BookDiary vs Shelfie
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BookDiary
A private reading journal to track your books, quotes, and reading habits without requiring an account or social sharing. Log your progress, save memorable passages, and discover new reads all on your device.
- Private reading journal
- Save quotes from pages
- Reading progress tracking
- Digital book shelf
- Reading calendar
- Personal reading awards
- Draw from TBR pile
Read full descriptionHide full description
A private reading journal for readers who’d rather not share. Snap a page to save the line that stayed with you, watch your reading days quietly fill a calendar, and keep every book on a shelf that’s yours alone. No accounts. No social feed. ◆ FEATURES Five tabs: Shelf, Reading, To Read, Quotes and Records Read from a photo: snap a page and the text becomes your quote. Snap the cover to fill in title and author. Text recognition runs on your device. Reading calendar: days you added a book, logged a page, or saved a quote are marked Monthly wrap: books finished, pages, reading days and a line from the month, on one card A line for today: one of your saved quotes as a notification at the time you choose (optional) First reads and rereads logged separately, so you can see how a book changes with you Quote cards: save or share a passage as a washi-paper image Reading progress: log today’s page and watch the bar fill Personal reading awards: book of the year, most moving, most reread and more Draw a book: can’t decide what’s next? Draw one from your TBR pile Beautiful covers without photos: nine genres, each with its own washi-paper design. Using a photo? Pinch and drag to fit it to the frame. ◆ WHO IT’S FOR Readers who want to read without other people’s ratings Commonplace-book keepers moving from paper to phone Rereaders who return to favorite books over the years Anyone with a tall TBR pile Lovers of dark academia and quiet design People who avoid apps that require an account ◆ PRIVACY No account required Your books, quotes and notes are stored on your device only and never sent to a server Photo text recognition happens on-device No barcode lookups or external book services No tracking, no analytics on your reading To introduce our other apps, the app may load public App Store information (app names and icons). Your records are never sent. ◆ PRICING, PLAINLY BookDiary is free to use. The free version includes: Up to 50 books Up to 3 quotes per book and 3 photos per reading log 2 personal award categories Up to 5 entries per My Data category 5 photo text scans Washi quote cards in square format Reading calendar for the current month; monthly wrap viewable in the app The Sumi shelf theme in cover view Introductions to our other apps
Shelfie
Read full descriptionHide full description
Shelfieは、読んだ本やこれから読みたい本が、自分だけの本棚に少しずつ増えていく読書記録アプリです。 木の本棚に並ぶ背表紙を眺めながら、一冊ごとの記憶を残せます。 主な機能 ・タイトル、著者、ISBNから書籍を検索 ・タイトル、著者、表紙、ISBNなどの書誌情報を取得 ・見つからない本は手入力で登録 ・「読みたい」「読書中」「読了」のステータス管理 ・一冊ごとの評価、メモ、タグ ・本棚内の検索、ジャンル・状態・評価・タグによる絞り込み ・追加日、読了日、タイトル、著者、評価による並べ替え ・読書ログと読書統計 読書データはこのiPhoneの中に保存されます。アカウント登録は不要です。本棚はオフラインでも閲覧・編集でき、書籍検索と表紙の取得時のみインターネット接続を使用します。 利用規約(EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ プライバシーポリシー: https://junhayashii0.github.io/Shelfie-site/privacy.html 利用規約: https://junhayashii0.github.io/Shelfie-site/terms.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shelfie at none against BookDiary's 1. Shelfie also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, 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
Both are free to download. BookDiary sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Shelfie asks for nothing beyond the download.
BookDiary ships an update every 2 weeks, Shelfie every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BookDiary | Shelfie |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | torankirite | Jun Hayashi |
In-app purchases
BookDiary
- Premium$3.99
Shelfie
No in-app purchases









