# Bookends vs APA Citation Generator

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Bookends at 399 against APA Citation Generator's 11. APA Citation Generator's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.7) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Bookends sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year and APA Citation Generator sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

APA Citation Generator holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookends has 399 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Bookends ships an update every 2 months, APA Citation Generator every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bookends | APA Citation Generator |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (399 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookends/id739087947/reviews) | **[4.9 (11 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/apa-citation-generator-solon/id6754468981/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **399** | 11 |
| Positive reviews | 76.4% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Size | 114 MB | 12 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **17.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sonny Software, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/417583547) | [Havard Tryman](https://appshunter.io/developer/1662964293) |

## What reviewers say

### Bookends

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bookends/id739087947)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium | $14.99 | per year |
| Standard | $14.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Seamless sync across devices
- 👍 Excellent PDF annotation tools
- 🔒 Reliable and stable
- 💡 Powerful reference management features
- 👍 Responsive and helpful developer support

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Sync issues with iCloud and PDF files
- 🔒 Subscription model for essential features
- 👎 Outdated and clunky user interface
- 🔒 Limited functionality on iOS without subscription

**Reported bugs**

- Incompatibility with iCloud Optimized Storage
- Unreliable sync between desktop and mobile versions
- Occasional data loss or corruption

**Requested features**

- Nested folders and tags for better organization
- Automatic PDF metadata extraction
- Improved search and filtering capabilities
- Seamless integration with third-party services


### APA Citation Generator

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/apa-citation-generator-solon/id6754468981)

Effortlessly create APA 7 or MLA 9 citations with this tool. It supports autofill from URLs, combining multiple sources, and generating in-text citations. Organize and back up your references securely in iCloud.

**Highlights:** APA 7 and MLA 9 citation generation, Autofill from URLs, Combine multiple sources, Generate in-text citations, Scan books via ISBN, iCloud backup and sync

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro | $5.99 | per 7 days |
| Pro | $24.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bookends free?

Bookends is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is APA Citation Generator free?

APA Citation Generator is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Bookends or APA Citation Generator?

APA Citation Generator is rated higher. Bookends averages 4.7 out of 5 from 399 ratings, while APA Citation Generator averages 4.9 from 11 ratings.

### Do Bookends or APA Citation Generator have ads?

Neither Bookends nor APA Citation Generator shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Bookends or APA Citation Generator?

Bookends ships an update every 2 months, and APA Citation Generator every 3 weeks. Most recently, Bookends was updated on November 1, 2026 and APA Citation Generator on October 28, 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.*