Comparison

BookWorm vs Better Bookshelf

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

Head to head
About

BookWorm

This app helps you build a consistent reading habit by tracking books, ebooks, and audiobooks. Set daily goals, maintain reading streaks, and visualize your progress with a unique calendar. It offers effortless book addition, customizable themes, and cross-device synchronization.

Highlights
  • Track books, ebooks, and audiobooks
  • Set and achieve daily reading goals
  • Maintain reading streaks
  • Visualize progress with a reading calendar
  • Add books via search or barcode scan
  • Customizable themes (Light, Dark, Retro)
  • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets
  • iCloud sync across devices
Features
Read full description

Turn reading into a daily habit you can see. BookWorm tracks every book, ebook and audiobook, counts pages and listening time toward one daily goal, and keeps your streak alive. Every feature is free. BookWorm is a warm, hand built reading tracker for people who love books and want to actually finish them. No feed, no noise, no ads. Just your library, your progress, and a friendly bookworm cheering you on. WHY READERS FINISH MORE BOOKS • Track any format. Physical books and ebooks by page, audiobooks by hours and minutes. • One daily goal for all of it. Pages and listening time count toward the same target. • Reading streaks, so there is a reason to open a book today. • A calendar that fills in as you read, until your year tells a story. • Real stats: books finished, pages read, hours listened, days read, and your best streak ever. • Your most read genres and a format breakdown, so you learn how you actually read. EFFORTLESS BY DESIGN • Add a book in seconds. Search by title, or scan its barcode with your camera. • Covers, page counts and audiobook length estimates are filled in for you. • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets show what you are reading at a glance. • iCloud sync keeps your library on every iPhone you own, in your own private iCloud. • Nine languages, switchable instantly with no restart. • Re-read a favourite and BookWorm keeps the earlier read in your history. • Finished a book months ago? Add it with its dates and your calendar fills in behind you. IT FEELS LIKE SOMETHING Saving your progress turns a page. Buttons click, switches flip, and finishing a book has a small celebration you can feel in your hand. And because so many readers here are listening rather than turning pages, BookWorm's sounds can never duck or interrupt your audiobook. Sound and haptics each have their own switch. MAKE IT YOURS Four looks, one tap apart. System follows your phone. Light is warm and creamy. Dark is easy on the eyes at night. And Retro dresses the whole app in a 70s sunset palette of teal, mustard and burnt orange, with chunky outlines and monospaced type. Add your own genres, set the goal that suits your week, and pick the look you like. YOURS, AND PRIVATE Your library lives on your device and in your own iCloud, where the developer cannot read it. There is no account, no sign up, no email address. BookWorm collects a small amount of pseudonymous usage data to fix problems and decide what to build next, never your book titles, your name, or what you type into search. FREE, WITH A TIP JAR IF YOU LIKE IT Every feature is free. No paywall, no locked screens, no subscription, no ads. If BookWorm earns its place on your Home Screen, an optional tip supports one independent developer. That is the whole business model. Start your next chapter today.

About

Better Bookshelf

Consolidate all your books from physical shelves, Kindle, and Audible into a single, private digital library. Easily add books by scanning barcodes, taking photos, or importing existing libraries. Revisit your favorite highlighted passages and track your reading progress.

Highlights
  • Scan barcodes or covers to add books
  • Import Kindle and Audible libraries
  • Consolidate books across multiple formats
  • Save and revisit highlighted passages
  • Track reading status and personal ratings
  • Mark books as lent
Features
Read full description

Scan an entire bookshelf. Find the book you want. Remember the book, but not where you put it? Take one clear photo of your bookshelf. Better Bookshelf uses AI to identify the books and save their positions. Add matched titles to your library, then search for a book and see it highlighted on your shelf photo. YOUR WHOLE SHELF, ONE PHOTO Build your book inventory without scanning every barcode. Photograph a bookshelf, add identified books together, and help with any uncertain matches. Search by title, scan a barcode, or link a book already in your library. KNOW WHERE YOUR BOOKS ARE Search your saved shelves by title or author. Tap a result to see the book's location, with a close-up and nearby identified books to guide you. You can also choose Find on shelf from a book in your library. KEEP UP WITH YOUR COLLECTION Give each shelf a name. When books move, take a new photo to update that shelf. Better Bookshelf checks your existing library for matches, helping you connect books you already own to their locations. YOUR READING LIFE, TOGETHER • Catalog physical books, ebooks and audiobooks. • Add individual books by barcode or title. • Import supported Kindle, Audible and Goodreads CSV files. • Track unread, reading and read books. • Keep a reading list and record ratings and reviews. • Back up your library to Google Drive. START WITH 50 BOOKS FREE Use barcode scanning or title search to catalog your first 50 books. Whole-shelf AI scanning is included with the paid Unlimited upgrade. UNLIMITED BOOKS. SIX WHOLE-SHELF AI SCANS. The one-time Unlimited purchase removes your library-size limit and includes six AI shelf scans. Already purchased Unlimited? Restore your purchase to link your included scans. The six included scans are granted once, not every month. Need more? Buy additional packs of six scans. Your local price is shown before purchase. One successfully processed shelf photo uses one scan credit, including a new photo used to update a shelf. Fixing matches, adding identified books and searching saved shelves use no scan credits. ABOUT SHELF SCANNING AI scanning requires internet access. Your selected photo is sent to OpenAI through Better Bookshelf for identification. Clear, well-lit photos with readable spines work best. Some books may need correction or manual identification. Shelf locations reflect your saved photo; update it when books move. Your saved library and shelf photos stay on your device, with optional Google Drive backup. Google Drive sign-in is not required to scan a shelf.

Screenshots

BookWorm4 screens
Better Bookshelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: BookWorm at 100% against Better Bookshelf's 50%. BookWorm also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.4). Better Bookshelf's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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. BookWorm sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Better Bookshelf sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BookWorm holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of BookWorm's written reviews are positive against 50% of Better Bookshelf's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BookWorm ships an update weekly, Better Bookshelf every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
BookWorm versus Better Bookshelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBookWormBetter Bookshelf
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (5 ratings) — better4.4 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings55
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.216.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam MarkockiMatthew Smith

Customer experience

BookWorm

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Better Bookshelf

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

BookWorm

Subscriptions2
  • BookWorm Pro – Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • BookWorm Pro – Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time3
  • An espresso$2.99
  • Coffee & croissant$4.99
  • A week of coffee$9.99
1 purchases

Better Bookshelf

One-time1
  • Premium — Unlimited Library$9.99

Questions

Is BookWorm free?
BookWorm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Better Bookshelf free?
Better Bookshelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BookWorm or Better Bookshelf?
BookWorm is rated higher. BookWorm averages 4.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while Better Bookshelf averages 4.4 from 5 ratings.
Do BookWorm or Better Bookshelf have ads?
Neither BookWorm nor Better Bookshelf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BookWorm or Better Bookshelf?
BookWorm ships an update weekly, and Better Bookshelf every 3 days. Most recently, BookWorm was updated on October 7, 2026 and Better Bookshelf on October 18, 2026.

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