Comparison

Pick Up vs Folio

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

Head to head
About

Pick Up

This app helps you manage your reading, track progress, and capture thoughts. It offers personalized recommendations, reading session tracking with ambient sounds, and a voice journal for reflections. Enjoy a beautiful design, cloud sync, and insightful reading statistics.

Highlights
  • Smart book management with ISBN scanning
  • Home Screen widgets and Live Activity integration
  • Book Roulette for random selection
  • Personalized book recommendations
  • Reading session tracking with ambient sounds
  • Voice journal for capturing thoughts
  • Monthly recap and reading statistics
Read full description

Pick Up - Your Personal Reading Companion Transform the way you read, reflect, and remember with Pick Up — the reading companion for people who want more from every book. SMART BOOK MANAGEMENT • Search by title or scan ISBN barcodes to instantly add books • Track reading progress across multiple books • Organise by status: Reading, Finished, Up Next, or DNF • Set a starting page for books you've already begun • Beautiful cover images and detailed metadata WIDGETS & LIVE READING • Add beautiful Home Screen widgets for your current book and reading streak • See your current book on the Dynamic Island and Lock Screen while reading • Tap straight back into your active session from the Live Activity BOOK ROULETTE • Can't decide what to read next? Spin the slot machine and let fate choose from your Up Next pile • Start reading your chosen book instantly THE SHELF — BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS • Personalised book recommendations based on your library and reading history • Set your mood, preferred length, and genre to get tailored picks • Discover handpicked books from independent authors in the Indie Picks tab • Save picks directly to your Up Next list READING SESSIONS • Track time spent reading with a built-in stopwatch • Set a countdown timer to challenge yourself or stay focused • Ambient sounds while you read: rain, fireplace, ocean, lo-fi, and more • Pause, resume, or finish early with full control • View complete reading history by book • Build consistent reading habits with session tracking CAPTURED THOUGHTS • Record thoughts while reading with one-tap voice capture • Voice-to-text transcription • Write text reflections • Organise thoughts by book with timestamps • Star important thoughts • Review your complete reading journey MONTHLY RECAP • Shareable card with your reading month at a glance • Book covers, pages read, and reading time • Choose your colour theme and share with friends CLOUD SYNC • Seamless sync across all your devices • Automatic cloud backup • Secure Supabase-powered sync • Access your library anywhere DAILY INSPIRATION • Quote of the Day — a fresh reading quote every day on your home screen • Daily quote notification at your chosen time • Share quotes to social media READING STATISTICS • Track reading streaks • Visual progress indicators • Total books, pages, and thoughts • Personalised reading time estimates REMINDERS & NOTIFICATIONS • Customisable daily reading reminders • Choose your days and times • Gentle nudges to keep your streak alive BEAUTIFUL DESIGN • Clean interface with full dark mode support • Themes: Parchment, Ink, Void, Sepia, Marble, and more • Smooth animations • Designed for readers PRIVACY-FIRST • Local-first architecture — your data stays on your device • Optional cloud sync • No tracking, no ads Perfect for avid readers, book clubs, students, and anyone who wants to remember what they read.

About

Folio

This app helps you meticulously track your reading progress, manage your book library, and cultivate a consistent reading habit. It allows for detailed logging of quotes, reviews, and reading statistics, offering a private and organized space for bibliophiles.

Highlights
  • Organize books into shelves
  • Save and sync favorite quotes
  • Rate books with quarter-star precision
  • Import from Goodreads/StoryGraph
  • Search, manual entry, or ISBN scan
  • Track pages, minutes, and streaks
  • Set reading goals
Features
Read full description

Folio is a private book tracker and reading journal for keeping your books, TBR, reading goals, quotes, reviews, and progress in one focused place. Track what you're reading, build a daily reading habit, import your existing library from Goodreads or StoryGraph, add books quickly, and see your progress without turning reading into work. With Folio you can: - Organize books into Want to Read, Reading, and Read shelves - Save favorite quotes with page or percent markers, backed up and synced with your library - Rate books with quarter-star precision, publish written reviews when signed in, browse public reader reviews, and like the ones that help - Import Goodreads and StoryGraph CSV exports while keeping your local data - Search for books, enter them manually, or scan ISBN barcodes - Track pages, minutes, sessions, streaks, and reading days - Set reading goals for books, pages, time, days read, or streaks - Plan upcoming reads with target months and gentle pace guidance - See reading stats for pages, time, books finished, and long-term habits - Keep your current book and timer nearby with widgets and Live Activities - Find buy links from retailers like Amazon, Apple Books, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo where available - Export your library when you want a copy of your data Folio is built for readers who want a beautiful book tracker without social pressure, ads, or ad tracking. Your library stays personal, organized, and easy to come back to.

Screenshots

Pick Up4 screens
Folio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pick Up at 4.8 against Folio's 4.0. Pick Up also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Folio's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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. Pick Up sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Folio sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pick Up holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 12 and 5 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pick Up ships an update weekly, Folio every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Pick Up versus Folio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPick UpFolio
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (12 ratings) — better4.0 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better5
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size130 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFortune Nweke-MaraizuMiguel Pacheco

Customer experience

Pick Up

All ratings12 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Folio

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Pick Up

Subscriptions3
  • Premium Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Premium 6 Months$26.996 Months
  • Premium Yearly$49.991 Year
5 purchases

Folio

Subscriptions4
  • Folio Plus Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Folio Plus Annual$8.991 Year
  • Folio Plus Annual7 Days trial$8.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Folio Plus Annual14 Days trial$8.991 Year
One-time1
  • Folio Plus Lifetime$24.99

Questions

Is Pick Up free?
Pick Up 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, Pick Up or Folio?
Pick Up is rated higher. Pick Up averages 4.8 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Folio averages 4.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Pick Up or Folio have ads?
Neither Pick Up nor Folio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pick Up or Folio?
Pick Up ships an update weekly, and Folio every 3 days. Most recently, Pick Up was updated on September 14, 2026 and Folio on September 11, 2026.

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