Bookends vs HabitGrid
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bookends
Manage your research references and PDFs on your mobile device. Search online databases, import metadata, annotate PDFs, and organize your library. Offers basic functionality for free with optional one-time purchase and yearly subscription for advanced features like cloud sync and unlimited imports.
- Search online reference databases
- Import metadata and PDFs
- PDF annotation and markup
- Barcode scanning for references
- Cloud sync across devices
- Share online libraries
- Create multiple libraries
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Bookends is the reference management app you've been looking for. The basic version offers: • Search online sites directly (arXiv, Google Books, Google Scholar, JSTOR, the Library of Congress, PubMed, PubMed Central, and Semantic Scholar) or use the built-in browser (EZProxy-compliant) to download reference metadata and PDFs (access privileges required). Searches can return a maximum of 20 references, and only 50 references can be stored in your personal database. • Use unique identifiers such as DOI, PMID, ISBN, or arXiv id to autofill references. • View the text of PDF annotations in a note stream, and create your own with our powerful PDF markup engine. • Barcode scanning, one per day. • And many more features designed to help you discover, organize, and use reference information. Standard, one-time purchase ($14.99): • No limit on searches or importing. Premium, yearly subscription ($14.99). Requires a Standard purchase. • Cloud sync with all your iOS devices and Bookends for Mac (separate purchase). • Share online libraries with colleagues. • Scan documents with Mellel Mobile*. • Create multiple libraries. • Unlimited barcode scanning. • Extract PDF annotations with deep links to annotations and text. • Convenient UI to add PDF notes to the library. • Automate your actions with Shortcuts. * iPad-only. Requires a Mellel Mobile Premium subscription. Subscription is for one year and has an auto-renew option. The subscription can be managed in iOS -> Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions. A subscription will renew if it isn't canceled at least 24 hours before the renewal date. If the subscription is not renewed, Premium will be disabled but Standard will continue to work. Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
HabitGrid
Build positive daily routines with this habit tracker. It offers interactive widgets, timely reminders, and streak tracking to help you stay consistent. Share your progress and get daily inspiration to achieve your goals.
- Interactive widgets
- Timely reminders
- Streak tracking
- Consistency charts
- Progress sharing
- iCloud sync
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HabitGrid helps you track your habits and build a daily routine. Features: - Interactive widgets (iOS 17.0+) - Timely reminders - Streak tracking - Consistency charts - Daily inspirational quotes - Share your progress - iCloud sync Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/thirtynineapps-privacy/home
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bookends at 76% against HabitGrid's 31%. Bookends also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (399 vs 35). HabitGrid's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Bookends sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year and HabitGrid sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Bookends holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookends has 399 ratings behind it against 35, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Bookends's written reviews are positive against 31% of HabitGrid's.
Bookends ships an update every 2 months, HabitGrid every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bookends | HabitGrid |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (399 ratings) — better | 4.2 (35 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.4% of reviews — better | 30.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 399 — better | 35 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 114 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sonny Software, LLC | LEAP STUDIO |
Customer experience
Bookends
HabitGrid
Bugs and requests
Bookends
Reported bugs
3 issues- Incompatibility with iCloud Optimized Storage
- Unreliable sync between desktop and mobile versions
- Occasional data loss or corruption
Requested features
4 requests- Nested folders and tags for better organization
- Automatic PDF metadata extraction
- Improved search and filtering capabilities
- Seamless integration with third-party services
HabitGrid
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bookends
- Premium3 Months trial$14.991 Year
- Standard$14.99
HabitGrid
- Monthly$1.991 Month
- Yearly$9.991 Year
- Lifetime$19.99
Questions
Is Bookends free?
Is HabitGrid free?
Which has better reviews, Bookends or HabitGrid?
Do Bookends or HabitGrid have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bookends or HabitGrid?
Other comparisons
