What people actually use Bookly for
Strip away the marketing and most Bookly users want three things: a way to track reading each day, a streak that rewards showing up, and a record of the books they finish. Bookly does all of this well. The friction is that the free tier covers only the basics: the deeper stats, detailed session history, reading reports, and cloud backup all sit behind Bookly Pro, so the features that make the data genuinely useful are the ones you pay for. That is a reasonable business model. It is also the single most common reason people go looking for an alternative.
Where Leaf is different: the habit features are free
Leaf is a free reading habit tracker for iOS and Android. You can track unlimited books, keep a daily reading streak, set a daily goal, and see your stats without paying anything and without a subscription. The free version is supported by occasional, non-personalized ads. There is an optional paid tier, Leaf Pro, but it is worth being clear about what it gates: Pro adds cloud sync across devices and an ad-free experience. It does not unlock the habit loop. The streak, the goals, the milestones, and the tracking are all free. A habit tracker only works if you can rely on it every day for years, so the core habit features should not sit behind a paywall, and they do not.
The feature Bookly does not have: streak recovery
Here is the difference that matters most for an actual habit. Most streak trackers are unforgiving: miss one day and the counter resets to zero. That single reset is where a lot of reading habits die, because the streak you were proud of suddenly feels worthless. Leaf lets you backdate a reading session. If you read last night but forgot to log it, or life got in the way and you want to record the chapter you finished on the train, you can log it for the right day and keep your streak intact. It is not cheating, it is bookkeeping. One missed tap should not undo three months of consistency, and with Leaf it does not.
Get Leaf free
Build a reading streak you can actually keep. The habit features are free, with no subscription required.
Goals: a daily page count or a finish-by date
Bookly is built around reading time. That works well for some readers and not at all for others. Leaf takes a page-based approach and gives you two ways to frame a goal so it matches how you actually think about reading: a daily page goal, for readers who want a steady ritual of ten pages a day, every day, or a finish-by date, for readers working through a specific book by a deadline, which Leaf turns into a realistic daily page pace for you. Leaf does not run a timer or log minutes, so if you tend to think in time, pick a page target that matches a typical session. The streak counts any day you read, whichever goal you set. For more on choosing the right target, see our guide on how to build a reading habit.
Privacy: your reading lives on your device
Bookly, like most subscription apps, runs through an account. Leaf does not require one to start. Your books, sessions, and streaks are stored on your device, and you can log reading completely offline. For a lot of readers that is a feature in itself: a private record of what you read that is not tied to a social feed or a recommendation engine. If you want a backup or to sync across devices, that is exactly what the optional Leaf Pro adds, and you can also export your data in a portable format at any time, so your history is always yours.
Bookly vs Leaf at a glance
| Bookly | Leaf | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier + paid Premium | Free to use, optional Leaf Pro |
| Habit features free | Limited (fuller in Premium) | Yes |
| Daily streak | Yes | Yes, free |
| Streak recovery (backdating) | No | Yes |
| Goal types | Reading time | Daily pages or a finish-by date |
| Unlimited books | Premium | Free |
| Ads | No (paid app model) | Free tier ad-supported; Pro is ad-free |
| Cloud sync / multi-device | Yes | Optional, with Leaf Pro |
| Platforms | iOS, Android | iOS, Android |
Who should stick with Bookly
To be fair: if you are deep into Bookly Premium, love its specific stats dashboard, and the subscription does not bother you, there is no urgent reason to switch. Bookly is a polished app with a loyal following. The case for Leaf is for the much larger group of readers who want the habit loop without paying for it, and who would rather not lose a streak to one forgetful evening. If you are also weighing up leaving Goodreads, our free Goodreads alternative page covers that comparison too.
The bottom line
A reading habit is a long game, and the best tracker is the one you will still be using in two years. Leaf keeps the streak, the daily goal, and the finished-book record that make Bookly worth using, makes those habit features free with no subscription required, and adds streak recovery so a single missed day cannot wipe out your progress. Leaf Pro is there if you want cloud sync or an ad-free experience, but you never need it to build the habit. If that is the free Bookly alternative you were after, it is a two-minute download.