ShelfPulse vs ABS Admin
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShelfPulse
Monitor your Audiobookshelf server with real-time dashboards, deep listening analytics, and library insights. Manage users, view beautiful home screen widgets, and gain personal or administrative perspectives on your audiobook collection. Enjoy a privacy-first experience with direct server connection.
- Real-time session monitoring
- Deep listening analytics
- Library and server insights
- User management
- Home screen widgets
- Direct server connection
Read full descriptionHide full description
Real-Time Dashboard: Monitor active sessions, playback progress, and device details instantly. Deep Analytics: Track listening time, streaks, favorite genres, and full history. Library Insights: Explore detailed server trends and collection statistics. Admin Functionality: Manage Users: Create, Edit, Delete and reset passwords for users of your server. Beautiful Widgets: Keep your listening stats visible right on your home screen. For Everyone: Full server monitoring for Admins and personal insights for standard users. Privacy First: Direct connection to your server with no cloud services or data collection. 3-Day Free Trial: Experience full functionality risk-free. Requires an Audiobookshelf server. https://trekpins.com/shelfpulseterms.html https://trekpins.com/shelfpulseprivacy.html
ABS Admin
Read full descriptionHide full description
ABS Admin is the app your Audiobookshelf server was missing. Manage your whole library, read your ebooks, and press play, all from your phone. Try it right now with no server: tap "Explore a Demo" and the entire app works with sample data. LISTEN & READ - A clean home that opens on your books, not on menus - Search every library and tap to play or read - Continue Listening and Continue Reading pick up exactly where you left off - Browse any library as a wall of covers - Built-in player: play, skip, chapters, speed, bookmarks, lock screen, background audio, progress synced to your server - Built-in reader for EPUB, PDF, and comics (CBZ): themes, fonts, size and spacing, search, bookmarks, and a Dyslexia mode with wider spacing and ragged edges for easier reading - Want downloads, CarPlay, Apple Watch, or a sleep timer? A quiet link hands the book to Lull, our full audiobook player MANAGE YOUR SERVER - Edit metadata: title, author, narrator, series, genres, tags, description - Quick match and fix missing covers, one book or the whole library - Clean Up: rename or delete a genre, tag, or narrator across every book at once, and split messy imported labels like "Paranormal, Contemporary, Urban" into separate genres in one tap - Series, collections, and playlists - Move a book between libraries, something even the web app cannot do - Upload audiobooks and ebooks from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, or anywhere the Files app reaches - Podcasts: add shows by search or feed, import OPML, download old episodes, clean up the back catalog - Users: create, edit, set passwords, roles, permissions, and per library access - Backups: create, download, restore, and schedule - Send an ebook straight to your Kindle - Listening dashboard: who is listening now, full session history, daily hours, top listeners, and a Year in Review - Create and configure libraries, run scans, open RSS feeds, and set up notifications SAFE BY DESIGN - Destructive actions are guarded: file deletion is off by default and asks you to type to confirm - Moving a book copies it first and removes the original only after the copy succeeds PRIVATE BY DESIGN - Talks only to your own server with your own account - No analytics, no tracking, no data collected ABS Admin is an independent companion app and is not affiliated with the Audiobookshelf project. It needs your own Audiobookshelf server, or use the demo to look around.
Screenshots
Verdict
ShelfPulse and ABS Admin are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. ShelfPulse sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and ABS Admin sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
ShelfPulse ships an update every 6 days, ABS Admin every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShelfPulse | ABS Admin |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (9 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 9 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.5 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Eric Randall | Corey FELDMAN |
In-app purchases
ShelfPulse
- ShelfPulse Monthly3 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Full Access$9.99
ABS Admin
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$2.99
- Large Tip$4.99









