HOW IT WORKS 1. Turn on the ShelfBee extension in Safari. The app walks you through it with a screenshot for every step. 2. Open the bee menu and search for your library by name. Add as many as you like. 3. Browse as usual. When you land on a book page, ShelfBee checks your libraries and shows you what it found. WHAT YOU SEE • Available now — ready to borrow immediately • On hold — with the number of people waiting and an estimated wait • Not available — so you can stop wondering Results are grouped by library and split by format, so you can tell at a glance which of your libraries has the ebook and which has the audiobook. BUZZ LIST & SCANNING Save a title to your Buzz List right from the button on any book page, then check back anytime to see if it's become available. On iPhone and iPad, the app can also scan a book's barcode to look it up on the spot — handy in a bookstore or browsing your own shelves. FEATURES • Works on Amazon (21 storefronts), Goodreads, TheStoryGraph, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Hardcover, and Book of the Month • Add as many libraries as you like — public, county, consortium, or university • Reorder your libraries so the one you borrow from most sits at the top • Filter by ebook or audiobook • Save books to a Buzz List and revisit them anytime • Scan a barcode to look up a book on iPhone and iPad • Your library list and Buzz List sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac through iCloud • Setup Guide and Troubleshooting built into the app NO ACCOUNT NEEDED No sign-up, no library card, no sign-in — not even for setup. ShelfBee reads public availability data, the same catalog information Libby shows, and never asks who you are. ONE-TIME PURCHASE Buy ShelfBee once and it's yours. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads, and nothing to unlock later. PRIVACY ShelfBee collects nothing. Your library choices and Buzz List live on your device and in your own iCloud account. Availability lookups go straight to OverDrive's public API, and scanned or searched books are looked up via Open Library and Google Books for title, author, and cover art — none of it linked to you. There's no ShelfBee server, no analytics, and no tracking of any kind. Questions or ideas: support@shelfbee.app ShelfBee is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OverDrive, Libby, Amazon, Goodreads, TheStoryGraph, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Hardcover, or Book of the Month.

Screenshots

Bindery Books4 screens
ShelfBee4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Bindery Books at Free against ShelfBee's $1.99. Bindery Books also leads on ratings volume (34 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On rating, review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Bindery Books is free to download; ShelfBee costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Bindery Books against 5.0 for ShelfBee. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bindery Books has 34 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bindery Books ships an update every 2 weeks, ShelfBee fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Bindery Books versus ShelfBee: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBindery BooksShelfBee
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating5.0 (34 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings34 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size33 MB7 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBindery Books, Inc.SCOTT TIMOTHY DENNIS

Customer experience

Bindery Books

All ratings34 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ShelfBee

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

In-app purchases

None

Bindery Books

No in-app purchases

None

ShelfBee

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bindery Books free?
Bindery Books is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ShelfBee free?
ShelfBee costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bindery Books or ShelfBee?
Bindery Books and ShelfBee are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 34 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Bindery Books or ShelfBee have ads?
Neither Bindery Books nor ShelfBee shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bindery Books or ShelfBee?
Bindery Books ships an update every 2 weeks, and ShelfBee fortnightly. Most recently, Bindery Books was updated on October 24, 2026 and ShelfBee on October 24, 2026.

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