Comparison

ShelfBuddy vs Folio

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

Head to head
About

ShelfBuddy

Organize your entire book collection digitally. Track owned, borrowed, and wishlisted books, manage series, and log reading progress with a built-in timer. Gain insights into your reading habits and share your reading year.

Highlights
  • Digital bookshelf organization
  • Track owned, lent, and wishlisted books
  • Manage book series and missing volumes
  • Log reading progress with a timer
  • Analyze reading habits and statistics
  • Import/export library data
  • Scan ISBN barcodes to add books
Features
Read full description

ShelfBuddy is your digital bookshelf: beautiful, calm and built entirely around reading. Keep track of every book and audiobook you own, are reading, have lent out or still want. Free, with no limit on books. Premium is a one-time purchase, no subscription. YOUR LIBRARY, ORGANIZED Create as many shelves as you like, for example Fantasy, Thrillers or Classics, keep wishlists, and plan what to read next with a reading list. A book may sit on several shelves, and copies marked "collected only" count neither as read nor as unread. Manage genres and tags across all your books at once, and "Edit fields" sets author, genres and tags for several books in one step. Filter your TBR pile by shelf, format, genre, tag or language. BOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS The overview keeps books and audiobooks apart: audiobooks get their own series, wishlists, loans and statistics. Count them as read if you like, and keep manga and comics separate. BOOK SERIES AT A GLANCE See for every series which volumes you own and which are still missing, and add them to your wishlist or a shelf with one tap. Discover suggests book series and audiobook series picked by your taste, search puts the series you look for first, and you get notified when a new volume is released. RATINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Rate your books in quarter stars and see ratings from Thalia and other ShelfBuddy readers alongside. "Popular on ShelfBuddy" shows what the community is reading a lot right now, next to recommendations picked by your taste and "Next in your series". TRACK YOUR READING Reading tracker and reading journal in one: status, start and finish dates, reading progress, notes and quotes, also for books you have read more than once. "Read as" remembers when you read a book as an eBook or a borrowed copy while the print edition stays on your shelf. READING SESSIONS WITH A READING TIMER Start a reading session and the timer runs along. When you're done, enter your page and ShelfBuddy updates your progress and reading pace. Log past reading time after the fact, and start your next session from the home screen, the app icon or a widget, with a Live Activity on the Lock Screen. INSIGHTS: GET TO KNOW YOUR READING HABITS A reading calendar shows which days you read and how much. See the time of day and the weekdays you read most, which genres get most of your reading time, your records, your spending per week, month and year, and a short written summary of your reading year. YOUR READING RECAP Share your reading year or month as an image: six templates, headline styles, reading time or pages, your covers and highlights. ADD BOOKS IN SECONDS Scan the ISBN barcode, search millions of books or add books by hand. Import your library from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Reado and other apps, genres and covers included. "Missing details" fills in page counts and publishers, and you can export your whole library as a .csv spreadsheet. AUTHORS AND LENDING Follow your favorite authors in several languages and get notified about new titles. Lending remembers who has which book, with a reminder to get it back, and borrowed books remember when you got them. YOUR DATA, YOUR CHOICE Keep everything 100% local on your device, or sync via iCloud or Google Drive. Export a complete backup at any time. PREMIUM: PAY ONCE, NO SUBSCRIPTION No ads, cloud sync, Insights, and your library in the browser on your computer at app.shelfbuddy.de, linked with a QR code, no account needed and encrypted on your device. One purchase, all future updates included. ON IPHONE, IPAD AND IPHONE DUO On iPad you work with a sidebar and the book page side by side. Optimized for iPhone Duo: unfolded, ShelfBuddy uses the large screen like a tablet. ALL YOURS Dark mode, selectable accent colors and available in four languages.

About

Folio

This app provides a beautiful and calm space to track your reading habits, set goals, and journal your thoughts. It helps you log reading sessions, organize your book collection, and visualize your reading year with insightful statistics. Enjoy a paper-inspired interface designed for book lovers.

Highlights
  • Log reading sessions (pages, minutes, audiobooks)
  • Scan barcodes or search for books
  • Organize shelves (reading, finished, TBR)
  • Build daily reading streaks
  • Set yearly book and daily page goals
  • Journal favorite quotes and reflections
  • Year-in-review reading statistics
Features
Read full description

Folio is the calm, beautiful home for your reading life. Track every book, build a daily reading streak, and watch a year of pages turn into a story worth keeping. Whether you're a one-book-a-month reader or racing through a series, Folio makes the habit feel effortless — and a little bit magical. TRACK WHAT YOU READ • Log reading sessions in seconds — pages, minutes, or audiobooks • Add books instantly by scanning the barcode, or search any title • Organize your shelf: currently reading, finished, and your TBR pile BUILD A READING HABIT • Keep a daily streak going — with freeze protection for the days life gets busy • Set a yearly book goal and a daily page goal that fit your pace • Gentle reminders nudge you back to your book, never nag A JOURNAL FOR YOUR THOUGHTS • Save favorite quotes and reflections as you read • Turn any quote into a beautiful shareable card • Look back on what moved you, book by book YOUR YEAR IN BOOKS • Folio Wrapped turns your reading into stunning year-in-review stats • See pages read, reading days, your busiest months, and more • A reading heatmap that fills in as your year unfolds BEAUTIFUL BY DESIGN • A warm, paper-inspired interface made for book lovers • Full dark mode for late-night chapters • Your real book covers, everywhere you look YOUR DATA IS YOURS • Export your full library and reading history anytime — free, no lock-in • Import a backup to move or restore your shelf • Optional sign-in to sync across devices FOLIO+ Go further with Folio+: • Unlimited books on your shelf • Pace & finish-date projections — know when you'll turn the last page • Deeper Wrapped insights into your reading life Try Folio+ free for 3 days, then $4.99/month or $39.99/year (save ~33%). Start free and upgrade anytime. Payment will be charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID account settings. Happy reading. — Questions or ideas? We read every one — reach us right inside the app under Settings. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ShelfBuddy4 screens
Folio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ShelfBuddy at 5.0 against Folio's 1.0. ShelfBuddy also leads on ratings volume (6 vs 1). Folio's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. ShelfBuddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Folio sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ShelfBuddy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ShelfBuddy has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ShelfBuddy versus Folio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShelfBuddyFolio
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 days—
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJAN-HENNING BUNSDylan Ezzell

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ShelfBuddy

One-time1
  • ShelfBuddy Freischaltung$19.99
2 purchases

Folio

Subscriptions2
  • Folio+ Monthly3 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Folio+ Yearly3 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is ShelfBuddy free?
ShelfBuddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Folio free?
Folio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ShelfBuddy or Folio?
ShelfBuddy is rated higher. ShelfBuddy averages 5.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Folio averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do ShelfBuddy or Folio have ads?
ShelfBuddy shows ads; Folio does not.

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