Comparison

Reading Goals vs Shelfd

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

Head to head
About

Reading Goals

Display your reading progress directly on your iOS Home Screen with customizable widgets. Track books read this year, total books, and pages consumed, with a five-year history available in the companion app.

Highlights
  • Home Screen widgets
  • Reading goal progress
  • Books read this year
  • Total books read
  • Pages read tracking
  • Five-year history
Features
Read full description

Reading Goals is a iOS app built primarily to place useful, bookish widgets on your Home Screen. After you confirm a public reading profile, it saves only the essential reading statistics on-device so widgets can show reading-goal progress, books read this year, total books read, and—in the largest summary—pages read and whether you are on pace; the companion app provides manual refresh, optional daily updates, and a swipeable five-year history.

About

Shelfd

Organize your reading life with a charming book tracker. Log what you're reading, discover your next book with a spin of a wheel, and visualize your reading habits with personalized stats and achievements. Enjoy a cozy, ad-free experience with optional premium features for advanced tracking.

Highlights
  • Track current, finished, and to-be-read books
  • Spin a wheel to pick your next read
  • Organize books by genre with custom colors
  • Set reading goals and view yearly stats
  • Earn achievements narrated by an Archivist
  • Import libraries from other apps (CSV)
  • Backup and restore your library
Features
Read full description

A warm, unhurried home for your reading life. Shelfd keeps a quiet record of everything you've read and everything still waiting — without turning your hobby into a job. No leaderboards. No guilt for the week you didn't finish anything. HOWEVER YOU READ IT Paper, ebook, or audiobook — track them side by side on the same shelf. Audiobooks count down in hours and minutes remaining, the way your listening app shows them, so there's no maths to do when you log your progress. YOUR SHELF, ACTUALLY SHELVED Finished books stand as real spines, coloured from their own covers. Browse them as a shelf or a list, and build your own collections for classics, comfort rereads, or whatever you're hoarding this month. SPIN THE WHEEL Too many books, not enough decisions. Load up your TBR, give it a spin, and let fate choose your next read. A GOAL WORTH HITTING Set a books-per-year target and watch the arrow move toward the bullseye. Miss it and nothing bad happens. Hit it and something rather nice does. THE SHAPE OF YOUR TASTE See which genres you actually gravitate to, how you read — paper, screen, or headphones — and the quiet trends across your year. ACHIEVEMENTS, STAMPED Every finished book earns a mark from the Archivist, who keeps your records in impeccable order and is quietly more invested than he lets on. BRING YOUR LIBRARY Coming from Goodreads or StoryGraph? Import your whole history from a single file and pick up where you left off. Back up your shelf whenever you like — your library is yours, and it stays on your device. SCAN AND GO Point the camera at a barcode and the book is on your shelf, page count and cover included. SHELFD PREMIUM Read up to three books at once, unlock the Ratings Card with half-stars and emoji vibes for how a book actually felt, get the deeper genre breakdown, and build unlimited shelves and lists. "Keep reading. That's all I ask." — The Archivist SHELFD PREMIUM — SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Shelfd Premium is available as a monthly or annual auto-renewing subscription, or as a one-time Founders Group purchase. A 7-day free trial is included with the subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://joinshelfd.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

Reading Goals4 screens
Shelfd4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Reading Goals at 100% against Shelfd's 50%. Reading Goals also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). Shelfd's advantage is update cadence (daily vs weekly) and ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, ads 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

Both are free to download. Shelfd sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Reading Goals asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Reading Goals holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Reading Goals's written reviews are positive against 50% of Shelfd's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reading Goals ships an update weekly, Shelfd daily. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Reading Goals versus Shelfd: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReading GoalsShelfd
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAndrew ZiehlZachary Selburg

Customer experience

Reading Goals

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Shelfd

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

Reading Goals

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Shelfd

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Premium Annual7 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Shelfd Founders Group$59.99

Questions

Is Reading Goals free?
Reading Goals is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shelfd free?
Shelfd is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Reading Goals or Shelfd?
Reading Goals is rated higher. Reading Goals averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Shelfd averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Reading Goals or Shelfd have ads?
Neither Reading Goals nor Shelfd shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Reading Goals or Shelfd?
Reading Goals ships an update weekly, and Shelfd daily. Most recently, Reading Goals was updated on October 3, 2026 and Shelfd on October 9, 2026.

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