Comparison

SPINE [Reading Tracker] vs Shelfd

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

Head to head
About

SPINE [Reading Tracker]

Log your reading progress, create custom tier lists of your favorite books, and discover new titles. Connect with friends to see their reading habits and share recommendations.

Highlights
  • Track reading progress
  • Create book tier lists
  • Follow friends' reading
  • Personalized recommendations
  • Import Goodreads library
Features
Read full description

Track what you've read, what you're reading, and what you want to read next. Build tier lists of your favorites. Reach your reading goals. Follow your friends and see what they're reading, create a blend, share books that mattered, recommend books. [ READING LOG ] Mark books read, currently reading, or queued. Note when you started, when you finished, and what you thought. [ TIER LISTS ] S, A, B, C, D. Easily drag-and-drop your favorites into a tier list. [ FRIENDS ] See what your people have read. Let them know what you've read and what you think about it. [ DISCOVER ] Personalized recommendations based on what you’ve read, rated, and exactly what you're specifically looking for. [ IMPORT ] Easily bring your Goodreads library over. Mr. Bezos won't miss you.

About

Shelfd

Organize your reading life with a charming book tracker. Log what you're reading, discover your next book with a spin of a wheel, and visualize your reading habits with personalized stats and achievements. Enjoy a cozy, ad-free experience with optional premium features for advanced tracking.

Highlights
  • Track current, finished, and to-be-read books
  • Spin a wheel to pick your next read
  • Organize books by genre with custom colors
  • Set reading goals and view yearly stats
  • Earn achievements narrated by an Archivist
  • Import libraries from other apps (CSV)
  • Backup and restore your library
Features
Read full description

A warm, unhurried home for your reading life. Shelfd keeps a quiet record of everything you've read and everything still waiting — without turning your hobby into a job. No leaderboards. No guilt for the week you didn't finish anything. HOWEVER YOU READ IT Paper, ebook, or audiobook — track them side by side on the same shelf. Audiobooks count down in hours and minutes remaining, the way your listening app shows them, so there's no maths to do when you log your progress. YOUR SHELF, ACTUALLY SHELVED Finished books stand as real spines, coloured from their own covers. Browse them as a shelf or a list, and build your own collections for classics, comfort rereads, or whatever you're hoarding this month. SPIN THE WHEEL Too many books, not enough decisions. Load up your TBR, give it a spin, and let fate choose your next read. A GOAL WORTH HITTING Set a books-per-year target and watch the arrow move toward the bullseye. Miss it and nothing bad happens. Hit it and something rather nice does. THE SHAPE OF YOUR TASTE See which genres you actually gravitate to, how you read — paper, screen, or headphones — and the quiet trends across your year. ACHIEVEMENTS, STAMPED Every finished book earns a mark from the Archivist, who keeps your records in impeccable order and is quietly more invested than he lets on. BRING YOUR LIBRARY Coming from Goodreads or StoryGraph? Import your whole history from a single file and pick up where you left off. Back up your shelf whenever you like — your library is yours, and it stays on your device. SCAN AND GO Point the camera at a barcode and the book is on your shelf, page count and cover included. SHELFD PREMIUM Read up to three books at once, unlock the Ratings Card with half-stars and emoji vibes for how a book actually felt, get the deeper genre breakdown, and build unlimited shelves and lists. "Keep reading. That's all I ask." — The Archivist SHELFD PREMIUM — SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Shelfd Premium is available as a monthly or annual auto-renewing subscription, or as a one-time Founders Group purchase. A 7-day free trial is included with the subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://joinshelfd.com/privacy.html

Screenshots

SPINE [Reading Tracker]4 screens
Shelfd4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SPINE [Reading Tracker] at none against Shelfd's 3. SPINE [Reading Tracker] also leads on ratings volume (55 vs 3) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.2). Shelfd's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 days). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Shelfd sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. SPINE [Reading Tracker] 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 SPINE [Reading Tracker] against 5.0 for Shelfd. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SPINE [Reading Tracker] has 55 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SPINE [Reading Tracker] ships an update every 5 days, Shelfd every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
SPINE [Reading Tracker] versus Shelfd: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSPINE [Reading Tracker]Shelfd
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (55 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings55 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTanner FlakeZachary Selburg

Customer experience

SPINE [Reading Tracker]

All ratings55 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Shelfd

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

SPINE [Reading Tracker]

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Shelfd

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Premium Annual7 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Shelfd Founders Group$59.99

Questions

Is SPINE [Reading Tracker] free?
SPINE [Reading Tracker] is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shelfd free?
Shelfd is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SPINE [Reading Tracker] or Shelfd?
SPINE [Reading Tracker] and Shelfd are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 55 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do SPINE [Reading Tracker] or Shelfd have ads?
Neither SPINE [Reading Tracker] nor Shelfd shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SPINE [Reading Tracker] or Shelfd?
SPINE [Reading Tracker] ships an update every 5 days, and Shelfd every 2 days. Most recently, SPINE [Reading Tracker] was updated on October 1, 2026 and Shelfd on September 22, 2026.

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