Comparison

Nightstand vs Readtide

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

Head to head
About

Nightstand

Organize your reading life by tracking books you want to read and those you've finished. Add books to your TBR, sort them, and move them to your finished shelf to record ratings and reviews. Easily share book recommendations with friends.

Highlights
  • Track 'To Be Read' (TBR) lists
  • Record ratings and reviews for finished books
  • Sort and search book shelves
  • Share book recommendations
  • Import and export book data
  • Create social media posts for books
Read full description

Nightstand is a simple app to help keep your reading life organized. With Nightstand, you can track what you want to read next and record the books you've finished, all in one place. TBR (To Be Read) With a few taps, you can add a book to your TBR. The app finds the book cover for you, so you will have a beautiful shelf of books to help choose your next read. Sort your TBR however you like, by genre, author, upcoming books, etc. You can search your TBR, share books with others, and send books over to your Finished shelf with a swipe or a tap of a button. CURRENTLY READING Find a book on your TBR and mark it has your current read. Set the format (audio, e-book, physical book) and move it over to your Finished shelf when you're done. FINISHED Once you’ve read a book on your TBR, move it to your Finished shelf and record a rating and review. Or search the Nightstand book database to add the books you read earlier this year. You can sort your finished view in a variety of ways: list, title, author, genre, rating, and by month. You can search your shelf or share your favorite books with friends. Never forget the title or author of a book you just read again! SHARE If you love a book and want to share it with a friend, you can send a text from Nightstand with the book recommendation and link to add it to their TBR. Or you can create a social post - with just a few taps, you will have a beautiful post with the book cover image, title, author, and your note or review of the book that you can post to Instagram or another platform. Create social posts of your monthly reads, goal progress and reading summary to date. IMPORT and EXPORT Import books into Nightstand from another book tracker. Export your books to CSV or PDF at any time. READING GOALS Set an annual reading goal and create custom goals by genre, format, or time period. Share your goal progress with a social post. Nightstand is simple and private. We don’t sell, store, or analyze your data. There are no friend connections to manage or other reviews to wade through. This is your reading life. Just for you. Terms of Service: https://nightstand-app.com/tos/ Privacy Policy: https://nightstand-app.com/privacypolicy/

About

Readtide

Immerse yourself in reading with this ad-free app. It offers customizable reading experiences, including dynamic themes, note-taking, and vocabulary building. Track your reading habits and visualize your literary journey.

Highlights
  • Import EPUBs and public domain classics
  • Customizable typeface and size
  • Focus Mode for distraction-free reading
  • Dynamic 'Tide' themes for ambient lighting
  • Highlighting and vocabulary definition
  • Note-taking and quote sharing
  • Reading Constellations for theme correlation
Features
Read full description

Readtide is a reading app designed by a reader. An app that focuses on the rhythm of reading. No ads, no trackers, no privacy issues. No stress. Just you and the story, the way reading is meant to be. READ Import your own EPUBs, or browse thousands of free public domain classics from inside the Readtide app. Your books stay on your device, and they stay yours. Choose your typeface and size. Turn on Focus Mode when you want nothing between you and the page. Turn the phone sideways and the words follow, without losing your place. Full screen reading enabled which means more real estate for the words. FOUR TIDES Readtide moves with your day. High Tide at sunrise, Noon Tide at midday, Low Tide at dusk, Night Tide after dark. The light is always right for the hour you're reading in. KEEP WHAT MATTERS Highlight a line and it's saved. Tap a word you don't know and the definition comes to you, then stays in your vocabulary list. Tide Notes hold your note taking and "a-ha" moments. Quote Cards turn any passage into something shareable. SEE YOURSELF READING Rate a book and describe how it felt with moods and tropes. Then open Reading Constellations: every book you finish becomes a star, and lines form where themes correlate and echo across your reading. READTIDE SHORE Readtide is free for everyone, and the public domain classics stay free forever, for everyone. Readtide OCEAN paid features: - Reading Constellations - Unlimited notes and marginalia - Book ratings, moods and tropes - Book report cards and shareable quote cards - Next Tide, your reading queue - Currents, your reading stats - All four Tide themes - E-ink mode One-time purchase. Yours forever. NO NOISE No ads. No feed. No one watching what you read. Just you, the book, and the tide. Find your current.

Screenshots

Nightstand4 screens
Readtide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Nightstand at 7 against Readtide's 2. Readtide's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.4). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Nightstand sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Readtide sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Nightstand against 5.0 for Readtide. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Nightstand versus Readtide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNightstandReadtide
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (7 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings7 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.415.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB49 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperOctopus Kids Co. LLCReadtide, LLC

Customer experience

Nightstand

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Readtide

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Nightstand

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$12.991 Year
1 purchases

Readtide

One-time1
  • Ocean$19.99

Questions

Is Nightstand free?
Nightstand is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Readtide free?
Readtide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Nightstand or Readtide?
Readtide is rated higher. Nightstand averages 4.9 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Readtide averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Nightstand or Readtide have ads?
Neither Nightstand nor Readtide shows ads.

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