Comparison

BookCard vs Booklume

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

Head to head
About

BookCard

Features
Read full description

BookCard is the private, offline reading tracker that just works. No account. No ads. No 5-book paywall. Your shelf opens instantly and never leaves your phone unless you ask it to. OPENS INSTANTLY. WORKS OFFLINE. Your whole library lives on your device, so it loads in a blink โ€” on a plane, in the subway, anywhere. No loading spinner, no server round-trip, no grey screen. YOUR WHOLE LIBRARY. NO BOOK LIMIT. Track unlimited books free. No cap that forces you to pay after five or ten books. The free tier is the real app, not a demo. SCAN ANY BARCODE. ADD A BOOK IN 2 SECONDS. Point your camera at the back cover and the book lands on your shelf โ€” title, author, cover, page count. Search and manual entry are always there too. HALF-STAR RATINGS. FIRST-CLASS DNF. Rate in half stars (4.5 is a real rating). Did-not-finish is a proper status, not a shame. Log pages, minutes, and notes as you read. STREAKS, YEARLY GOAL, MOOD CHARTS. Beautiful stats: books per month, reading streaks, your most-used moods, and a yearly reading goal with a progress ring. Set it, watch it fill. YOUR SHELF STAYS PRIVATE. NO ACCOUNT. NO ADS. No sign-in wall, no sponsored posts inside your own shelves, no feed, no social graph. Just your books. OPTIONAL PRO โ€” ONE-TIME UNLOCK. Pay once, keep it forever: real iCloud sync (opt-in, Apple-only), custom shelves, Goodreads + StoryGraph import with merge and dedupe, and shareable BookCards. If your plan ever lapses, your books stay fully readable and exportable. WHAT TO READ NEXT โ€” BASED ON YOUR RATINGS. A quiet, on-device suggestion from your own want-to-read pile. No AI, no cloud, just your data. BookCard is local-first. Your shelf, logging, and stats work fully offline; search and covers need a connection. Sync is opt-in and uses only your private Apple iCloud. Terms of Use (EULA): https://bookcard.uptrail.ai/terms Privacy Policy: https://bookcard.uptrail.ai/privacy

About

Booklume

Organize your reading library, track progress, and capture notes from physical books using on-device text recognition. Monitor reading streaks, trends, and yearly goals in a private, ad-free environment.

Highlights
  • Track physical, ebook, and audiobook progress
  • Time reading sessions or log past ones
  • Capture typed notes and scanned highlights
  • Review reading activity and set yearly goals
  • Organize library with Open Library search
  • On-device text recognition
Features
Read full description

Booklume is a calm, private reading companion for people who want to read more and remember what matters. Keep your library organized, update your progress in seconds, time reading sessions, and capture notes from physical books with on-device text recognition. Your home screen keeps the current book close, while Insights turns reading sessions into useful streaks, trends, and yearly-goal progress. Features: Track physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks Record page or percentage progress Time live sessions or log past sessions Save typed notes and scan printed highlights Review weekly and yearly reading activity Set an annual book goal Add reading widgets to your Home Screen Search Open Library or add books manually Your library and notes stay on your device. Booklume does not require an account and does not use advertising or third-party analytics. Booklume Pro includes unlimited highlight scans and full reading history. Subscription purchases renew automatically unless canceled through your Apple Account. A lifetime option may also be available. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

BookCard4 screens
Booklume4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Booklume at none against BookCard's 3. Booklume also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 6 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. BookCard sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Booklume asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BookCard ships an update every 6 weeks, Booklume daily. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 6 level
BookCard versus Booklume: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBookCardBooklume
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsโ€”100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksDaily โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
Monetizationโ€”Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size5 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMitaanshu AgarwalBalaji Sivasakthi

In-app purchases

3 purchases

BookCard

Subscriptions2
  • BookCardReadingTrackerMonthly$2.991 Month
  • BookCardReadingTrackerYearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • BookCard Pro Lifetime$19.99
None

Booklume

No in-app purchases

Questions

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

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