Comparison

OpenBookshelf vs Booklore

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Track reading progress
  • Search millions of books
  • Import from Goodreads
  • Sync across devices
  • No ads or subscriptions
  • Organize reading lists
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Booklore

Track your reading privately and offline. Log books, update progress, rate finished titles, and add notes. Features include a reading timer with ambient sounds, habit-building tools like streaks and goals, and insightful year-end summaries.

Highlights
  • Offline reading log
  • Track reading progress
  • Rate and review books
  • Reading timer with ambient sounds
  • Reading streaks and goals
  • Import/export library data
  • Yearly reading summaries
Features
Read full description

Every book you read, one tap away. Booklore is a reading log for people who would rather be reading: add a book, log your page, close the app. No sign-up stands between you and your first book, and your library lives on your phone. On the shelf • Find books by title, author or ISBN, or scan the barcode on the back cover • Shelves for Reading, Want to Read, Read, Paused and Did Not Finish, plus your own shelves and tags • Rate in half-stars, from ½ to 5, and tag a book's mood and pace • Print books, e-books and audiobooks side by side, with rereads counted At the page • Log progress with one tap (¼, ½, ¾, Finished) or type the exact page • Reading an e-book or listening to an audiobook? Enter the percentage your reader or player shows • See how much reading time is left in a book, at your own measured pace • Time a session and add ambient sound: rain, ocean, forest, café, fireplace and more, generated on your device • A Live Activity keeps the running session on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Write notes and a review, and capture a quote straight off the page with your camera Over the year • A reading calendar that fills in every day you read • Streaks with a best-streak record, and a yearly goal that paces you from the day you set it • A daily reminder that skips the days you already read, scheduled on your device • Home Screen widget, Apple Watch app and Siri ("Start reading in Booklore") • Your Year in Books and monthly wrap-up cards to share, plus all-time stats Your library, your phone • Bring your library over from a CSV export and export everything whenever you like • Optional backup to your own iCloud • Book search and one-time cover downloads are the only network use, and cover downloads can be switched off • Your reading is never sold or used to build a profile of you Happy reading.

Screenshots

OpenBookshelf4 screens
Booklore4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Booklore at none against OpenBookshelf's 1. Booklore also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. OpenBookshelf sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Booklore asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for OpenBookshelf against 5.0 for Booklore. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OpenBookshelf ships an update every 2 weeks, Booklore fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
OpenBookshelf versus Booklore: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpenBookshelfBooklore
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJared FloerschHazem Abdeltawab

Customer experience

OpenBookshelf

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Booklore

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

OpenBookshelf

One-time1
  • Unlock$2.99
None

Booklore

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is OpenBookshelf free?
OpenBookshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Booklore free?
Booklore is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, OpenBookshelf or Booklore?
OpenBookshelf and Booklore are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do OpenBookshelf or Booklore have ads?
Neither OpenBookshelf nor Booklore shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OpenBookshelf or Booklore?
OpenBookshelf ships an update every 2 weeks, and Booklore fortnightly. Most recently, OpenBookshelf was updated on October 17, 2026 and Booklore on October 15, 2026.

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