Comparison

BookShelves eBook Reader vs MargiNotes

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

Head to head
About

BookShelves eBook Reader

This app allows you to read EPUB, PDF, and comic books with access to over 1.5 million free public domain books. Organize your library, customize your reading experience with multiple themes and fonts, and sync your progress across devices.

Highlights
  • 1.5 million+ free books
  • EPUB, PDF, and comic reader
  • Customizable themes and fonts
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Smart library management
  • Highlighting and note-taking
  • Export highlights
Features
Read full description

BookShelves is an EPUB, PDF, and comic book reader with a built-in catalog of 1.5 million free books. Discover public domain classics, organize your digital library, and sync seamlessly across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud (Pro). WHAT READERS SAY "Phenomenal book reading and management app, 'just works'." "My everlasting search for the perfect ePub reader might be coming to an end." "Among the best and actively developed." DISCOVER 1.5 MILLION+ FREE BOOKS • 1.5 million+ classic works — Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, more • 1,100+ premium editions from Standard Ebooks • Internet Archive — millions of historical texts and rare books • 1,200+ Spanish classics from the Biblioteca Nacional de España • 16,000+ Japanese classics from Aozora Bunko • Browse OPDS catalogs from external libraries and servers One tap to download. No account required. POWERFUL READING EXPERIENCE • Paginated or continuous scroll — read your way • 10 themes including Sepia, Dark Academia, Night Sky, and more • 10 bundled fonts including OpenDyslexic for accessible reading • Adjustable line spacing, margins, text justification, and font weight • Highlight in 5 colors and add notes to any passage • Export highlights to Markdown, JSON, or CSV • Dictionary look-up with language detection • Full-text search across chapters • Nested table of contents navigation • Bookmarks (iCloud sync with Pro) • Vertical text (tategaki) for Japanese and CJK books • Right-to-left reading for Arabic, Hebrew, and CJK texts • Full keyboard and trackpad support • Multi-window reading on Mac COMIC BOOKS AND MANGA • CBZ, CBR, and CB7 format support • Two-page spreads for landscape reading • Right-to-left mode for manga with reversed tap zones and swipes • Auto-detected from metadata or toggled manually SEAMLESS ICLOUD SYNC (Pro) • Books and cover images • Reading progress and current page • Shelves, tags, and ratings • Highlights, notes, and bookmarks • Reader preferences (font, theme, layout) SMART LIBRARY MANAGEMENT • Edit metadata -- title, author, publisher, ISBN, and cover image • Automatic metadata and cover art fetching • System shelves: All Books, Recently Added, Reading, Finished, Favorites • Custom shelves for any collection • Color-coded tags for categorization • Search and filter by title, author, or tag • Grid and list views • 5-star ratings • Drag-and-drop import, Files app sharing, or OPDS catalogs • EPUB repair — auto-fixes broken navigation and missing metadata • Import from Calibre libraries with best-format selection FORMAT SUPPORT • EPUB — professional rendering with beautiful typography • PDF — native viewer with smooth scrolling and search • CBZ / CBR / CB7 — comic book archives • FB2 — FictionBook 2 format (auto-converts to EPUB) • MOBI / AZW3 / KF8 / KEPUB — auto-converts to EPUB for reading • TXT / Markdown — plain text and Markdown files (auto-converts to EPUB) MAC EXTRAS • Calibre wireless sync — connect KOReader or other devices over Wi-Fi • OPDS server — share your library on your local network PRIVACY FIRST • Your books stay on your devices and in your own iCloud • No data linked to you, and no tracking • No ads — clean, distraction-free reading • iCloud keeps your library private and secure FREE AND PRO Free: 10 books with the core reading features. Pro unlocks unlimited books, all 10 themes, iCloud sync, email to Kindle/PocketBook, highlight export, and OPDS server. Pro is available as a one-time purchase or subscription (monthly/annual, select regions). Subscriptions auto-renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage subscriptions in Apple ID account settings. Privacy Policy: https://getbookshelves.app/privacy/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://getbookshelves.app/terms/ All books from discovery sources are public domain or openly licensed.

About

MargiNotes

Features
Read full description

MargiNotes is a calm reader and note-taking app for PDF, EPUB, and paper books. Its difference is simple: a note can keep a path back to the book it came from. Import a highlight from Kindle or Apple Books, or capture a quote from a printed page. If the matching PDF or EPUB is in your library, MargiNotes can search that book on your device and relink the note to its real place. No guessed links. If MargiNotes cannot find a reliable match, it says so clearly. READ AND CAPTURE • Read PDF and EPUB books with adjustable themes, typography, layout, and reading settings. • Highlight while you read and keep each note with its book. • Capture quotes from printed books with on-device OCR. • Scan a barcode to fill in a paper book's title, author, and cover. • Add comments, tags, and voice notes alongside what you read. FIND YOUR WAY BACK Search inside a book and your own notes appear first, next to the book's own sentences. Search quotes, comments, tags, and transcripts across your whole library, or find a note straight from iPhone search. Ask your notes a question and the answer is built only from them — and always shown with the notes it came from. Writing the answer needs Apple Intelligence; without it, MargiNotes still finds the notes closest to your question. YOUR NOTES, PORTABLE Create shareable quote cards, follow your reading with simple statistics and widgets, and export to Markdown, PDF, or an Obsidian vault where every note keeps its links. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account • No ads • No analytics • No cloud AI — text recognition, transcription, and answers run on your device • Sync only through your own iCloud The app never goes online by itself. The one exception is the barcode lookup you start yourself, which sends only the ISBN — and you can switch it off. Your books stay yours. MargiNotes is built to help you remember not only what you saved, but where it came from.

Screenshots

BookShelves eBook Reader4 screens
MargiNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MargiNotes at none against BookShelves eBook Reader's 4. BookShelves eBook Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. BookShelves eBook Reader sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. MargiNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BookShelves eBook Reader ships an update every 8 days, MargiNotes every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
BookShelves eBook Reader versus MargiNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBookShelves eBook ReaderMargiNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (21 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings21 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.417.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCPE Verm. GmbHEmirhan Ayaz

In-app purchases

4 purchases

BookShelves eBook Reader

One-time4
  • Small Tip$2.99
  • Medium Tip$3.99
  • Large Tip$8.99
Show 1 more
  • Unlock Pro$9.99
None

MargiNotes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BookShelves eBook Reader free?
BookShelves eBook Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MargiNotes free?
MargiNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do BookShelves eBook Reader or MargiNotes have ads?
Neither BookShelves eBook Reader nor MargiNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BookShelves eBook Reader or MargiNotes?
BookShelves eBook Reader ships an update every 8 days, and MargiNotes every 2 weeks. Most recently, BookShelves eBook Reader was updated on November 9, 2026 and MargiNotes on November 5, 2026.

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