# Bibliotheca vs shelfio

The clearest difference is update cadence: shelfio at fortnightly against Bibliotheca's every 10 months. Bibliotheca's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Bibliotheca ships an update every 10 months, shelfio fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bibliotheca | shelfio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 13 MB | 64 MB |
| Requires iOS | **9.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Tomohiko Shimizu](https://appshunter.io/developer/436129129) | [Reo Shigeno](https://appshunter.io/developer/1788864693) |

## What reviewers say

### Bibliotheca

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bibliotheca/id703760945)

Discover and borrow books from nearby libraries in Japan. Search by title or ISBN, check availability, and reserve titles. You can also find library information and bookmark your favorites.

**Highlights:** Search books by title or ISBN, Barcode scanning for book search, Find nearby libraries, Check book availability, Reserve books for borrowing, Bookmark books and libraries

**In-app purchases:** none


### shelfio

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelfio/id1577889639)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bibliotheca free?

Bibliotheca is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is shelfio free?

shelfio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Bibliotheca or shelfio have ads?

Neither Bibliotheca nor shelfio shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Bibliotheca or shelfio?

Bibliotheca ships an update every 10 months, and shelfio fortnightly. Most recently, Bibliotheca was updated on October 16, 2026 and shelfio on October 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*