# DeerReader vs My Shelf Player

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: My Shelf Player at none against DeerReader's 1. My Shelf Player also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. DeerReader sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per year. My Shelf Player asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for DeerReader against 5.0 for My Shelf Player. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

DeerReader ships an update every 5 weeks, My Shelf Player every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | DeerReader | My Shelf Player |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/deerreader-audiobook-player/id6748619971/reviews) | [5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/my-shelf-player/id6765977265/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | **Every 4 weeks** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Size | 27 MB | 11 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.1 | **17.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Cloverfield Technologies LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1744210662) | [Andrew Kozhokaru](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896148548) |

## What reviewers say

### DeerReader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/deerreader-audiobook-player/id6748619971)

Organize and listen to your digital audiobooks with a beautiful, intelligent player. Features adaptive UI, fast search, and automatic sorting into collections using AI. Enjoy a seamless listening experience with home screen widget access.

**Highlights:** Adaptive player UI matching audiobook cover, Fast, unified search for books and authors, Home screen widget for instant access, AI-powered automatic organization into collections, Intuitive playback controls, Support for large digital libraries

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Yearly Support Subscription | $9.99 | per year |


### My Shelf Player

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/my-shelf-player/id6765977265)

This app connects to your self-hosted Audiobookshelf server to provide a clean, native audiobook listening experience. Enjoy features like playback speed adjustment, sleep timers, bookmarks, and offline listening, all without ads or tracking.

**Highlights:** Connect to Audiobookshelf server, Browse library by various categories, Stream and download audiobooks, Resume playback progress, Create and manage bookmarks, Adjust playback speed and skip controls, Set sleep timers, Apple Watch control

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is DeerReader free?

DeerReader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is My Shelf Player free?

My Shelf Player is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, DeerReader or My Shelf Player?

DeerReader and My Shelf Player are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 2 ratings respectively.

### Do DeerReader or My Shelf Player have ads?

Neither DeerReader nor My Shelf Player shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, DeerReader or My Shelf Player?

DeerReader ships an update every 5 weeks, and My Shelf Player every 4 weeks. Most recently, DeerReader was updated on October 30, 2026 and My Shelf Player on October 31, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*