LibraryThing vs Gavagai
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.
Gavagai
Discover curated short fiction and publish your original writing on this platform for thoughtful readers and serious writers. Explore new authors, follow creators, and join critique circles for feedback. Reading is always open, with account creation for participation.
- Editor-selected short fiction
- Publish original writing
- Explore new authors
- Follow writers
- Join critique circles
- Community stories
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Gavagai is a curated fiction and creative writing platform for readers and writers who care about the work. Discover short stories across genres, read editor-selected fiction, and publish your own original writing. Gavagai is built for thoughtful readers and serious writers who want more than an algorithmic feed. For readers • Read editor-selected short fiction • Explore new authors and literary voices • Follow writers and discover community stories For writers • Publish original short stories • Upload cover images and embed media • Join critique circles for structured feedback • Connect with a focused writing community Create an account with email or Bluesky to post, comment, and participate. Reading is always open. Independent. Thoughtful. Reader-first.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Gavagai at 5.0 against LibraryThing's 3.5. Gavagai also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks). LibraryThing's advantage is ratings volume (288 vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Gavagai holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LibraryThing has 288 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
LibraryThing ships an update every 4 weeks, Gavagai weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | LibraryThing | Gavagai |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (288 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 47.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 288 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | LibraryThing.com | Gavagai |
Customer experience
LibraryThing
Gavagai
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
Gavagai
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
LibraryThing
No in-app purchases
Gavagai
No in-app purchases
