Comparison

Films Shelf vs Serialous

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

Head to head
About

Films Shelf

Easily save and organize movies you want to watch, with details like poster and runtime. Choose your next film with a browsing or shuffle option. Watched films create a personal viewing history.

Highlights
  • Save movies with poster and details
  • Organize a personal film shelf
  • Browse or shuffle film suggestions
  • Track watched films and dates
  • Ad-free experience with Premium
  • Partner sharing for shared watchlists
Features
Read full description

Films Shelf is a personal films shelf — a warm, low-friction place to put the movies you keep meaning to watch, and a calm way to choose one when Friday night comes around. THE FOUR JOBS • Save — A film catches your attention. Tap, add. The shelf builds itself over weeks and months. • Remember — Each entry holds onto what the film is: poster, description, year, runtime. Your shelf never decays into a wall of forgotten titles. • Choose — Browse the shelf or, with Premium, tap Shuffle for a one-at-a-time proposal. Reroll until something feels right. • Reminisce — Watched films stay on the shelf as a quiet record of what you've seen and when. A SHELF, NOT A DATABASE Films Shelf is built around a single guiding test: does this feel more like a shelf than a database? Warmth over completeness. Context over metadata. Earned archive over managed catalog. PREMIUM Premium adds: • Ad-free experience • Partner sharing — invite one partner to share your shelf. Both of you can add, mark watched, and remove films. The shelf updates on both phones. • In-app trailer playback • Shuffle — surface a one-at-a-time film suggestion from your shelf Premium is $4.99/month or $29.99/year. New users get 30 days of Premium free. Cancel anytime. PRIVACY Films Shelf has no first-party servers. Your shelf lives in your iCloud, not on our infrastructure. Film metadata is provided by The Movie Database (TMDB). This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Terms of Use: https://bbmaxwell.dev/legal/films-shelf/terms Privacy Policy: https://bbmaxwell.dev/legal/films-shelf/privacy EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Serialous

Features
Read full description

Keep track of every TV show you're watching — all in one place. Serialous shows you what's airing today, what's coming this week, and how far you've watched through each season. Add shows from anywhere: select a show name in any app, tap Share, choose Serialous, and it's saved to your list instantly. My Shows See all your shows at a glance with progress bars, next episode info, and airing status. Sort by name, status, or what's coming out next. Schedule Today's episodes up top, the rest of the week below — so you never miss a new release. Where to Watch See which streaming services carry each show in your country, with live availability updates. Never miss an episode Get a notification the day a new episode drops, plus a weekly digest of everything coming up — so you always know what to watch next. No account needed. Your data stays on your device.

Screenshots

Films Shelf4 screens
Serialous3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Serialous at none against Films Shelf's 2. Films Shelf's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support 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. Films Shelf sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Serialous asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Films Shelf ships an update every 6 weeks, Serialous every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Films Shelf versus Serialous: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFilms ShelfSerialous
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMax McGregorIgor Tsallagov

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Films Shelf

Subscriptions2
  • Films Shelf Premium (Monthly)1 Month trial$4.991 Month
  • Films Shelf Premium (Annual)1 Month trial$12.991 Year
None

Serialous

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Films Shelf free?
Films Shelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Serialous free?
Serialous is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Films Shelf or Serialous have ads?
Neither Films Shelf nor Serialous shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Films Shelf or Serialous?
Films Shelf ships an update every 6 weeks, and Serialous every 4 months. Most recently, Films Shelf was updated on November 5, 2026 and Serialous on October 31, 2026.

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