# Bookstacks vs Grow books

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bookstacks at none against Grow books's 3. Bookstacks also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 5 days). Grow books's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Grow books sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Bookstacks asks for nothing beyond the download.

Bookstacks ships an update daily, Grow books every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bookstacks | Grow books |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Daily** | Every 5 days |
| Monetization | — | Freemium |
| Size | 25 MB | 98 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.0** | 16.4 |
| Devices | iPhone | **iPhone, iPad** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Kenta Takeuchi](https://appshunter.io/developer/1879746418) | [Aiju Kawase](https://appshunter.io/developer/6773546342) |

## What reviewers say

### Bookstacks

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookstacks/id6760252143)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Grow books

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/grow-books-simple-book-notes/id6775886676)

This app helps you manage your personal library, tracking books read, to-read lists, and reading progress. Organize your collection visually, add notes and reviews, and view reading statistics. A premium plan offers advanced features for dedicated readers.

**Highlights:** Virtual bookshelf organization, Book search and automatic data import, Manual book registration, Reading status management, Notes and quotations logging, Book reviews and ratings, Reading statistics and monthly summaries

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly plan | $4.99 | per month |
| 3 Months Plan | $11.99 | per 3 months |
| Annual Plan | $49.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bookstacks free?

Bookstacks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Grow books free?

Grow books is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Bookstacks or Grow books have ads?

Bookstacks shows ads; Grow books does not.

### Which is updated more often, Bookstacks or Grow books?

Bookstacks ships an update daily, and Grow books every 5 days. Most recently, Bookstacks was updated on October 25, 2026 and Grow books on October 31, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*