LibraryThing vs Novel Effect
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
LibraryThing
Catalog your personal book, DVD, and CD collections. Easily add items by searching or scanning barcodes. Enhance your catalog with high-resolution cover photos and browse your collection visually.
- Catalog books, DVDs, and CDs
- Search for media items
- Scan ISBN barcodes
- Add high-resolution cover photos
- Browse collection by cover type
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The LibraryThing app allows LibraryThing members to catalog and browse their collections. LibraryThing is focused on books, but you can add most media, including books, DVDs and CDs. LibraryThing relies on data from Amazon, and over 65 million library records. Add books by searching for them or scanning their ISBN barcode with the camera. Add high-resolution cover photos of your books with the cover editor and browse your books by cover type to find copies that need better covers.
Novel Effect
This app enhances children's storybook reading by adding interactive music, sound effects, and character voices that respond to your voice. It aims to make reading time magical, promote literacy, and spark imagination for kids up to 12 years old.
- Voice-activated music and sound effects
- Character voices respond to reading
- Hundreds of curated children's books
- Weekly new book additions
- Supports print books and eBooks
- Classroom and family versions
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Welcome to Novel Effect — an award-winning app that follows your voice as you read out loud from a children’s story book and responds at just the right moment with interactive music, sound effects, and character voices. Bring the story to life, promote literacy, imagination, and fun for kids 12 & under! In the classroom or at home, see why parents and teachers alike say Novel Effect “…turns reading time into a magical experience." - App Store Review. There are 3 versions of the Novel Effect service accessible through the app. New books are added weekly. FREE Free Novel Effect offers hundreds of soundscapes for a library of children’s books curated for teachers, librarians, kids and families. Enjoy limited access to soundscapes for free when you bring your own copy of the print book or ebook! PREMIUM For families and individual educators, Novel Effect Premium offers unlimited access to a library of kid friendly content. Enjoy soundscapes for popular children’s books when you bring your own copy of the book, or read aloud from hundreds of in-app eBooks, including non-fiction and early reader chapter books, as well as exclusive members-only content. CLASSROOM For educators, Novel Effect Premium Classroom offers unlimited access to Premium features and content for one teacher and up to 30 students in a safe and secure environment. Overwhelmingly, educators say reading with Novel Effect is more engaging, creating motivated, confident, and empowered readers. HOW IT WORKS Novel Effect’s service follows along as you read out loud, playing interactive music, sound effects, and character voices in response to your voice. Our library includes a wide variety of high-quality soundscapes for carefully selected family friendly books to engage and promote imagination and learning, updated weekly with new titles! Hundreds of titles are available as in-app eBooks, some titles may require you to read aloud from your own copy. FIND - Use search or browse our collections to find the book you want to read out loud. PLAY - Tap the cover and then choose how you’ll be reading — with print or an eBook. READ - When you hear the chime, start reading aloud! LISTEN - Hear the music and sounds respond to your voice and change with the story. Add a little magic to story time with Novel Effect. PRESS AND EXPERT REVIEWS Novel Effect was featured on Shark Tank, The TODAY Show, and in Forbes, Variety, Lifehacker, and more. “I felt like a real audiobook narrator. My five-year-old tried reading a book on her own… and amazingly, the system picked up her little voice and played the effects at all the right moments.” - Michelle Woo, Lifehacker "Not only did this tool help make poetry come alive for [my student], he asked me if he could try reading... I about fell out of my chair because he never wants to read aloud... and he has asked to go to the library to check out books that he can read along with the app." - Julie Smith, The Techie Teacher® "I think this is cool as cool can be… I love it, I love it!" - Lori Greiner, entrepreneur and investor on ABC’s Shark Tank SAFETY, PRIVACY, AND SUPPORT - Novel Effect requires access to the device's microphone to perform voice-recognition. - The privacy of kids and their grown-ups is our top priority. Voice-recognition is performed on your device, no voice data is saved without express consent. - Please go to http://www.noveleffect.com/privacy-policy or www.noveleffect.com/classroom-privacy-policy to learn more. KEY FEATURES • Hundreds of books with more added weekly • Also includes Spanish books • Online and offline reading • A reading log tracks books you’ve read with the app • Access Novel Effect’s digital library and soundscapes on almost any device Terms of Service https://www.noveleffect.com/terms-of-service
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Novel Effect at 4.9 against LibraryThing's 3.5. Novel Effect also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 47%) and ratings volume (9.9K vs 288). LibraryThing's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads and device support 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. Novel Effect sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. LibraryThing asks for nothing beyond the download.
Novel Effect holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Novel Effect has 9.9K ratings behind it against 288, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of LibraryThing's written reviews are positive against 76% of Novel Effect's.
LibraryThing ships an update every 4 weeks, Novel Effect every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LibraryThing | Novel Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (288 ratings) | 4.9 (9.9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 47.5% of reviews | 76.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 288 | 9.9K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | — | #29 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 212 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | LibraryThing.com | Novel Effect Inc |
Customer experience
LibraryThing
Novel Effect
User reviews
LibraryThing
From 288 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Quick barcode scanning
- 👍 Useful for cataloging library
- 🚀 Fast book addition
Room to improve
- 🐛 Glitches and crashes
- 🔍 Limited search and editing capabilities
- 🤖 Outdated and dated UI
Novel Effect
From 9.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ❤️ Loved the app
- 🤩 Fun and good family time
- 🎨 Brings books to life
- 👍 Engaging for students
- 🎉 Adds magic to reading
Room to improve
- 🔒 Many locked books need premium
- 🔇 Sound issues - quiet or out of sync
- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🤔 Not as many titles as expected
Bugs and requests
LibraryThing
Reported bugs
3 issues- Barcode scanner not working
- Books disappearing from catalog
- Editing and saving issues
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to create custom collections
- Offline access to library
- Integration with other book apps
- Lending/loan tracking feature
Novel Effect
Reported bugs
2 issues- App crashes or gets stuck
- Progress meter doesn't match audio
Requested features
5 requests- Add more books, especially current titles
- Improve audio sync and volume
- Implement Apple Family Sharing
- Add more free books or samples
- Provide option to turn off background music
In-app purchases
LibraryThing
No in-app purchases
Novel Effect
- Monthly Premium Access$5.991 Month
- Monthly Premium Access$7.991 Month
- Annual Premium Access$41.991 Year
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- Annual Premium Access7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Annual Premium Access1 Year trial3 variants$49.991 Year
- Annual Premium Access7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Annual Premium Access1 Year trial2 variants$59.991 Year
Questions
Is LibraryThing free?
Is Novel Effect free?
Which has better reviews, LibraryThing or Novel Effect?
Do LibraryThing or Novel Effect have ads?
Which is updated more often, LibraryThing or Novel Effect?
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