The ARC Library vs Nightstand
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The ARC Library
Manage your Advance Reader Copy (ARC) books, deadlines, and reviews. This platform connects readers and authors, offering tools for tracking reading progress, organizing campaigns, and discovering new opportunities. It provides a centralized hub for all your book-related activities.
- Track ARC books by title, ISBN, or barcode
- Manage reading progress and deadlines
- Write and save reviews directly in the app
- Detailed reading statistics and genre analysis
- Tools for content creators and authors
- Discover new ARC opportunities
- Create and manage ARC campaigns
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ARC Library is the all-in-one platform for ARC readers, reviewers, book content creators, and authors. Whether you're keeping an overflowing ARC list under control or running your own ARC campaigns, ARC Library brings your books, deadlines, reviews, teams, campaigns, and reader connections together in one place. FOR READERS TRACK YOUR ARCS Add books by title, ISBN, or barcode and keep track of everything from received to reviewed. Log your reading progress by pages, audio minutes, or percentage, and use reading pace calculations to stay ahead of deadlines. NEVER MISS A DEADLINE See publication dates, review deadlines, PR tasks, and other important dates in your reading calendar. Due-soon alerts help you see what needs your attention next. REVIEW EDITOR Write and save reviews directly in ARC Library. Keep notes and quotes while you read, use structured review prompts, and copy your finished review when you're ready to post. READING STATISTICS Explore detailed statistics covering your ARCs, personal books, reviews, teams, PR activity, ratings, genres, reading habits, and more. SPICE AND SWOON RATINGS Track spice and swoon levels for your books, explore your rating distributions, and filter your library by level. CONTENT CREATOR TOOLS Keep track of cover reveals, release posts, reviews, PR campaigns, and other content across your social channels. YOUR ARC READER PROFILE Create a shareable reader profile featuring your reading activity, reviews, favorite genres, social links, and more. Give authors and publishers a better picture of who you are as a reviewer. DISCOVER NEW OPPORTUNITIES Browse forms shared by authors for ARC applications, teams, campaigns, and other opportunities. TBR TOOLS Not sure what to read next? Use the TBR Spin Wheel, reading challenges, and other tools to make choosing your next book a little more fun. FOR AUTHORS MANAGE YOUR BOOKS Keep your books and their ARC information organized in one place. RUN ARC CAMPAIGNS Create and manage ARC campaigns, organize applications, work with readers, and keep track of your campaign from start to finish. FIND ARC READERS Use the Reader Database to discover readers based on genres, tropes, social platforms, activity, and other information they choose to share. CREATE AND SHARE FORMS Create forms for ARC applications, reader teams, PR campaigns, and more. Share them directly or make them discoverable through the ARC Library Form Catalog. MANAGE YOUR READERS Keep your ARC readers and campaign information organized without relying on scattered spreadsheets, forms, messages, and notes. BUILD YOUR TEAMS Create and manage reader teams and keep the people supporting your books connected to your campaigns. ONE LIBRARY, TWO SIDES OF THE ARC EXPERIENCE ARC Library brings readers and authors together while giving each side the tools they need. Readers get a home for their ARCs, reviews, deadlines, statistics, teams, and content. Authors get tools to manage books, campaigns, applications, readers, and ARC teams. FREE TO START Get started with ARC Library for free, with optional Premium plans unlocking additional tools, customization, statistics, and features. Built by a reader who wanted a better way to manage the beautifully chaotic world of ARCs. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms & Conditions: https://arc-library.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://arc-library.com/privacy
Nightstand
Organize your reading life by tracking books you want to read, are currently reading, and have finished. Add ratings, reviews, and create shareable social posts of your favorite reads and progress. Set reading goals and import/export your book data.
- Track TBR and finished books
- Add ratings and reviews
- Create shareable social posts
- Set annual and custom reading goals
- Import and export book data
- Sort and search book shelves
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Nightstand is a simple app to help keep your reading life organized. With Nightstand, you can track what you want to read next and record the books you've finished, all in one place. TBR (To Be Read) With a few taps, you can add a book to your TBR. The app finds the book cover for you, so you will have a beautiful shelf of books to help choose your next read. Sort your TBR however you like, by genre, author, upcoming books, etc. You can search your TBR, share books with others, and send books over to your Finished shelf with a swipe or a tap of a button. CURRENTLY READING Find a book on your TBR and mark it has your current read. Set the format (audio, e-book, physical book) and move it over to your Finished shelf when you're done. FINISHED Once you’ve read a book on your TBR, move it to your Finished shelf and record a rating and review. Or search the Nightstand book database to add the books you read earlier this year. You can sort your finished view in a variety of ways: list, title, author, genre, rating, and by month. You can search your shelf or share your favorite books with friends. Never forget the title or author of a book you just read again! SHARE If you love a book and want to share it with a friend, you can send a text from Nightstand with the book recommendation and link to add it to their TBR. Or you can create a social post - with just a few taps, you will have a beautiful post with the book cover image, title, author, and your note or review of the book that you can post to Instagram or another platform. Create social posts of your monthly reads, goal progress and reading summary to date. IMPORT and EXPORT Import books into Nightstand from another book tracker. Export your books to CSV or PDF at any time. READING GOALS Set an annual reading goal and create custom goals by genre, format, or time period. Share your goal progress with a social post. Nightstand is simple and private. We don’t sell, store, or analyze your data. There are no friend connections to manage or other reviews to wade through. This is your reading life. Just for you. Terms of Service: https://nightstand-app.com/tos/ Privacy Policy: https://nightstand-app.com/privacypolicy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: The ARC Library at 15.6 against Nightstand's 26.4. 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
Both are free to download. The ARC Library sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Nightstand sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for The ARC Library against 4.9 for Nightstand. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 10 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
The ARC Library ships an update weekly, Nightstand every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.
| Parameter | The ARC Library | Nightstand |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (13 ratings) — better | 4.9 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 26.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 111 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Romana Adamka | Octopus Kids Co. LLC |
Customer experience
The ARC Library
Nightstand
In-app purchases
The ARC Library
- ARC Addon (Monthly)$2.991 Month
- ARC Library Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$7.991 Month
- Authors Monthly$9.991 Month
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- Combo Plan Monthly$12.991 Month
- ARC Addon (Yearly)$29.991 Year
- ARC Library Premium (yearly)7 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Author Yearly$99.991 Year
- Combo Yearly$129.991 Year
Nightstand
- Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Yearly7 Days trial$12.991 Year









