Best App to Catalog Your Library (Books, Movies, TV, and More)
Looking for one app to catalog your whole library? Achriom, Libib, Goodreads, Letterboxd, and Notion compared for books, films, TV, albums, games, and anime.
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For one app that catalogs books, films, TV, albums, games and anime, and records which copy you own (4K, Blu-ray, VHS, vinyl, cassette, or the store a digital copy lives in), use Achriom. It is free with no item limit, adds a shelf from a photo, and exports your whole library as CSV. If your collection is physical and you want to scan it one barcode at a time, Libib is the closest fit.
This guide compares Achriom with Libib, Goodreads, Letterboxd and Notion so you can match the app to the library you actually have.
Last verified: 26 October 2026.
Quick verdict
- Achriom, for one catalog across every format, including the copy you own
- Libib, for scanning a physical collection barcode by barcode
- Goodreads, for books only
- Letterboxd, for films only
- Notion, for designing the system yourself
Achriom
Achriom treats your library as one library. Books, films, TV shows, albums, anime and games sit in the same catalog, and the librarian on top of it answers from your own shelves. Ask what you own but have not started, or what connects your five-star ratings.
For a collection of physical things, the part that matters is the copy. Mark a film as 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, VHS or LaserDisc, an album as vinyl, CD or cassette, or note the store where a digital copy lives. It reads as a collector’s catalog, and the same title can show up with the format you actually own.
Cataloging physical media
Intake is the fast part. Photograph a shelf, or a stack of game cases, and the librarian adds what it recognizes in one pass. On iPhone there is also a barcode scanner. It keeps running while you work through a stack, each book or record lands in a tray with its cover, and one tap adds them all, skipping repeats and misreads. Search, a pasted link or an ISBN work too, and imports bring in Goodreads, Letterboxd and IMDb histories. The Goodreads import guide walks through the books side.
The Your copy block on a film’s Tracking tab. A film can be 4K UHD and Blu-ray at once, with an edition note.
What it does well
- Records the copy you own, from 4K to cassette to a digital store
- Photograph a shelf or a stack of game cases to add them
- Barcode scanner on iPhone that scans a whole stack of books or records
- Free with no item limit, and every import is free
- Whole library exports as CSV, so nothing is locked in
- Private by default, with an optional public profile
The limitation. Achriom is a catalog and a librarian first. If you want a large crowd of book reviewers around your reading, Goodreads, which calls itself the world’s largest site for readers, is where that already lives. The stack scanner is iPhone only, and it covers books and records.
Your shelf is probably more than one format. Achriom keeps books, discs, records and games in one catalog and notes which copy you own. Free, with no item limit.
Catalog everything once →What to look for in a library cataloging app
Before the other breakdowns, the criteria that separate a catalog you keep for years from one you abandon in a month.
Coverage. Does the app handle everything you collect? A shelf where Piranesi sits near a Blu-ray of Arrival and a vinyl copy of In Rainbows needs a catalog that can hold all three.
The four covers below are one such shelf: a book, a 4K disc, a vinyl record and a series.
Fast intake. Entering a few hundred items by hand is where most projects stall. Look for imports from apps you already use, barcode scanning, or shelf photos.
The copy you own. A collector cares whether the disc is 4K or DVD and whether the record is vinyl. Few catalogs make room for that.
Your data stays yours. If the app cannot export your library in a standard format, you are renting your own records.
Search that understands the collection. A list you can only sort by title is a spreadsheet.
Libib
Libib covers books, board games, movies, music and video games. Its pricing page says the free plan holds up to 5,000 items and supports scanning and importing items by ISBN or UPC. Pro costs $9 a month or $99 a year and raises the limit to 100,000 items, with barcode management and label printing.
What it does well
- Five formats in one catalog: books, movies, music, video games, board games
- Barcode scanning on the free plan
- Free plan up to 5,000 items
- Export your data at any time, with CSV reports listed under Pro
The limitation. Libib’s home page lists tags and notes for items and puts custom fields on Pro. It does not describe a field for the format of the copy you own, so for 4K against Blu-ray you would be working in tags or custom fields.
Goodreads
Goodreads calls itself the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. You create bookshelves for what you have read, are reading and want to read.
What it does well
- Bookshelves for read, reading and want to read
- A very large book community
- Free
The limitation. It is a site for books. Once the library includes films or albums, it becomes one app among several. We compared it directly in Achriom vs Goodreads.
Letterboxd
Letterboxd is a social cataloging service built around film. You log, rate and review films, keep a diary of what you watched, and make lists and watchlists.
What it does well
- Logging a film with a date, rating and review
- Lists and watchlists
- Following what other people watch
The limitation. It is built around film, so a shelf of books and records needs another app. If you would rather keep your film log less public, we wrote about private Letterboxd alternatives.
Notion
Notion is not a cataloging app, but enough people use it as one that it belongs here. You build a database, define the properties and add the covers yourself. Its pricing page lists a free plan for individuals.
What it does well
- Total structural freedom
- One workspace for any format
- Free plan for personal projects
The limitation. No media database sits behind it, so every title, year and cover is typed or pasted in by you. The full comparison is in Achriom vs Notion for media tracking.
Quick comparison
| Achriom | Libib | |
|---|---|---|
| Catalogs | Books, films, TV, albums, anime, games | Books, movies, music, video games, board games |
| Photo or barcode entry | Photograph a shelf or a stack of game cases; barcode scanner on iPhone | Barcode scanning (ISBN or UPC), free plan included |
| Which copy you own | 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, VHS, LaserDisc, vinyl, CD, cassette, digital store | Tags and notes; custom fields on Pro |
| Free plan | No item limit | Up to 5,000 items |
| Paid plan | Pro, $9.99 a month or $99 a year | Pro, $9 a month or $99 a year |
| Export | Whole library as CSV | Export your data at any time; CSV reports listed under Pro |
The Libib column comes from libib.com and libib.com/pricing. Goodreads, Letterboxd and Notion are left out of the table because their own pages did not state every row.
Which should you use?
Use Achriom if your library crosses formats, or you care which copy you own, and you want one free catalog you can photograph a shelf into.
Use Libib if the library is physical and the barcode scanner is the priority.
Use Goodreads if your library is books and you want its large book community.
Use Letterboxd if films are the collection and you enjoy the diary.
Use Notion if building the system is part of the pleasure.
The honest answer
For a single-format library, a specialist can be enough. But most libraries are not single-format, and the usual fix of one app per format means catalogs that never speak to each other. Your reading history cannot inform your film picks, and the records you own live nowhere near the books they share a sensibility with.
That gap is what Achriom exists for. For the tracking side of the same argument, see the best all-in-one media trackers, and for shelf organization, how to organize your book collection. Cataloging at home is also covered in the best personal library app, and games in Achriom’s game collection tracker.
Related guides:
- Achriom vs Notion for Media Tracking
- How to Organize Your Book Collection
- How to Import Your Goodreads Library
Common questions
What is the best app to catalog my library?
If your library holds more than one kind of thing, Achriom, which catalogs books, films, TV, albums, anime, games and more in one place, records which copy you own, and adds a shelf from a photo. For books only, Goodreads does the job, and for a physical collection of books, discs, music and games that you scan one barcode at a time, Libib is a close fit.
Is there an app that scans movies into a library?
Yes. Achriom lets you photograph a shelf or a stack of game cases and adds what it recognizes. Its iPhone barcode scanner works on books and records, and it keeps running so you can scan a whole stack. Libib scans barcodes for movies, books, music and video games.
Can I record whether I own a film on 4K, Blu-ray, VHS or vinyl?
In Achriom, yes. You can mark the copy you own as 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, VHS, LaserDisc, vinyl, CD or cassette, or note the store a digital copy lives in. Libib’s home page lists tags and notes, with custom fields on Pro, and does not describe a format field.
Is there a free Libib alternative with no item limit?
Achriom is free with no item limit, and every import is free. Libib’s free plan holds up to 5,000 items, and its Pro plan costs $9 a month or $99 a year.
Is Notion good for cataloging a media library?
Notion gives you complete control over the structure, but nothing sits behind it that knows what a film or an album is, so every title, cover and detail is entered by hand. It suits people who enjoy building databases more than people who want a catalog to exist by Friday.
Can I get my catalog back out if I switch apps?
Check before you commit, because it varies. Achriom exports your whole library as CSV, and Libib says you can export your data at any time and lists CSV reports under Pro. Notion lists Markdown and CSV export of a workspace on its pricing page, without saying which plans include it.
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