AllMyBooks vs Readerware
A desktop book cataloguer for Windows, Mac, and Linux sold from 1999 by Readerware Corporation to collectors, home libraries, schools, and churches. As of September 2026 its website no longer exists (readerware.com redirects to an unrelated business), it cannot be bought or supported, and its documentation survives only in the Internet Archive — installed copies keep running offline.
Every Readerware fact on this page was checked against Readerware's own public pages, most recently in September 2026.
One Library co-owned by the people who keep it — family, or a church or school’s volunteers — a shared catalogue with member roles, and no cap on members or books.
No item caps — catalogue as many books as you own. Free during our launch trial, and accounts created during the launch phase keep the full free tier forever; a supporter plan follows for collector-depth features, and export is never gated. The no-caps promise covers catalogue items; image storage has a fair-use ceiling we would talk to you about before applying.
How sharing a Library worksWhat Readerware costs
Prices in Readerware's own terms, as of September 2026, each linked to the page it was read from.
- Readerware Standard Edition (last published price)from $39.95 — no longer purchasable
The last archived product page (captured August 2025) listed the Standard Edition "from $39.95" as a one-time purchase with Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone and iPad support. No store or vendor exists to buy it from today.
Source: Readerware's published pricing ↗ - Readerware Client/Server Edition (2012 price list)$90 — no longer purchasable
The multi-user edition with the Loan Client. The last archived price list naming it (captured October 2012) showed $90 for the Client/Server Edition and $40 for the Standard Edition, download prices; no later price list was archived before the site went offline.
Source: Readerware's published pricing ↗
Feature by feature
| Feature | AllMyBooks | Readerware |
|---|---|---|
| Shared library | AllMyBooks strength: One Library co-owned by the people who keep it — family, or a church or school’s volunteers — a shared catalogue with member roles, and no cap on members or books. How sharing a Library works → | Caveat: The Standard Edition is a single-user desktop database. Sharing meant the Client/Server Edition — a central database on your own network that several copies of the program connect to — or syncing to the Readerware Mobile companion. |
| Pricing & item caps | AllMyBooks strength: No item caps — catalogue as many books as you own. Free during our launch trial, and accounts created during the launch phase keep the full free tier forever; a supporter plan follows for collector-depth features, and export is never gated. The no-caps promise covers catalogue items; image storage has a fair-use ceiling we would talk to you about before applying. Pricing, plainly → | Limitation: Sold as a one-time purchase with no catalogue limit, but it can no longer be bought, upgraded, or registered: the vendor site is gone and no support exists. |
| Adding books | AllMyBooks strength: ISBN barcode scanning in the browser — no app install — plus shelf-photo scanning for whole shelves, both uncapped. Pre-ISBN books resolve by LCCN. Ways to add books → | Auto-catalogued by ISBN, LCCN, or UPC — typed, or scanned with a USB barcode scanner — from library sources including the Library of Congress, the British Library, Library and Archives Canada, and the National Library of Australia (Amazon lookups were removed in version 4.25). |
| Collector detail | AllMyBooks strength: Every copy is its own record: printing, condition with dated photos, inscription notes, a value basis you set yourself, and custom fields. How copies and editions are catalogued → | Dewey and call number fields, up to six authors plus illustrator, translator, and editor, item and cover condition, signed, purchase price, date, and place, item value with a valuation date, copies, locations, and ten free-text user fields. |
| Lending | Loans with due dates and return nudges, plus a patron checkout mode for classroom shelves and little free libraries. How lending works → | A built-in Loan Tracker in every edition (borrower, loan date, due date, overdue searches). The Client/Server Edition adds the Loan Client: borrower records, borrower barcode labels, and scan-a-borrower, scan-a-book checkout. |
| Public sharing | Share a curated showcase by link, or give a tiny library its own public catalogue page anyone can browse without an account. Sharing your library → | Limitation: No online catalogue. Sharing meant exporting an HTML report to publish yourself, or the Readerware Mobile companion app synced over your own network. |
| Import & export | AllMyBooks strength: Readerware, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and LibraryThing exports are recognized automatically — a Readerware TAB export brings copies, shelves, Dewey and call numbers, loans and want-list rows across; any other CSV (CLZ Books included) imports via column mapping, and a UTF-8 MARC 21 file — a LibraryThing MARC export, say — imports with its LC and Dewey classes. Export your whole catalogue as CSV or JSON anytime. Importing and exporting → | File → Export opens an Export Wizard writing CSV, TAB-delimited, HTML, and several legacy formats, with an option to include a header line naming the columns; an Import Wizard reads CSV/TAB files. |
When Readerware may fit
- Runs entirely offline on your own computer with no account and no subscription — an installed copy still works exactly as it did.
- Prints Dewey Decimal or call number spine labels, and barcode labels from the ISBN, item id, or user number, on standard Avery and Dymo label stock.
- The Loan Client turns a scanner into a checkout desk: scan a borrower card, scan the books, done — with borrower records and overdue reports for a volunteer-run library.
- Catalogues from national libraries (Library of Congress, British Library, Library and Archives Canada, National Library of Australia), which also supplies the Dewey number.
Switching from Readerware
In Readerware choose File → Export, pick the TAB delimited format, keep "Output header line" switched on, and export all fields. Upload that file on the AllMyBooks import page — Readerware exports are recognized automatically, and your authors, titles, ISBNs, Dewey and call numbers, copies, shelves, conditions, purchase details, comments, keywords, loans, and want-list rows all come across. The step-by-step guide, including what does not transfer, is at /guides/moving-from-readerware.