Comparison

Keeps vs The Shelf

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

Head to head
About

Keeps

Features
Read full description

Read more. Remember more. Share more. Keeps is the reading companion that helps you capture every meaningful quote and track your reading journey in one place. [Scan Quotes with Your Camera] Point your camera at any book page and OCR instantly recognizes the text. You can also extract text from gallery images. No more typing out long passages. [Beautiful Quote Cards] Turn your favorite quotes into stunning shareable cards. Choose from 8 unique styles and highlight key phrases to make them stand out on social media. [Track Your Reading Progress] Log your progress page by page. Use the built-in reading session timer to track how long you read each day. [Reading Goals & Stats] Set yearly and monthly reading goals and watch your progress. View stats like books completed per month and total pages read. [Your Personal Library] Search and add books by title or ISBN, or manually enter any title. Organize with categories and collections to keep your library tidy. [Secure Cloud Backup] Back up your reading data to the cloud. Switch devices without losing a single note or highlight. Start building your reading habit with Keeps today. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://sites.google.com/view/keeps-terms-conditions Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/keepsprivacypolicy

About

The Shelf

Organize your entire book collection, track reading progress, and capture notes and quotes. This app offers a private, customizable space to manage your reading life, from adding new books to reviewing past sessions.

Highlights
  • Build and organize your book library
  • Track reading progress and focus sessions
  • Save notes, quotes, and journal entries
  • View detailed reading statistics
  • Customize app appearance
  • Sync and export library data
Features
Read full description

The Shelf is a private reading tracker for stories you love, books you study, and everything in between. Search or scan a book, choose the edition that matches yours, then track only what feels useful. BUILD YOUR LIBRARY • Search by title, author, or ISBN, explore author pages, or scan one book or a whole stack. • Keep each edition or physical copy as its own book with its own details, progress, sessions, and history. • Mark books as Owned, add to Wishlist, or Track borrowed books. • Organize books with reading status, your own Lists, shelf locations, and Subjects. • Import Goodreads or StoryGraph CSV files and export a complete backup whenever you want. TRACK READING WITHOUT FRICTION • Update pages, percentage, audiobook position, chapters, or study problems. • Start a focused Reading, Listening, or Study session from any book. • Record starting and ending pages, then see pace, pages read, records, session patterns, and estimated time to finish after your first session. • Keep every re-read separate, with its own dates, rating, mood, and notes. REMEMBER WHAT YOU READ • Save Book notes, dated notes, favorite quotes, page references, scanned text, and photographs. • Search across your Library and jump directly to a Book note or annotation, with the matching text brought into view. • Make chapters, study problems, and annotations easier to discover through gentle, dismissible suggestions on each Book. BORROW AND LEND WITH CLARITY • Keep editable borrowing and lending histories for each book. • Record people, dates, due dates, shelf locations, and optional notes. • Reuse recent people and locations while keeping every field free-form. SEE YOUR READING LIFE • Explore daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and recent activity. • See goals, streaks, totals, records, and finished books on a reading calendar. • Compare progress by Subject and view your library as a prerequisite map. • Revisit books, notes, and quotes from this day in earlier years. MAKE IT FEEL LIKE YOURS • Choose your own background and accent colors, or start with an included Look. • Pair a Solid or Gradient background with System, Glass, Soft Depth, Lined Paper, Dot Grid, or Dog-eared Page cards. • Invite Dewey into Book and Focus views, then choose his hat, accessory, prop, and colors. • Celebrate the moments you choose with Confetti, Sparkles, or Stars. MADE FOR IPHONE AND IPAD • Use widgets, Spotlight, Siri, Live Activities, Split View, and Stage Manager. • Sync with iCloud when you choose and keep a complete JSON backup. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No accounts, ads, tracking, analytics, or subscriptions. • Optional book lookup sends only a title, author, or ISBN after you ask the app to search or fetch. • Camera images and recognized text stay on your device or in your own optional private iCloud library. • Use the optional system privacy lock and outside-app redaction when you want them. • Turn Online Lookup off for a fully offline library. Pay once, own it forever.

Screenshots

Keeps4 screens
The Shelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Keeps at Free against The Shelf's $4.99. Keeps also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). The Shelf's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On 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

Keeps is free to download; The Shelf costs $4.99 up front. Keeps sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per month. The Shelf asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Keeps ships an update every 2 months, The Shelf every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Keeps versus The Shelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKeepsThe Shelf
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating—5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSeungpyo HanAntonio Gordillo Toledo

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Keeps

Subscriptions2
  • Pro plan$3.491 Month
  • Pro Plan$34.991 Year
None

The Shelf

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Keeps free?
Keeps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Shelf free?
The Shelf costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Keeps or The Shelf have ads?
Keeps shows ads; The Shelf does not.
Which is updated more often, Keeps or The Shelf?
Keeps ships an update every 2 months, and The Shelf every 3 days. Most recently, Keeps was updated on October 10, 2026 and The Shelf on October 2, 2026.

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