Comparison

Linkwarden vs BookStax

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

Head to head
About

Linkwarden

Collect, organize, and preserve important links for offline access. Save content directly from your device's share sheet and enjoy a reader view for a focused reading experience.

Highlights
  • Organize links
  • Save from share sheet
  • Offline reading
  • Cache data
  • Reader view
Read full description

The official Linkwarden companion mobile app. Collect, read, and fully preserve what matters! Here are the current features so far: - Create and organize links - Save links from share sheet - Full offline support - Highlights & annotations - Customizable reader view - And more! Please note that we’re adding new features with every new release! Note: Linkwarden requires either a Linkwarden Cloud subscription or a connection to your own self-hosted Linkwarden server. Terms of Use: https://linkwarden.app/tos Privacy Policy: https://linkwarden.app/privacy-policy

About

BookStax

Access and manage your self-hosted BookStack knowledge base natively on iPhone. Edit pages with a Markdown editor, search your content, and access it offline. Prioritizes privacy with secure API token storage.

Highlights
  • BookStack hierarchy navigation
  • Full-text search with filters
  • Markdown editor with live preview
  • Offline read access
  • Secure API token connection
  • Light/Dark/System mode
  • Multi-language support
Features
Read full description

BookStax brings your self-hosted BookStack wiki to iPhone and iPad as a native app. Read, write and search – directly on your own server. Read • Shelves, books, chapters and pages – the same structure as in BookStack • Images, callouts, tables and collapsible blocks look like they do on the web • Favorites and recently opened pages on the home screen Write • Markdown editor with preview, or the visual editor • Upload images, add tags, insert callouts • Quick Note: capture an idea – without a connection it is uploaded later Search • Full-text search with filters for content type and tag • Find downloaded pages in Spotlight, too Notifications (Pro) • Push notifications from your wiki: new and updated pages, comments, new chapters and books • For admins: keep an eye on new users, registrations, API tokens and changed settings • Choose the events per server – BookStax sets up the webhook in BookStack Offline and widgets • Download books and shelves and browse them without a connection, images included • Widgets for your favorites and an overview of your wiki AI helpers for your pages • Summarize, translate or proofread your own pages • With Apple Intelligence right on your device, or with an AI service you connect yourself Privacy • Your API token is stored in the iOS Keychain. If you like, Face ID or Touch ID locks the app. • BookStax connects to your BookStack server. AI requests go only to the service you set up yourself. • For notifications, BookStack sends events to the BookStax push service. It only forwards the ones you choose to Apple and stores no content. • Anonymous usage statistics (e.g. first launch, server connected) help improve the app – no server addresses, content or personal data. You can turn them off in Settings under "Security". Free and Pro Reading, writing, search, offline reading, widgets and AI are free. BookStax Pro, a one-time purchase, adds: • Notifications from BookStack: pages, comments, books and administration • Shortcuts & Siri: search, open and create pages, fetch content for your own automations • Sharing & export: share page links, export as PDF, Markdown, HTML or text, save text, links and photos from other apps to BookStack • Offline editing with automatic sync • Multiple server profiles • Three premium reader themes, a custom accent colour, one colour per server Requirements • Your own BookStack instance and an API token from your BookStack profile • No server yet? You can try BookStax with the BookStack demo server right in the app. Good to know — BookStax is an independent client and not an official product of the BookStack project. It requires your own self-hosted BookStack server and does not include a server of its own. About the project: https://www.bookstackapp.com / BookStax Pro is a one-time purchase – no subscription, no automatic renewal. Purchases can be restored in the app. / Terms of use (Apple's standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Linkwarden4 screens
BookStax4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: BookStax at 5.0 against Linkwarden's 4.1. BookStax also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). Linkwarden's advantage is ratings volume (15 vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.6). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. Linkwarden sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.00 per month and BookStax sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BookStax holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Linkwarden has 15 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of Linkwarden's written reviews are positive against 50% of BookStax's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Linkwarden ships an update every 3 weeks, BookStax every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Linkwarden versus BookStax: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLinkwardenBookStax
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (15 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews55.6% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings15 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLinkwardenSven Uwe Hanold

Customer experience

Linkwarden

All ratings15 ratings
Positive73.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive55.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative44.4%

BookStax

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Linkwarden

Subscriptions2
  • Linkwarden Cloud - Monthly14 Days trial$4.001 Month
  • Linkwarden Cloud - Yearly14 Days trial$36.001 Year
4 purchases

BookStax

One-time4
  • Page$2.99
  • Themes & more Servers$5.99
  • Book$5.99
Show 1 more
  • Encyclopaedia$12.99

Questions

Is Linkwarden free?
Linkwarden is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BookStax free?
BookStax is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Linkwarden or BookStax?
BookStax is rated higher. Linkwarden averages 4.1 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while BookStax averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Linkwarden or BookStax have ads?
Neither Linkwarden nor BookStax shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Linkwarden or BookStax?
Linkwarden ships an update every 3 weeks, and BookStax every 9 days. Most recently, Linkwarden was updated on November 12, 2026 and BookStax on November 9, 2026.

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