Comparison

Libratory vs Compendium Audiobooks

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

Head to head
About

Libratory

Features
Read full description

Libratory plays an audiobook over the real pages of the book, lighting up the sentence and the word being spoken as it reads. Double-tap a sentence to hear it again. Books are made on your Mac with the free Libratory desktop tool, which pairs a book with its narration and saves both as one synced EPUB. Send that file to your iPhone or iPad with AirDrop or the Files app, tap + on the shelf, and press play. Nothing is streamed, no account is needed, and everything works offline. The app comes with a short three-chapter guide already on the shelf. It is itself a synced book, so reading it is the fastest way to see what the app does. READ AND LISTEN • The voice plays over the printed page, with the sentence and the word highlighted as they are spoken • Double-tap a sentence to hear it from there • Three views of a synced book: Page shows the whole sheet with its pictures and tables, Column crops to the printed words, Text reflows the words at a size you choose • Playback continues with the screen locked, with the chapter, cover and controls on the lock screen • Change the speed and the highlight keeps up READ IN TWO LANGUAGES • A book exported with a translation opens with the original and the translation together, each with its own voice • Tap a word to hear the book from there, or to see what it means in the other language • Sentence pairs reads each sentence and then its translation; each language keeps its own speed, plays each sentence up to five times, and can pause to let you say it back • The original can stay on its printed page beside the translation JUST READ, OR JUST LISTEN • Open an EPUB ebook you already own and read it in Text view • Open an M4B audiobook, pick a chapter, and listen with the screen off PICK UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF • The app remembers your place in every book and shows which parts you have heard • Hold a word to save it, put it in a group, and add a note; find it again in Marks • Search the book and your saved words, then jump back to read or listen KEEP YOUR LIBRARY IN ORDER • Folders and tags for your books, and a search across the whole library • Each book says which chapters light up word by word and which sentence by sentence SHELVES • Pair your phone with the desktop app by scanning the code on its Phone page, and every book it has made is a tap away over your own Wi‑Fi or Tailscale • A public shelf of free, narrated classics is built in, with a two-language Frankenstein among them • Each book says what it offers — read + listen, two languages, words or sentences lit — with its voice, length and a description PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account, no sign-in, no tracking. The app talks only to the shelves you add and the public shelf, to list and download books; what you read stays on your device. Works on iPhone and iPad with iOS 15.6 or later. On iOS 15 and 16, a simpler reader includes Pages and Text, playback, highlighting, chapters, saved progress, and two-language books in two panes. Bookmarks, search, folders and tags require iOS 17 or later. Synced books are made with the Libratory desktop app for Mac, free at libratory.dev. Plain EPUB ebooks and M4B audiobooks open as they are.

About

Compendium Audiobooks

Access a vast library of over 1,100 classic audiobooks with synchronized on-screen text. Enjoy seamless switching between listening and reading, with features like adjustable playback speed and offline downloads for subscribers. Discover philosophy, fiction, poetry, and more, all beautifully narrated.

Highlights
  • 1,100+ classic audiobooks
  • Synchronized on-screen text
  • Switch between listen and read
  • Dual narrator options
  • Offline listening for subscribers
  • Cross-device progress syncing
  • CarPlay integration
Features
Read full description

The great books. Beautifully read. Compendium is a library of 1,100+ classic audiobooks, from Plato and Marcus Aurelius to Austen, Dostoevsky, Shelley, Nietzsche and Poe. The text of every book is on screen while you listen. The first chapter of every book plays free, with no account needed. LISTEN AND READ - Switch between Listen and Read at any time. The sentence being read is highlighted as it plays. - Two narrators on selected titles, Nathaniel and Amelia. Switch mid-chapter without losing your place. THE LIBRARY - 1,100+ titles in philosophy, classic and literary fiction, gothic and horror, adventure, mystery, poetry, drama and history - Over 10,000 hours of listening, with new books added regularly THE PLAYER - Playback speed, 30-second skips, sleep timer and a chapter list - Background audio with lock-screen and Control Center controls - CarPlay: browse your library and control playback from your car's screen - Ask Siri to play a book or pick up where you left off - Download whole books to listen offline (subscribers) - Your place syncs across your devices and the web - Listening hours, books finished and your streak on the home screen - Share the line you're hearing as an Instagram Stories card - Add friends by username to see what they're reading ACCOUNTS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS A free account lets you keep one full book and saves your progress across devices. Full-library listening, account and subscription management happen on compendium.audio. Questions: support@compendium.audio

Screenshots

Libratory4 screens
Compendium Audiobooks4 screens

Verdict

The call

Libratory and Compendium Audiobooks are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Libratory ships an update every 4 days, Compendium Audiobooks weekly. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Libratory versus Compendium Audiobooks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLibratoryCompendium Audiobooks
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—5 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPetar SabevCompendium LLC

In-app purchases

None

Libratory

No in-app purchases

None

Compendium Audiobooks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Libratory free?
Libratory is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Compendium Audiobooks free?
Compendium Audiobooks is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Libratory or Compendium Audiobooks have ads?
Neither Libratory nor Compendium Audiobooks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Libratory or Compendium Audiobooks?
Libratory ships an update every 4 days, and Compendium Audiobooks weekly. Most recently, Libratory was updated on November 6, 2026 and Compendium Audiobooks on November 6, 2026.

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