LibraryThing vs Ray
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.
Ray
This app offers a curated library of over 1,000 poems, short stories, and essays for daily reflection. Enjoy offline access, progress saving, and bookmarking with a single one-time purchase, fostering a habit of contemplation without subscriptions.
- Curated library of 1000+ poems, stories, essays
- Daily thoughtful reading delivery
- Offline access
- Auto-save progress
- Bookmark functionality
- Sharing tools
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Ray is a short-form reading app designed for thoughtful reflection in a world of distraction. With a single one-time purchase, unlock a beautifully curated library of over 1,000 poems, short stories, and essays — no accounts, no subscriptions, no hidden costs. Each day, Ray delivers one thoughtful reading to help you build a lasting habit of silent contemplation. Offline access, auto-save progress, bookmarks, and sharing tools are all built in, so your focus stays where it belongs: on the words themselves. Just timeless works, beautifully delivered.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ray at 100% against LibraryThing's 47%. Ray also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.5). LibraryThing's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (278 vs 6). On price, update cadence, 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. Ray sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. LibraryThing asks for nothing beyond the download.
Ray holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LibraryThing has 278 ratings behind it against 6, 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 100% of Ray's.
LibraryThing ships an update every 4 weeks, Ray every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LibraryThing | Ray |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (278 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 47.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 278 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 128 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | LibraryThing.com | Cristobal Grana Samanez |
Customer experience
LibraryThing
Ray
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
Ray
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
LibraryThing
No in-app purchases
Ray
- Ray Lifetime$9.99
