Comparison

ReadTime vs StackBooks

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

Head to head
About

ReadTime

This app encourages reading by allowing users to earn timed access to other apps based on the time spent reading. It features a digital bookshelf, progress tracking, and helps reduce phone addiction by creating a tangible reward for reading.

Highlights
  • Track reading sessions with a timer
  • Earn coins for reading time
  • Trade coins for timed app access
  • Digital bookshelf and book tracker
  • Progress tracking and reading reports
  • Reduce phone addiction
Features
Read full description

Read first. Scroll after. ReadTime is a reading habit app that lets you trade the time you spend reading for timed access to the apps you choose. Turn the time that disappears into social feeds and videos into a reason to open the book you meant to read. Finish a reading timer to earn coins, then spend those coins to temporarily unlock blocked apps. READ TO EARN APP TIME โ€ข Track focused reading sessions with a timer โ€ข Earn coins from completed reading time โ€ข Trade coins for timed app access โ€ข Temporarily unlock the apps you choose when you start the redeemed time โ€ข Automatically lock them again when time runs out A BEAUTIFUL BOOKSHELF AND BOOK TRACKER โ€ข Add books by search, ISBN barcode, or manual entry โ€ข Organize books as Want to Read, Reading, or Finished โ€ข Track pages and reading progress โ€ข Save notes and memorable quotes for each book SEE YOUR READING HABIT GROW โ€ข View book covers on a reading calendar โ€ข Keep a daily reading streak โ€ข Review weekly and monthly reading-time reports โ€ข Check your reading at a glance with widgets โ€ข Save and share your reading calendar as an image READTIME IS FOR YOU IF YOU WANT TO โ€ข Reduce phone addiction and mindless social media use โ€ข Build a consistent daily reading habit โ€ข Keep books, sessions, pages, and notes in one place โ€ข Earn screen time instead of relying on willpower alone โ€ข Create a simple reason to focus ReadTime uses Apple's Screen Time technology. Screen Time authorization is required to use app blocking. An active paid auto-renewable subscription is required to use all ReadTime features. A free trial may be available depending on the selected plan. Pricing, duration, and renewal terms are displayed on the in-app purchase screen. Terms of Use: https://app.notion.com/p/39bd12352d5880f19f0af3aeee7eeafb Privacy Policy: https://app.notion.com/p/39bd12352d5880c7a643ff778c78e3ca Contact: https://forms.gle/vfJFj7VrS2EovxKF9

About

StackBooks

Easily track your reading progress by scanning book barcodes. Visualize your reading journey as a growing stack of finished books and manage your TBR list with customizable statuses and notes. All your data is stored locally for privacy and offline access.

Highlights
  • Barcode scanning for quick book addition
  • Visualized reading stack height
  • TBR and reading status management
  • Star ratings and notes for finished books
  • Offline functionality
  • Reading statistics and insights
Features
Read full description

A reading tracker that makes adding books easy โ€” and stacks up every book you finish. ADDING A BOOK IS ONE SCAN Point the camera at the barcode (ISBN) on the back of a book and the title, author, cover and page count are filled in. Scans run back to back, so a whole shelf takes a couple of minutes. You can also search by title or author and add a book from the results. WHAT YOU READ BECOMES HEIGHT The page count of each book turns into thickness, and your finished books pile up. Look back on how tall your stack has grown. A mug, an ostrich, a utility pole โ€” your stack is drawn next to things you know, so you can see how far it has come. You can also turn the stack into an image and share it. YOUR TBR PILE AND YOUR READS, SORTED Five statuses keep your books sorted: Wishlist, TBR, Reading, Read and Paused. Books you're curious about go to Wishlist; books you own but haven't read yet go to TBR. Move them to Reading when you start, Read when you finish, or Paused if you set them aside. You can also see how tall your TBR pile alone has grown. Finished books can hold a star rating, the date you finished, and a note about what you thought. Add tags and you can filter later by "fiction", "work", or anything else you use. RE-READS COUNT TOO When you read a book again, each read gets its own finish date and notes. EVERYTHING STAYS ON YOUR DEVICE Titles, notes, ratings and the cover photos you take are kept on your device, not on a server. There is no account and nothing to log in to. When you change phones, export a backup and import it on the new one. LOOK BACK ON YOUR READING Built-in reading stats. Books read, pages read and the height of your stack, whenever you want to see them. See how much you read by author or by tag. WHO IT IS FOR - Readers whose TBR pile got out of hand - Anyone who wants to count books and pages, not just titles - Readers who want to keep notes instead of a separate reading journal - Fiction, non-fiction and comics, tracked in one place - Anyone looking for a book tracker that works without an account FREE, WITH NO BANNER OR FULL-SCREEN ADS Every feature is free. No banner or full-screen ads, and no in-app purchases. ALSO - English and Japanese, following your device language - Stack height in cm/m or inches/feet, whichever you prefer - Works offline; only book search needs a connection

Screenshots

ReadTime4 screens
StackBooks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: StackBooks at 100% against ReadTime's 0%. StackBooks also leads on monetization model (free vs subscription) and update cadence (daily vs monthly). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ReadTime ships an update monthly, StackBooks daily. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 5 level
ReadTime versus StackBooks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadTimeStackBooks
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews โ€” better
Update frequencyMonthlyDaily โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationSubscriptionFree โ€” better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS17.016.4 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size22 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRyosuke HayashiKenta Nobutani

Customer experience

ReadTime

Written reviews4 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%

StackBooks

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ReadTime

No in-app purchases

None

StackBooks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ReadTime free?
ReadTime is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is StackBooks free?
StackBooks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do ReadTime or StackBooks have ads?
Neither ReadTime nor StackBooks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ReadTime or StackBooks?
ReadTime ships an update monthly, and StackBooks daily. Most recently, ReadTime was updated on November 5, 2026 and StackBooks on November 8, 2026.

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