LibraryThing vs GCLS Mobile
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.
GCLS Mobile
Manage your library account on the go. Access your digital library card, place holds, and find library locations. Connect with your local library system easily.
- Manage multiple library cards
- Digital library card for checkouts
- Place holds on materials
- Scan ISBN codes
- Library location directions
- Connect with the library
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Take the Greenville County Library everywhere you go! • Manage multiple library card accounts in one place. • Scan your digital library card to check out materials. • Place holds on library materials. • Scan ISBN Codes • Get directions to any Library System location with one tap. • Connect with us
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: GCLS Mobile at 4.0 against LibraryThing's 3.5. LibraryThing's advantage is ratings volume (288 vs 4) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
GCLS Mobile holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LibraryThing has 288 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 47% of LibraryThing's written reviews are positive against 40% of GCLS Mobile's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
LibraryThing ships an update every 4 weeks, GCLS Mobile every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LibraryThing | GCLS Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (288 ratings) | 4.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 47.5% of reviews — better | 40.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 288 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 49 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | LibraryThing.com | Greenville County Library System |
Customer experience
LibraryThing
GCLS Mobile
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
GCLS Mobile
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
LibraryThing
No in-app purchases
GCLS Mobile
No in-app purchases









