Comparison

BookWorm vs Reading Log XL

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

Reading Log XL

Features
Read full description

A reading log that does one job well: it records how long you read, how many pages, and which book. ONE BUTTON A DAY Tap "I read today", pick the minutes, save. A built-in timer counts a reading session for you if you want it to. YOUR BOOKSHELF Keep three shelves — reading now, finished, want to read. Title, author, page count, a coloured spine instead of a cover. No sign-up, no social feed, no reviews to scroll. A REPORT FOR SCHOOL Make a one-page PDF for a teacher or a parent: days read, minutes, pages and the books behind them. Pick 7 days, 30 days, a year or everything. GOALS AND STREAKS Set a daily goal in minutes and watch the streak build. Weekly and monthly totals show whether the habit is holding. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Everything stays on your iPhone. No account, no cloud, no ads, no analytics. Works on a plane. SIMPLE PRICE The free version always saves everything you log and shows the last 30 days plus three books at a time. One purchase unlocks the full history, unlimited books and PDF reports forever. No subscription.

Screenshots

BookWorm4 screens
Reading Log XL4 screens

Verdict

The call

BookWorm and Reading Log XL are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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 Reading Log XL sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BookWorm ships an update weekly, Reading Log XL every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
BookWorm versus Reading Log XL: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBookWormReading Log XL
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.217.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam Markockiihor Romanenko

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

Reading Log XL

One-time1
  • Unlock the whole log$8.99

Questions

Is BookWorm free?
BookWorm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Reading Log XL free?
Reading Log XL is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do BookWorm or Reading Log XL have ads?
Neither BookWorm nor Reading Log XL shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BookWorm or Reading Log XL?
BookWorm ships an update weekly, and Reading Log XL every 2 weeks. Most recently, BookWorm was updated on October 7, 2026 and Reading Log XL on October 9, 2026.

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