OpenBookshelf vs MidChapter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OpenBookshelf
Organize your reading list with a clean, focused book tracker. Easily search millions of titles, import your history from other platforms, and sync across devices without ads or subscriptions. Focus solely on your books.
- Track reading progress
- Search millions of books
- Import from Goodreads
- Sync across devices
- No ads or subscriptions
- Organize reading lists
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Your books. Without the noise. OpenBookshelf is a clean, focused book tracker for readers who want to organize what they read — not be sold a subscription, shown ads, or pushed into a social network. Track your reading in three taps. Search for a book, add it to your shelf, mark it as read. No onboarding wizard, no account creation, no tutorial. Just your books. SEARCH MILLIONS OF BOOKS Find books instantly by title, author, or ISBN — powered by Open Library, the world's largest open book database. No proprietary database, no lock-in. IMPORT FROM GOODREADS Bring your entire reading history with you. Export your Goodreads data and import it into OpenBookshelf in seconds. Keep your shelves, ratings, and reading dates without starting over. SYNC ACROSS DEVICES Your library stays up to date on every device automatically with iCloud. Add a book on your iPhone, see it on your iPad. No account required. WHAT YOU WON'T FIND HERE No algorithmic recommendations. No social feed. No reading challenges designed to make you feel guilty. No ads. No behavioral tracking. No subscription. OpenBookshelf does one thing well: it helps you keep track of what you've read, what you're reading, and what you want to read next. Nothing more. Nothing less. Completely free. No account. No tracking. No catch.
MidChapter
Track your reading progress with this app. Organize books into 'Want to Read,' 'Currently Reading,' and 'Already Read' shelves. Monitor your reading pace and set annual goals to stay motivated.
- Organize books into three shelves
- Track reading progress with page updates
- Visualize progress with a donut ring
- Set annual reading goals
- View reading statistics
- Search millions of books
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MidChapter is the reading tracker built for people who actually read. Search any book, add it to your shelves, and track your progress as you go. Three simple shelves Want to Read, Currently Reading, and Already Read - move books between them in one tap. Progress at a glance A simple donut ring shows exactly where you are in your current book. Update your page number anytime. Reading stats that motivate Set an annual reading goal and watch your progress build. See how many books you've finished, pages read, and your reading pace by month. Discover your next read Search millions of books by title, author, or genre — powered by Google Books. As an Amazon Associate, MidChapter earns from qualifying purchases.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MidChapter at none against OpenBookshelf's 1. MidChapter also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. OpenBookshelf sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. MidChapter asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for OpenBookshelf against 5.0 for MidChapter. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.
OpenBookshelf ships an update every 2 weeks, MidChapter every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | OpenBookshelf | MidChapter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jared Floersch | GARRETT STEVEN LANGDON |
Customer experience
OpenBookshelf
MidChapter
In-app purchases
OpenBookshelf
- Unlock$2.99
MidChapter
No in-app purchases









