Comparison

Chapterly vs Penny

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

Head to head
About

Chapterly

This app helps readers track their reading habits and stay motivated to read more consistently. It offers a simple, distraction-free interface to log books and understand personal reading patterns.

Highlights
  • Track books read
  • Understand reading habits
  • Stay motivated
  • Distraction-free interface
  • Set yearly reading goals
Features
Read full description

Track every book you read, understand your habits, and stay motivated with a simple, distraction-free book tracker built for readers. Whether you’re working toward a yearly goal or just want to read more consistently, this app helps you turn reading into a lasting habit. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Penny

This app helps you build a consistent reading habit by tracking your books, timing your reading sessions, and allowing you to take notes. It offers ambient soundscapes to enhance your reading atmosphere and provides detailed progress statistics. The app prioritizes user privacy and works offline.

Highlights
  • Build and organize your book library
  • Track reading sessions with a timer
  • Ambient soundscapes for atmosphere
  • Take notes and track characters
  • View detailed reading progress stats
  • Syncs with iCloud
  • Offline functionality
Read full description

Penny is a reading tracker for people who want a simple, private place for their books. There is no account to create, no ads and no social feed. Your library, your reading time and your notes stay on your iPhone and sync through your own iCloud. Penny 2.0 is the biggest update since launch, and nearly everything in it started as an email or a review from a reader. PICK YOUR PENNY • Four looks: Classic, Paper, Pond (with a dusk mode for reading at night) and Bloom • Each look has its own app icon, and your widgets change with it • Penny now speaks English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. Choose the language in Settings TIME YOUR READING • Start the timer, read, then note the page you stopped on • A short recap after every session with your minutes, pages, streak and week • Your timer on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • A daily reminder at your reading time, free for everyone A BOOKSHELF ON YOUR HOME SCREEN • The new Bookshelf widget lines up the books you finished, spine by spine, in the colors of their covers • Currently Reading and Reading Summary widgets keep your progress in sight • Every widget is free and dresses up for your look STANDING IN A BOOKSTORE? • Scan the barcode and Penny tells you if the book is already yours, in any edition • Put the books you want to buy on your Wishlist • Open the scanner straight from Control Center with the Scan a book control PREVIOUSLY ON… • Back to a book after a break? Penny shows the page you stopped on, your last note and the characters and terms you saved BUILD YOUR LIBRARY • Search millions of books from Google Books, Apple Books and Open Library, or scan the barcode • Bring your library over from Goodreads or StoryGraph with a CSV import • Shelves for To Read, Reading, Finished and DNF, plus shelves of your own • Half-star ratings, for the books that deserve a 3.5 • Finish a book and Penny throws you a small party KEEP WHAT YOU READ • Notes and quotes, a glossary for places and terms, and a character list for every book • Everything stays with its book, easy to find when you need it SEE YOUR PROGRESS • Reading streaks and a calendar with the cover of every book you read each day • Stats for books, pages and time, monthly trends, genres and your Year in Review SET THE MOOD • 19 ambient sounds, from rain on the window to a medieval tavern, and you can mix them PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account, no email, no sign-up • No ads, no tracking, no analytics • Syncs between your iPhone and iPad through your private iCloud FREE AND PREMIUM Most of Penny is free: up to 40 books, the timer and session recaps, stats and streaks, the scanner and Bookstore mode, all four looks, every widget, the daily reminder, iCloud sync and 4 ambient sounds. Premium adds unlimited books, notes, terms and characters, Previously on…, the Wishlist, the Lock Screen timer after your first three sessions, all 19 sounds, custom shelves, CSV export and your full session history. Premium is a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. I made Penny because I wanted a simpler way to keep track of what I read, without accounts or social media. If there's something you'd love to see next, the Send Feedback button in Settings comes straight to me. Terms of Use: https://readwithpenny.online/terms Privacy Policy: https://readwithpenny.online/privacy

Screenshots

Chapterly4 screens
Penny4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Chapterly at 15.1 against Penny's 18.0. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Chapterly sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Penny sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Chapterly against 5.0 for Penny. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 4 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chapterly ships an update every 10 days, Penny every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Chapterly versus Penny: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChapterlyPenny
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings44
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLuis SantanaClaudiu Valentin Sararu

Customer experience

Chapterly

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Penny

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chapterly

Subscriptions2
  • Chapterly Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Chapterly Annual Subscription$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Chapterly Lifetime Purchase$69.99
3 purchases

Penny

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Chapterly free?
Chapterly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Penny free?
Penny is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chapterly or Penny?
Chapterly and Penny are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do Chapterly or Penny have ads?
Neither Chapterly nor Penny shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chapterly or Penny?
Chapterly ships an update every 10 days, and Penny every 8 days. Most recently, Chapterly was updated on October 31, 2026 and Penny on November 5, 2026.

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