Comparison

ShelfSage vs Readro

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

Head to head
About

ShelfSage

Features
Read full description

ShelfSage is a beautiful, intelligent home for your reading life. Scan any book's barcode, build your personal library, and meet Sage — an AI companion that actually knows your books. Whether you're a casual reader or building a serious collection, ShelfSage makes it effortless to organize, track, and deepen your reading experience. SCAN & ADD BOOKS INSTANTLY Point your camera at any book's ISBN barcode and add it to your library in seconds. Book details — title, author, cover, page count — are fetched automatically. Prefer to add manually? That works too. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY Create custom shelves to match how you think about your books: Currently Reading, Want to Read, Finished, or anything you imagine. Your library, your rules. TRACK YOUR READING JOURNEY Log your progress page by page. Set annual reading goals, build a daily reading streak, and watch your habits take shape on a visual heatmap. ShelfSage turns reading into a rewarding ritual. MEET SAGE — YOUR AI BOOK COMPANION Sage is not a generic chatbot. It's a well-read friend who knows your library. Ask about themes in the book you're reading, request personalized recommendations, explore an author's bibliography, or dive into a spoiler-free discussion. Sage meets you where you are as a reader. READING ANALYTICS See your reading history at a glance: books finished over time, genre distribution, reading pace, and more. SYNC ACROSS DEVICES With Pro, your entire library syncs seamlessly via iCloud across all your Apple devices. ShelfSage is free to use. Pro unlocks unlimited books, full AI access, and iCloud sync. Terms of Use: https://shelfsage-app.github.io/shelfsage/terms-of-use.html Privacy Policy: https://shelfsage-app.github.io/shelfsage/privacy-policy.html

About

Readro

Features
Read full description

Readro is a calm, beautiful home for your reading life. Build your library, read right inside the app, and turn reading into a daily habit — without the noise of a social network. YOUR LIBRARY, YOUR WAY • Add books in seconds: scan the barcode on the back cover, search by title or author, or add them manually — cover photo included • Organize with three shelves: Reading, Want to Read, and Finished • Rate the books you finish and keep private notes on every one READ INSIDE READRO • Import your own EPUB or PDF files and read them as real pages, with your choice of paper colour and text size — or have them read aloud • Download thousands of public-domain classics in fourteen languages from Standard Ebooks, Project Gutenberg and Wikisource, free and legal • The timer runs by itself while you read, so every session is recorded MAKE READING A HABIT • Start a session with one tap, or "just 5 minutes" from the Today screen • Keep your daily streak — one missed day a week is forgiven automatically • Three weekly quests with targets that follow how much you read, and badges for streaks, books, pages, time and quests • A reminder at the time you choose, and an evening nudge when your streak is at risk • See where you stand: "at this pace you'll finish in about 9 days" POCKET PAGES — READ WITHOUT THE BOOK Leaving the house without your book? Photograph the pages you're on (up to 30 at once, straight from camera or gallery). Readro converts them to clean, readable text you can enjoy anywhere — or have them read aloud to you while you commute. KEEP THE LINES YOU LOVE Tap sentences in the reader to save them as quotes, or type them in by hand. Share any quote as a card, and meet one of them again on your Today screen. KNOW YOUR READING SELF • A weekly chart of minutes or pages, a reading calendar, and your totals • A per-book report card: how long each book took and your pages-per-hour • A home screen widget with your streak, today's minutes and current book PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No ads. No tracking. Your library lives on your device. Readro speaks 11 languages — English, Turkish, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese and Chinese — and works with books in any language.

Screenshots

ShelfSage4 screens
Readro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Readro at none against ShelfSage's 2. Readro also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). ShelfSage's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks). On price 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. ShelfSage sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Readro asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShelfSage ships an update every 3 days, Readro every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 2 level
ShelfSage versus Readro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShelfSageReadro
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHARUN YUSUF FENDOGLUFaize Nur OZGON

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ShelfSage

Subscriptions2
  • ShelfSage Pro Aylık$2.991 Month
  • ShelfSage Pro Yıllık$24.991 Year
None

Readro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ShelfSage free?
ShelfSage is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Readro free?
Readro is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ShelfSage or Readro have ads?
Neither ShelfSage nor Readro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShelfSage or Readro?
ShelfSage ships an update every 3 days, and Readro every 3 weeks. Most recently, ShelfSage was updated on November 5, 2026 and Readro on November 5, 2026.

Other comparisons