LibraryThing vs Bookshelf
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.
Bookshelf
Track your reading, build a library, and improve your habits with insightful stats and AI-powered discovery. Remember what you read with notes and quizzes, and set reading goals to stay motivated. Sync across devices and export your library.
- Build and manage your book library
- Track reading progress and habits
- AI-powered book recommendations
- Take notes and create quizzes
- Set reading goals and reminders
- Import from Goodreads and Kindle
- Sync across iOS devices
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Bookshelf helps you track your books, build a lasting reading habit, and better remember what you read—now with powerful AI-powered discovery tools to help you find your next great read! Add books you’ve read, books you’re reading, and books you want to read. Improve your reading habits with insightful stats and trend reports. Stay motivated with reading goals, streaks, and reminders. Remember what you read by writing and reviewing notes and quotes. BUILD YOUR LIBRARY • Import & Sync – Import your existing libraries from Goodreads, Kindle, StoryGraph, or Reading List with a tap. • Quick Add – Build your library by searching millions of books, scanning any book's barcode, or adding your own. • Book Recommendations* – Discover trending books, find books based on your mood or any prompt, and browse curated collections to find your next read. • Everything Tracker – Easily manage book collections, reading status, star ratings, reading dates, and more for all your books. • Reading Sessions* – Pick up a book, start a session, and we’ll track everything so you can focus on reading. IMPROVE YOUR READING HABITS • Book Chat – Chat with our AI librarian to generate summaries and flash cards, discuss key ideas, and much more! • Reading Stats – Visualize your reading habits over time with charts and reading stats. • Reading Goals – Create a reading goal for the year to motivate yourself to read more or challenge your friends! • Estimated Completion Time – See how long it will take to finish any book with your average reading speed. • Reading Streaks* – Stay motivated by keeping up your streak! REMEMBER WHAT YOU READ • Smart Notes* – Use cards to jot down notes or vocab, write a summary, or prepare study questions. Scan text directly from books or add rich text of your own. • Knowledge Quizzes* – Spaced-repetition quizzes on your note cards that will significantly increase your retention, guaranteed. • Reading Reminders* – Never forget to read or test your knowledge with timely notifications. OTHER FEATURES • Cloud Sync* & Daily Backups – Sync between your iOS devices so your library is always up-to-date, or restore from previous backups. • App Icons – Make Bookshelf your own with beautiful custom home-screen icons. • Library Export* – Never fear losing your books or notes with CSV library exports. • Dark Mode – Beautiful during the day, gorgeous and eye-saving at night. *Some features require Bookshelf Gold for access or unlimited use Gold Lifetime charges your Apple ID once for permanent Gold status. Gold Yearly charges your Apple ID for 12 months of Gold status after a 7-day free trial unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the trial ends. Gold Monthly charges your Apple ID for 1 month of Gold status on purchase confirmation. Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime in your iTunes account settings. For more information, see our Terms and Conditions at bit.ly/2NNm93Z and Privacy Policy at bit.ly/31Mad8s.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bookshelf at 4.6 against LibraryThing's 3.5. Bookshelf also leads on ratings volume (4.2K vs 288) and chart position (#205 vs unranked). LibraryThing's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Bookshelf sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. LibraryThing asks for nothing beyond the download.
Bookshelf holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bookshelf has 4.2K 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 52% of Bookshelf's.
LibraryThing ships an update every 4 weeks, Bookshelf fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.
| Parameter | LibraryThing | Bookshelf |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (288 ratings) | 4.6 (4.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 47.5% of reviews | 52.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 288 | 4.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | — | #205 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 283 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | LibraryThing.com | Alexander Gerrese |
Customer experience
LibraryThing
Bookshelf
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
Bookshelf
From 4.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🤩 Excellent book tracking features
- 📚 Unlimited book storage
- 💻 Clean and intuitive interface
- 🔍 Powerful search and discovery
- 📝 Detailed notes and quotes
Room to improve
- 🔒 Limited free features, requires premium subscription
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔄 Sync issues between devices
- 📚 Incomplete book database
- 🔍 Unreliable barcode scanning
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
Bookshelf
Reported bugs
4 issues- Books disappearing from library after updates
- Reading progress not syncing correctly
- Inconsistent behavior of reading mode and session tracking
- Search function frequently returning incorrect results
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to import/export data
- Implement better sorting and filtering options
- Allow customizable book covers and collections
- Add support for audiobook tracking
- Integrate with other reading apps and services
In-app purchases
LibraryThing
No in-app purchases
Bookshelf
- Bookshelf Gold (Monthly)2 variants$6.991 Month
- Bookshelf Gold (Yearly)7 Days trial2 variants$29.991 Year
- Tokens Refill (Small)$0.99
- Tokens Refill (Medium)$4.99
- 250 Tokens$9.99
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- Tokens Refill (Large)$9.99
- Bookshelf Gold (Lifetime)2 variants$79.99






