Comparison

SlowRead vs OnlyBooks

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

Head to head
About

SlowRead

This app helps you build a visually appealing digital bookshelf and encourages focused reading sessions by blocking distracting apps. Track your reading progress, organize your library, and create a personalized reading ritual.

Highlights
  • Customizable 2.5D digital bookshelf
  • Distraction-blocking focus sessions
  • Reading streak tracking
  • TBR and library organization
  • Effortless book addition (scan, search, photo)
  • Import from Goodreads (CSV)
  • Private, local-first library
Features
Read full description

SlowRead is the book tracker with a bookshelf you will want to show off. Every book you read stands on your own shelf, with its real spine and cover. Keep your TBR, your reading journal and your reading log in one place, and share your bookshelf on BookTok and Instagram. YOUR BOOKSHELF • Every book stands on the shelf as a spine or as a cover. • Photograph your own copy to show its real spine, cover and sprayed edges, or use a photo another reader already shared. • Arrange your books by hand, lay them flat in piles and keep a series together. • Decorate with plants, candles, lights and more, and pick a theme for the wall and the wood. • Share a picture of your bookcase to your Stories on TikTok or Instagram. • Get a public profile at slowreadapp.com/@you with the bookcases you choose to show. BOOK CLUBS • Create a club or join one and read the same book together. • Talk in a channel for each part of the book, so nobody spoils what comes next. • Hide the parts of a message that are spoilers. • Vote on the club's next book. YOUR READING YEAR • Monthly and yearly wrap ups: cards to swipe through and share. • Your reader type, worked out from the books you finish. • A yearly reading challenge, and your year next to the last one. • Stats for pages, time and books, your reading speed and your top genres. • A reading streak, with past days you can fill in by hand. TRACKING WITHOUT EFFORT • Search millions of books or scan the barcode to add one in seconds. • Import your library from Goodreads, The StoryGraph, Bookmory, Fable or Libib. • Paperback, ebook and audiobook, even for the same book. • Track library loans with the due date and a reminder the day before. • Series grouped together, with your progress through each one. • Notes, quotes scanned from the page with your camera, and characters with a portrait and their relationships. • Half star ratings, rereads and did not finish. WIDGETS • Your bookshelf, what you are reading, your streak, your challenge and a daily quote on your Home Screen and Lock Screen. READING SESSIONS • Start a timed session from any book and log the page where you stop. • If you want, block the apps that distract you while you read, with Screen Time. All features described above require a subscription. A free trial is included, so you can try everything before paying. TERMS: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

OnlyBooks

Features
Read full description

Your books deserve a better home than a spreadsheet. OnlyBooks turns your reading life into a beautiful virtual bookshelf — every book you own or have read, arranged as spines just like a real shelf. Add a book in seconds, watch your collection grow. A shelf that looks the part Books are rendered as spines with their real cover art and colours. Customise the wall, adjust shelf colours, and make it yours. Track what matters Log when you started and finished a book, or simply mark it as read if you can't remember the dates. Your stats page shows how many books you've read each month and how many pages you've powered through. Find any book instantly Search the Open Library catalogue of millions of titles to add books with cover art, author, year, and page count filled in automatically. Add several books at once with multi-select. Stay organised Tag books by genre, series, or anything else. Filter your shelf by tag, reading status, or month to find exactly what you're looking for. Your data, your device Everything is stored locally — no account, no cloud, no tracking. Export your entire library as a backup and import it on any device.

Screenshots

SlowRead4 screens
OnlyBooks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: OnlyBooks at none against SlowRead's 4. OnlyBooks also leads on ads (none vs shown). SlowRead's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 5 months) and chart position (#33 vs unranked). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. SlowRead sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $8.39 per 7 days. OnlyBooks asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SlowRead ships an update every 3 days, OnlyBooks every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
SlowRead versus OnlyBooks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSlowReadOnlyBooks
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (802 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews21.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings802 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 5 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#33 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size118 MB51 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperAdrian Martinez MorenoDevin Smith

In-app purchases

4 purchases

SlowRead

Subscriptions3
  • Premium Weekly$8.397 Days
  • Premium Annual Offer$32.991 Year
  • Premium Annual3 Days trial$44.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime access to Slowread$149.99
None

OnlyBooks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SlowRead free?
SlowRead is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is OnlyBooks free?
OnlyBooks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SlowRead or OnlyBooks have ads?
SlowRead shows ads; OnlyBooks does not.
Which is updated more often, SlowRead or OnlyBooks?
SlowRead ships an update every 3 days, and OnlyBooks every 5 months. Most recently, SlowRead was updated on November 5, 2026 and OnlyBooks on October 31, 2026.

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