Comparison

ShelfPulse vs ABS Admin

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Real-time session monitoring
  • Deep listening analytics
  • Library and server insights
  • User management
  • Home screen widgets
  • Direct server connection
Features
Read 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://www.audrabooks.app/shelfpulse/terms https://www.audrabooks.app/shelfpulse/privacy

About

ABS Admin

Manage your personal audiobook and ebook server, play and read content, and organize your entire library. This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for server administration, including metadata editing, library cleanup, and user management.

Highlights
  • Manage audiobook and ebook libraries
  • Built-in audiobook player
  • EPUB, PDF, and CBZ reader
  • Edit metadata and fix covers
  • Organize series, collections, and playlists
  • Upload media from cloud storage
  • Podcast management
  • User and permission management
Features
Read 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

ShelfPulse4 screens
ABS Admin4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: ABS Admin at free against ShelfPulse's freemium. ShelfPulse's advantage is ratings volume (9 vs 1). On price, rating, 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. 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for ShelfPulse against 5.0 for ABS Admin. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ShelfPulse has 9 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShelfPulse ships an update weekly, ABS Admin every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
ShelfPulse versus ABS Admin: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShelfPulseABS Admin
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (9 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better1
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.517.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEric RandallCorey FELDMAN

Customer experience

ShelfPulse

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ABS Admin

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

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ShelfPulse

Subscriptions1
  • ShelfPulse Monthly3 Days trial$0.991 Month
One-time1
  • Full Access$9.99
3 purchases

ABS Admin

One-time3
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$2.99
  • Large Tip$4.99

Questions

Is ShelfPulse free?
ShelfPulse is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ABS Admin free?
ABS Admin is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ShelfPulse or ABS Admin?
ABS Admin is rated higher. ShelfPulse averages 4.9 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while ABS Admin averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do ShelfPulse or ABS Admin have ads?
Neither ShelfPulse nor ABS Admin shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShelfPulse or ABS Admin?
ShelfPulse ships an update weekly, and ABS Admin every 5 days. Most recently, ShelfPulse was updated on October 7, 2026 and ABS Admin on October 15, 2026.

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