BookOwl vs Readory
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BookOwl
Organize your reading life with this free companion app. Build your personal library, track your progress, and customize your profile. Import data from other services and scan books instantly. Enjoy personalized recommendations and share your reading insights.
- Barcode scanner for instant book addition
- Import from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Audible, Libby
- Customizable profile with aurora colors
- Half and quarter-star rating system
- Custom shelves and curated book lists
- Reading progress tracking
- Yearly reading goals and streaks
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Your reading life, delightfully organized. BookOwl is a free reading companion for people who love books. Build your personal library, track what you're reading, and make the app feel like yours, all without ads, clutter, or data harvesting. Available on iOS and at bookowlapp.com. NEW: THE SIT TAB The Sit tab gives reading sessions a home. Start a sit, set a timer, and read. BookOwl keeps you company. Capture a mood, a scene, or a pinned moment mid-read without losing your place (speak it instead of typing, if you like). When you close the book, a wrap-up card logs how far you got and how the sit felt. A COMPLETELY REDESIGNED LIBRARY: Your library now opens like a magazine. A masthead greets you with the books you're reading now, The Lead carousel keeps your current reads one swipe away, and your shelves sit beneath. Pinch to zoom from big covers down to a compact index. The new Contents view puts shelves, filters, and sorting in one place, with breadcrumb chips showing what's active. YOUR THOUGHTS, ORGANIZED BY BOOK: Everything you capture lands where you'll find it again: pinned passages on the book's page, your moods across the book's arc, even why you set a book down. Make the capture chips your own with custom moods and scenes. Your written thoughts stay private, always. TRACK PROGRESS WITHOUT THE FUSS: Update your page, your status, and your reading dates in one place with the new progress editor. Edit or delete any past read. Your history stays accurate and syncs everywhere. MAKE IT YOURS WITH 12 THEMES: Every theme hand-tuned, from the warm sepia of Quiet Warmth to the banker's-lamp green of Reading Room, all meeting accessibility contrast standards. YOUR PROFILE, YOUR WAY: Five tabbed sections: Overview, Collections, Reviews, Stats, and Personal. Choose which reading stats sit front and center. Pick your aurora colors. Arrange your sections. PRIVACY THAT MAKES SENSE: One toggle. Three options: Public, Friends Only, or Private. Visitors see a friendly banner explaining what's shared. IMPORT FROM ANYWHERE: Switching from another app? Import your full reading history from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Audible (via OCR), or Libby. Your ratings, shelves, and reading dates all come with you. Export to CSV or JSON anytime. Your data belongs to you. SCAN BOOKS IN SECONDS: Point your camera at any barcode. BookOwl identifies it instantly and adds it to your library. Stack of books at a used bookstore? Scan them all in one session. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY: Custom shelves and curated lists for any purpose: "Beach Reads," "Book Club," "Lent to Friends." FIND YOUR NEXT READ: Personalized recommendations, author pages, series with reading order, and a catalog of millions of books. USE IT ANYWHERE: Web app at bookowlapp.com with the same profile and achievements. Your data syncs across devices. BUILT FOR READERS, NOT ADVERTISERS: No ads. No engagement tricks. No data selling. Just a calm, thoughtful space for your reading life, built by a reader, for readers. • Sit tab: timed reading sessions with a wrap-up card • Capture moods, scenes, and pinned moments mid-read • Voice capture: speak your thoughts without stopping • Redesigned Library: The Lead carousel and pinch-to-zoom shelves • Barcode scanner: add books in seconds • Import from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Audible, or Libby • Export your library to CSV or JSON • Progress editor: pages, status, and dates in one place • Edit or delete past reads anytime • 12 hand-tuned themes and alternate app icons • Customizable profile with aurora colors and hero stats • Half-star and quarter-star ratings • Custom shelves, collections, and curated book lists • Yearly reading goals and streaks • Year in Review: shareable reading personality cards • Series tracking with reading order • Privacy controls: Public, Friends Only, or Private • Social features: follow friends, reviews, profiles Whether you read 5 books a year or 50, BookOwl helps you remember every one. Whooo's ready to get started?
Readory
This app helps readers track their reading habits, log books, and journal their thoughts. It offers a reading timer with ambient sounds, detailed statistics, and goal setting to enhance the reading experience. All your reading data is stored locally for privacy.
- Track reading status (Currently Reading, Finished)
- Immersive reading timer with ambient sounds
- Create highlights and voice/photo notes
- Detailed reading statistics and achievements
- Live Activity for Lock Screen visibility
- Organized library with grid view and filters
- Set reading goals and track streaks
- Import Goodreads library
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Readory is a beautifully crafted book tracker designed for readers who care about their reading life. Whether you read one book a month or one a week, Readory helps you build lasting reading habits, read together with friends, and capture every thought along the way. • Track Your Reading Journey Add books instantly by scanning barcodes, searching by title, or importing your Goodreads library. Track your reading status — Currently Reading, Want to Read, Finished, or Did Not Finish — and mark Want to Read books as Owned, Wishlist, or Preordered so you always know what's next to pick up. • Read Together — Book Club Start a book club or join one with a 6-letter invite code — joining is always free. Set a reading rhythm, share spoiler-safe notes that unlock as members catch up, and react to what others are reading. Join a live Silent Reading Room to read in comfortable silence alongside your club, see who's reading with you in real time, and rate the book together once everyone finishes. • Immersive Reading Timer Start a reading session with our focused timer. Choose from five ambient sounds — Rain, Fire, Café, Nature, or Library — to create your perfect reading atmosphere. When you're done, log your pages and see your progress update in real time. • Capture Every Thought Create highlights and personal notes as you read. Attach voice recordings to capture ideas hands-free, or photograph memorable pages. Your reading journal grows with every book. • Beautiful Stats & Achievements See your reading life come alive with detailed statistics — books finished, pages read, total reading time, and your best streak. Earn achievements like First Chapter, Flame Keeper, and Night Reader as you reach new milestones. • Live Activity Keep your reading session visible on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Always know how long you've been reading without opening the app. • Your Library, Always Organized Browse your collection in a beautiful grid view, or arrange it exactly how you like with manual drag-and-reorder. Create custom lists to organize books your way, add your own cover photos, filter by reading status, and search instantly — every book, every detail, right where you need it. • Reading Goals & Streaks Set an annual reading goal and track your progress throughout the year. Build a daily reading streak and stay motivated with milestone notifications that celebrate your consistency. • Goodreads Import Switching from another app? Import your entire Goodreads library in seconds via CSV export. Your books, ratings, and reading status come along for the ride. • Designed With Care Readory features a warm, editorial aesthetic inspired by the joy of physical books. Custom typography, hand-crafted illustrations, and a cream-toned palette create an experience that feels like home for book lovers. • Your Data, Your Reading Life Your personal library — books, notes, highlights, and reading sessions — stays private on your device. Book Club is opt-in and uses a secure server only to sync shared club activity like notes and live sessions. We ask for tracking permission per Apple's guidelines to help measure how our updates perform; you're always free to decline, and the app works exactly the same either way. Start your reading story today. Note: Readory offers premium subscription options for enhanced capabilities, including creating your own Book Club. Subscriptions are processed through Apple's App Store. Terms, conditions and privacy policy available at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of use & Privacy policy: https://sites.google.com/view/readory-app/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: BookOwl at none against Readory's 3. BookOwl also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (92% vs 63%). On price, rating, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Readory sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. BookOwl asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for BookOwl against 4.7 for Readory. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 45 and 17 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 92% of BookOwl's written reviews are positive against 63% of Readory's.
BookOwl ships an update every 2 weeks, Readory monthly. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.
| Parameter | BookOwl | Readory |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (45 ratings) — better | 4.7 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 92.3% of reviews — better | 62.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 45 — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Phil Getzen | Volkan ozturk |
Customer experience
BookOwl
Readory
In-app purchases
BookOwl
No in-app purchases
Readory
- Readory Pro Weekly7 Days trial$2.997 Days
- Readory Pro Yearly (50% Off)$19.991 Year
- Readory Pro Yearly3 Days trial$39.991 Year









