Comparison

HomeBooks vs Bukon

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

Head to head
About

HomeBooks

Effortlessly catalog your entire book collection by simply scanning shelves or pages. Track reading habits with visual progress rings and save quotes instantly via photo or voice. Organize your library, import from other services, and enjoy a private, ad-free experience.

Highlights
  • Shelfie Scanner for instant book identification
  • Reading progress rings and habit tracking
  • Page and voice note saving for quotes
  • Customizable shelves and themes
  • Import from Goodreads and StoryGraph
  • Private and ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

SCAN WHOLE SHELVES INSTANTLY - The "Shelfie Scanner" feels like magic. Just snap a photo of your bookshelf, and HomeBooks identifies every book, downloads the covers, and organizes them for you. No typing, no barcodes, just your library in your pocket. CLOSE YOUR READING RINGS - Build a reading habit without the pressure. - Set a gentle daily goal—pages or minutes—and watch your progress rings close as you read. - Track your streaks, see your reading velocity, and look back on your year in books. SAVE QUOTES WITHOUT TYPING - Don’t put the book down to type out a long passage. - Page Scanner: Snap a photo of the text, and we’ll turn it into a digital note instantly. - Voice Notes: Speak your thoughts while you read, and we’ll transcribe and save them to the right book automatically. YOUR LIBRARY, YOUR WAY 
 - Customize your books’ covers - Organize books into custom shelves (Read, TBR, Favorites, etc.) - Create a "Wishlist" - Customize the app themes to match your vibe 
IMPORT YOUR EXISTING LIBRARY
 - Import from Goodreads or StoryGraph in seconds - Bring in your books, reviews, progress seamlessly 
 PRIVATE BY DEFAULT - HomeBooks is built by a solo developer, not a big tech company. - No ads. - No selling your data. - No social clutter. Just a safe, beautiful home for your books. Privacy Policy: https://www.homebooks.app/privacy-policy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.homebooks.app/terms-of-use

About

Bukon

Easily manage your reading lists. Track books you've read and those you want to read. Search online, scan ISBNs, or add manually, then rate and organize your collection.

Highlights
  • Track read books
  • Track books to read
  • Search and add books online
  • Scan ISBN codes
  • Manually create books
  • Rate books
  • Export lists
Features
Read full description

Bukon lets you track and manage your books: • Track books you've read • Track books you want to read • Manage the two lists of books Bukon is an intentionally simple book tracker: No accounts. No social features. No statistics. No ads. Just the books you’ve read and the ones you want to read. What Bukon offers • Track books you’ve read • Track books you want to read • Search for books online and add them to your lists • Scan ISBN codes to add books even quicker to your lists (Pro-Feature) • Manually create books and add them to your lists • Rate books • Maintain a read date for the books you've read • Move books between lists • Search for books in your lists • Share books • Share lists and export lists to multiple formats • Store the lists on iCloud or locally • Have the two lists always with you on your Apple Watch What Bukon does not offer • No social features • No statistics or gamification • No ads or tracking To help you finding books, Bukon connects to Open Library and allows you to search its wide library of books. Book-information from Open Library like descriptions and cover-images can be used in Bukon.

Screenshots

HomeBooks4 screens
Bukon4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Bukon at 5.0 against HomeBooks's 4.8. HomeBooks's advantage is ratings volume (8 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.5 vs 18). On price, 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

Both are free to download. HomeBooks sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Bukon sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bukon holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HomeBooks ships an update every 9 days, Bukon every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
HomeBooks versus Bukon: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHomeBooksBukon
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (8 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings8 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.5 — better18
Further details — not scored
Size233 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHomeBooks Technologies Inc.Marc Menges

Customer experience

HomeBooks

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bukon

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

HomeBooks

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription$39.991 Year
1 purchases

Bukon

One-time1
  • Bukon Pro$2.99

Questions

Is HomeBooks free?
HomeBooks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bukon free?
Bukon is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HomeBooks or Bukon?
Bukon is rated higher. HomeBooks averages 4.8 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Bukon averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do HomeBooks or Bukon have ads?
Neither HomeBooks nor Bukon shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HomeBooks or Bukon?
HomeBooks ships an update every 9 days, and Bukon every 2 weeks. Most recently, HomeBooks was updated on November 5, 2026 and Bukon on October 31, 2026.

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