Comparison

Commonplace vs Bookmook

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

Head to head
About

Commonplace

Log books, magazines, and short fiction, track your reading progress, and capture notes. Visualize your reading year with stats and a timeline. Your library is private and syncs via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Log books, magazines, and short fiction
  • Track reading progress (To Read, Started, Finished)
  • Record start/finish dates and ratings
  • Capture notes before, during, and after reading
  • Yearly reading statistics and timeline
  • Private iCloud sync, no account needed
Features
Read full description

Commonplace is a personal reading tracker for books, science fiction/fantasy magazines, and short fiction. Log what you're reading, keep notes as you go, and look back on your reading year. BOOKS • Add books instantly by search, or share a link from Safari, Libby, or any bookstore page. • Track your pile: To Read, Started, Finished, Did Not Finish. • Record start and finish dates, rate books, and tag them print, audio, or digital. • Track the books you re-read. Commonplace can count and log multiple readings. MAGAZINES & SHORT FICTION • Import issues from Clarkesworld, Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. • Track every story you read with its own rating and notes. • Add stories by hand or from an EPUB. NOTES • Capture thoughts during each phase of reading: before, during, and after. Commonplace will tag and sort them. • Search and filter notes across your whole library, and export them all as Markdown. YOUR READING YEAR • Yearly stats: books, stories, pages, ratings, and month-by-month charts. • A Reading Timeline that lays your whole year out visually. YOURS, PRIVATELY • No account. No ads. No tracking. Your library lives on your device and syncs privately through your own iCloud. • Import your history from Goodreads or Libby CSV exports; back up everything to JSON anytime. • Optionally connect micro.blog to share your bookshelves. Commonplace is for readers who want to remember what they read and how they felt about it.

About

Bookmook

Features
Read full description

Bookmook is your private book tracker and eReader. Everything stays on your device: no account, no tracking, works offline. Built in Switzerland by an independent developer. • ADD BOOKS - Snap a photo of the cover to find the book online - Cover, blurb and year fill in automatically • TRACK YOUR BOOKS - Rate with thumbs up/down - Write your own review in a free-text field • READ WITHOUT SWITCHING APPS - Read your books in the built-in eReader (ePub) - Set your own background (light/sepia/dark) - Choose your font size and typeface - Add bookmarks - Save quotes with a single tap • CONNECT YOUR BOOKS - Link your books by your vibes - See the links as a constellation around a book - Share a constellation — friends import it with one tap - Get automatic suggestions from your own library - No outside algorithm, no ads • ORGANIZE BY WHY - Sort by your own, freely expandable categories instead of rigid genres - Find books again by mood and theme • LISTS & TIMELINE - Add books to your TBR (to-be-read) list - Read, Abandoned, favorite authors, most-connected books — all one tap away - Follow your reading history on the timeline • IMPORT & EXPORT - Import your library from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Calibre-Web (OPDS) or JSON - Export as Markdown/JSON - No lock-in • BACKUP & RESTORE - Make a full backup of your library anytime - Restore it 1:1 — even on a different device - All local, no outside server and no account • BUILT FOR BIG LIBRARIES - Search, filters and your library stay fast • PRIVATE BY DESIGN - No sign-up, no forced cloud, no server, no data tracking - Your data is yours Free up to 5 books. Bookmook Premium unlocks unlimited books — a one-time purchase, no subscription. — Bookmook Premium is a one-time purchase (no subscription, no auto-renewal). Payment is charged to your Apple account. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Commonplace4 screens
Bookmook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Commonplace at none against Bookmook's 2. Commonplace also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). 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. Bookmook sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Commonplace asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Commonplace ships an update every 3 days, Bookmook weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Commonplace versus Bookmook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCommonplaceBookmook
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTim LockridgeL. Weber

In-app purchases

None

Commonplace

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Bookmook

Subscriptions2
  • Bookmook Premium – Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Bookmook Premium – Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Commonplace free?
Commonplace is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bookmook free?
Bookmook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Commonplace or Bookmook have ads?
Neither Commonplace nor Bookmook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Commonplace or Bookmook?
Commonplace ships an update every 3 days, and Bookmook weekly. Most recently, Commonplace was updated on November 9, 2026 and Bookmook on November 10, 2026.

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