Comparison

Glose vs NetGalley Shelf

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

Head to head
About

Glose

This reading app enhances the experience with social features, allowing users to connect with others, share notes, and join online book clubs. Explore a vast ebookstore, read excerpts for free, and import your own EPUBs for offline access.

Highlights
  • Social reading and annotation sharing
  • Access to 1 million ebooks
  • Read up to 10% of any book for free
  • Import your own EPUBs
  • Offline reading capabilities
  • Create and join online book clubs
  • Generate and share quote cards
Features
Read full description

The next-generation READING APP that makes reading AWESOME with features to keep you engaged and motivated. Pick a book in our choice of 1 million, start reading any book for free, connect with other readers and share notes, highlights, and conversation - and become a better reader. Build your bookshelf in seconds : Create a free reader profile, organize your books, create lists. Browse our ebookstore : 1 million ebooks in all categories. Best sellers, fiction, non fiction, young adult, business, education etc... with great discounts and free classics. Start any book for free! One touch and you’re into any book for free. Read up to 10% of the content before deciding to pursue and purchase the book. Also, upload an import your own epubs from Dropbox, your desktop of anywhere else! Read anywhere, anytime, online and offline. Glose stores your current reads so you can read them offline, in the bus, subway, in the depths of a mysterious forest or a far away galaxy. Join the Community : see what other people are reading, recommending, highlighting, and annotating. Read with your friends! Create reading groups to read with your friends and share highlights and annotations. Shared annotations in the margins of the text make reading more engaging and exciting. Post a note and see what other readers think. Start an online book club! Create a group, pick a name and image, invite people and choose books : you’ve got your online book club read to go - around the world! Make reading beautiful : create beautiful quote cards from the books you read. Choose a sentence that inspires you, choose a background photo, and share the quote card on social media. More about Glose : Reading for better learning : our unique features makes your reading more conducive to text analysis, memorization, and study. Glose is used in leading schools and universities to power distribution of reading material and discussion around text. Our bookstore features the works of Malcolm Gladwell, Walter Isaacson, Stephen King, John Green, Paulo Coelho, James Patterson, E.L. James, Suzanne Collins, Danielle Steel, David Baldacci, Janet Evanovich, Nora Roberts, Dan Brown, Dean Koontz, John Grisham, George R.R Martin, and many more ! 
 • Read popular FREE ebooks by classic authors : Moby Dick, Alice in Wonderland, Sherlock Holmes, The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Tales from Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet, Pride & Prejudice and more. 
 On Glose, reading becomes social. You can highlight your favorite quotes with one touch, archive them, share them on social networks, and annotate them. So join our community of readers who read, share, and discuss the books they love! Glose provides the most powerful reading experience online. • Customise your reading settings to personalise your experience
 : fonts, spacing, page structure, background color (might mode and more). • Always pick up your reading at the right page thanks to automatic synchronisation of your Reading activity on all devices. 
 • Make new friends through books
 So what are you waiting for ? Don’t miss the inspiring conversations happening every day in Glose, and Download our app ! Connect with us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/GloseApp) Follow Glose on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Glose)

About

NetGalley Shelf

Access and review digital books and audiobooks provided by publishers and authors. Discover new titles, download them for offline reading, or stream audiobooks directly within the app. This platform is designed for book advocates and industry professionals to provide valuable feedback.

Highlights
  • Access digital review copies
  • Listen to audiobooks
  • Download books for offline reading
  • Stream audiobooks
  • Discover new titles
  • Request and review books
Currently charting
Read full description

NetGalley Shelf is a reading and listening app for NetGalley members. NetGalley helps publishers and authors promote digital review copies and audiobooks to book advocates and industry professionals. Publishers make digital review copies and audiobooks available for the NetGalley community to discover, request, read, and review. NetGalley does not sell any content, including books or audiobooks. Each book on NetGalley is provided to specific members by the publisher directly, at no cost to the NetGalley member. Books on the NetGalley site are used for review and promotional purposes only. Users of the NetGalley Shelf app will need to register as NetGalley members on NetGalley.com or NetGalley.co.uk, then all your approved NetGalley books and audiobooks will automatically appear in this app. No need to press Download on the NetGalley website! Reading is easy and convenient using the NetGalley Shelf app. Download approved books for access on the go, or start listening right away with streaming for audiobooks.

Screenshots

Glose4 screens
NetGalley Shelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Glose at 4.5 against NetGalley Shelf's 2.1. Glose also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (8.1K vs 87). NetGalley Shelf's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and chart position (#188 vs unranked). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Glose holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Glose has 8.1K ratings behind it against 87, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of Glose's written reviews are positive against 20% of NetGalley Shelf's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Glose ships an update every 3 weeks, NetGalley Shelf every 6 months. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Glose versus NetGalley Shelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGloseNetGalley Shelf
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (8.1K ratings) — better2.1 (87 ratings)
Positive reviews26.7% of reviews — better19.9% of reviews
Number of ratings8.1K — better87
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#188 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB24 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperReadwise, IncNetGalley, LLC

Customer experience

Glose

All ratings8,049 ratings
Positive86.9%
Neutral4.2%
Negative8.9%
Written reviews176 reviews
Positive26.7%
Neutral9.7%
Negative63.6%

NetGalley Shelf

All ratings83 ratings
Positive15.7%
Neutral16.9%
Negative67.5%
Written reviews301 reviews
Positive19.9%
Neutral17.3%
Negative62.8%

User reviews

Glose

From 8.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth reading experience
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 💡 Social features for sharing highlights

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🔒 Lack of offline access to downloaded books
  • 👎 Difficult to navigate and find your place
  • 💤 Sluggish performance
  • 📚 Inability to export or transfer purchased books

NetGalley Shelf

From 87 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Works fine for some users
  • 👍 Keeps user logged in
  • 👍 Audiobooks work well
  • 🚀 Able to read ebooks

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Narration speed issues
  • 🐛 Confusing interface
  • 🔒 Login issues
  • 🐛 Bookmarks and positions don't sync
  • 🐛 No built-in dictionary

Bugs and requests

Glose

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Pages skipping or jumping unexpectedly
  • Highlighting and note-taking features not working as expected
  • Audiobook playback issues like skipping and glitching
  • Login and account management problems

Requested features

4 requests
  • Bookmark and annotation management
  • Customizable reading settings
  • Seamless sync across devices
  • Improved search and organization of library

NetGalley Shelf

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Login issues
  • Downloading issues with audiobooks
  • Books disappearing from shelf
  • Inability to remove expired books
  • Inconsistent behavior when opening books

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add ability to write reviews within the app
  • Improve audiobook playback controls
  • Add font size adjustment
  • Implement dark mode
  • Sync reading progress across devices
Show 2 more
  • Add highlighting and note-taking features
  • Improve organization and sorting of books

In-app purchases

None

Glose

No in-app purchases

None

NetGalley Shelf

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Glose free?
Glose is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is NetGalley Shelf free?
NetGalley Shelf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Glose or NetGalley Shelf?
Glose is rated higher. Glose averages 4.5 out of 5 from 8.1K ratings, while NetGalley Shelf averages 2.1 from 87 ratings.
Do Glose or NetGalley Shelf have ads?
Neither Glose nor NetGalley Shelf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Glose or NetGalley Shelf?
Glose ships an update every 3 weeks, and NetGalley Shelf every 6 months. Most recently, Glose was updated on October 29, 2026 and NetGalley Shelf on October 29, 2026.

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