A CLZ Books alternative for readers, not just collectors
CLZ Books is built for collectors who want every edition detail. Volumes is built for readers who own a lot of books: what you're reading and how far you've got, where every book is, who borrowed it, and the lines worth keeping.
CLZ Books is a subscription cataloguing app from Collectorz.com, made for serious collectors. Volumes is made for readers who own a lot of books, and tracks the reading too.
Volumes and CLZ Books, feature by feature
Feature
Volumes
CLZ Books
No account needed
YesKept in your own iCloud
YesCloud sync is optional
Not tracked across apps
Yes
NoPrivacy label lists tracking
No ads
Yes
Yes
Native Mac app
YesNative on iPhone, iPad and Mac
PartlyiPad app; Book Collector is separate
Barcode scanning
YesOne book or a whole shelf
Yes
Track who borrowed a book
YesPlus hand-over links
PartlyLoan manager on the web
Record which shelf a book is on
Yes
Yes
Save your own quotes
YesPhotograph the page
Not listedNotes and custom fields
Import from Goodreads
YesAlso StoryGraph, LibraryThing
PartlyGeneric import on the web
Export your library
NoComing soon
YesText file, on the web
No subscription or paid tier
YesEverything included
NoFrom $1.99 a month
Android or web
NoComing soon
YesAndroid and web
YesPartlyNoNot mentioned in their own listing or help pages
CLZ exports your collection to a text file from its website. If it has an ISBN column, Volumes reads it as it is.
1 · Out of Any spreadsheet with ISBNs
Export your library from the other app as a CSV file. Any spreadsheet works if it has a column with ISBN in its name.
2 · Into Volumes
Open Settings in Volumes
Under the library title on iPhone, the gear on iPad, and ⌘, on a Mac.
Import from Another App
Tap Choose a File and pick the export. Or share the file to Volumes from Files or Mail.
Add to My Library
Check the count, then add. Volumes tells you what came in and anything it couldn't use.
What to expect
Comes across
ISBN, title, authors, publisher, page count and year
The date added, if there's a column for it
Shelves, tags or collections, as lists
Stays behind
Reading status: every book comes in as not started
Ratings, reviews and locations
Books already in your library are skipped, so importing twice is safe. Want to see it first? Try a sample library.
Which is for you
An honest choice
Choose CLZ Books if…
You collect editions and want detailed collector fields.
You need Android.
Choose Volumes if…
You want reading progress, lending and quotes alongside the catalogue.
You want no tracking across other apps and websites.
You want a native Mac app, in step with your iPhone.
Privacy and price
What it costs you
CLZ Books
Its App Store privacy label lists identifiers, usage data and diagnostics as data used to track you across apps and websites.
A subscription: $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year after a free trial (US App Store prices).
Volumes
No account and no ads. Your library is kept in your own iCloud, and Volumes doesn’t track you across other apps or websites. The privacy policy sets out the little that leaves your device.
Free on the App Store, with no subscription.
CLZ Books
What collectors will miss
CLZ is made for collectors, with more fields per edition and copy than Volumes has. If you catalogue as a collector, that matters.
If you catalogue as a reader, Volumes gives you the reading side instead: progress, rereads, quotes from a photographed page, and a link to lend a book to a friend's shelves.
Questions
Good to know
Can I import from CLZ Books?
Volumes reads any spreadsheet with an ISBN column. Export from the CLZ website, then in Volumes open Settings and tap Import from Another App.
Can I get my books out of Volumes later?
A full library export is coming soon. Until then you can share any single book or quote, and your library lives in your own iCloud rather than on our servers.
What do I need to run Volumes?
An iPhone or iPad with iOS 26 or later, or a Mac with macOS 26 or later. Volumes is free on the App Store.
Everything else
Everything else in Volumes
Your reading, your shelves, your loans and your quotes, in one private app on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
