Rafım vs Kernel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Rafım
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PHOTOGRAPH YOUR SHELF — AI DOES THE REST (Premium) - Take a photo of your shelf and AI reads the book spines - Books arrive with cover, author and page count - Review the list before adding; books you already own are marked BUILD YOUR LIBRARY - Scan an ISBN or add manually; cover, author and pages fill in automatically - First 5 books free; unlimited books and shelves with Premium - Create your own colour-coded shelves: Classics, Summer Reads, Someday… COMPLETE YOUR SERIES - We find the volumes you're missing and add them in one tap - “You own 3 of 5” — see exactly where you are in a series TRACK YOUR READING - Set a yearly goal, log pages read and books finished - Follow your progress with a heatmap, streaks and badges - Monthly Reading Recap and yearly Wrapped — ready to share LENDING TRACKER - Never forget who has your book - Get it back easily with reminders MULTILINGUAL & SAFE - 16 languages - Cloud backup keeps your library with you - Works offline too One more page every day. Your library now fits in your pocket. Terms: https://rafim-app.web.app/terms Privacy: https://rafim-app.web.app/privacy
Kernel
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Chapter summaries of the books you read. You finish a book and a month later you remember one idea. Kernel keeps the rest. Every chapter, in plain words, readable in a minute. Open a book and see its chapters. Open a chapter and read it, or press Listen and hear it explained by two hosts while each word lights up as it is read. Your summaries are yours. They live in your account, sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web, and deleting your account deletes all of it. Sign in with Apple or email. Share any summary with a link.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Rafım at Free against Kernel's $0.99. Rafım also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs weekly). Kernel's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Rafım is free to download; Kernel costs $0.99 up front. Rafım sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Kernel asks for nothing beyond the download.
Rafım ships an update every 4 days, Kernel weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Rafım | Kernel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Merve Gultekin | Joshua Trommel |
In-app purchases
Rafım
- Rafım Premium Monthly$0.991 Month
- Rafım Premium Yearly7 Days trial$6.991 Year
- Lifetime Premium$29.99
Kernel
No in-app purchases







