Comparison

ReadMe vs The Shelf

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

Head to head
About

ReadMe

This app helps you meticulously track your reading progress, visualize your habits with a calendar heatmap, and build consistent reading streaks. Organize your library, discover reading patterns, and enjoy a beautiful, ad-free experience designed for iOS.

Highlights
  • Log reading sessions by pages and time
  • Visual calendar heatmap for activity
  • Build and track reading streaks
  • Automatic reading speed calculation
  • Detailed reading statistics and charts
  • Organize books into custom shelves
  • Search and add books from external libraries
Features
Read full description

Your Reading Journey, Beautifully Tracked ReadMe is the elegant book tracking app designed exclusively for iOS readers who want more from their reading life. Whether you're a casual reader or racing through your TBR pile, ReadMe turns every page into progress you can see. TRACK EVERY PAGE - Log reading sessions with pages read and time spent - Visual calendar heatmap shows your reading activity at a glance - Build reading streaks and watch your consistency grow - Calculate your reading speed automatically BEAUTIFUL STATISTICS - Year-over-year comparisons to see your growth - Monthly breakdowns with cumulative progress charts - Discover your most productive reading days - Track top genres and reading patterns - See your ratings distribution across all books ORGANIZE YOUR LIBRARY - Manage books across Reading, To Read, and Completed shelves - Create a Wish List for future purchases - Search and add books from Google Books and Open Library - Rate and review finished books - Add any book, even without page counts DESIGNED FOR iOS - Liquid glass aesthetic matches iOS 26 design standards - Beautiful dark mode support - Smooth animations and haptic feedback - Comfortable one-handed use - Native performance with offline support YOUR DATA, YOUR PRIVACY - All your reading data synced across devices - No ads, no tracking, no distractions Whether you're tracking a single book or managing hundreds, ReadMe makes every reading session count. Join readers who've discovered the joy of seeing their progress visualized beautifully. Start your reading journey today.

About

The Shelf

Organize your entire book collection, track reading progress, and capture notes and quotes. This app offers a private, customizable space to manage your reading life, from adding new books to reviewing past sessions.

Highlights
  • Build and organize your book library
  • Track reading progress and focus sessions
  • Save notes, quotes, and journal entries
  • View detailed reading statistics
  • Customize app appearance
  • Sync and export library data
Features
Read full description

The Shelf is a private reading tracker for stories you love, books you study, and everything in between. Search or scan a book, choose the edition that matches yours, then track only what feels useful. BUILD YOUR LIBRARY • Search by title, author, or ISBN, explore author pages, or scan one book or a whole stack. • Keep each edition or physical copy as its own book with its own details, progress, sessions, and history. • Mark books as Owned, add to Wishlist, or Track borrowed books. • Organize books with reading status, your own Lists, shelf locations, and Subjects. • Import Goodreads or StoryGraph CSV files and export a complete backup whenever you want. TRACK READING WITHOUT FRICTION • Update pages, percentage, audiobook position, chapters, or study problems. • Start a focused Reading, Listening, or Study session from any book. • Record starting and ending pages, then see pace, pages read, records, session patterns, and estimated time to finish after your first session. • Keep every re-read separate, with its own dates, rating, mood, and notes. REMEMBER WHAT YOU READ • Save Book notes, dated notes, favorite quotes, page references, scanned text, and photographs. • Search across your Library and jump directly to a Book note or annotation, with the matching text brought into view. • Make chapters, study problems, and annotations easier to discover through gentle, dismissible suggestions on each Book. BORROW AND LEND WITH CLARITY • Keep editable borrowing and lending histories for each book. • Record people, dates, due dates, shelf locations, and optional notes. • Reuse recent people and locations while keeping every field free-form. SEE YOUR READING LIFE • Explore daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and recent activity. • See goals, streaks, totals, records, and finished books on a reading calendar. • Compare progress by Subject and view your library as a prerequisite map. • Revisit books, notes, and quotes from this day in earlier years. MAKE IT FEEL LIKE YOURS • Choose your own background and accent colors, or start with an included Look. • Pair a Solid or Gradient background with System, Glass, Soft Depth, Lined Paper, Dot Grid, or Dog-eared Page cards. • Invite Dewey into Book and Focus views, then choose his hat, accessory, prop, and colors. • Celebrate the moments you choose with Confetti, Sparkles, or Stars. MADE FOR IPHONE AND IPAD • Use widgets, Spotlight, Siri, Live Activities, Split View, and Stage Manager. • Sync with iCloud when you choose and keep a complete JSON backup. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No accounts, ads, tracking, analytics, or subscriptions. • Optional book lookup sends only a title, author, or ISBN after you ask the app to search or fetch. • Camera images and recognized text stay on your device or in your own optional private iCloud library. • Use the optional system privacy lock and outside-app redaction when you want them. • Turn Online Lookup off for a fully offline library. Pay once, own it forever.

Screenshots

ReadMe4 screens
The Shelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ReadMe at Free against The Shelf's $4.99. The Shelf's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). On rating, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

ReadMe is free to download; The Shelf costs $4.99 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 ReadMe against 5.0 for The Shelf. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ReadMe ships an update every 6 weeks, The Shelf every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ReadMe versus The Shelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadMeThe Shelf
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJosh EngelsAntonio Gordillo Toledo

Customer experience

ReadMe

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

The Shelf

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ReadMe

No in-app purchases

None

The Shelf

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ReadMe free?
ReadMe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Shelf free?
The Shelf costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ReadMe or The Shelf?
ReadMe and The Shelf are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do ReadMe or The Shelf have ads?
Neither ReadMe nor The Shelf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ReadMe or The Shelf?
ReadMe ships an update every 6 weeks, and The Shelf every 3 days. Most recently, ReadMe was updated on October 24, 2026 and The Shelf on October 19, 2026.

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