How do AI reading companions compare?
They differ most in how they find your place and which books they work with. Magic Bookmark works alongside a print, ebook or audiobook copy of supported titles on iPhone; Kindle's Story So Far and Ask this Book work inside supported Kindle ebooks in the US; Fable and Thus Far sort reader discussion by chapter; general chatbots cover many books but have no page lock. We do not rank them, so the table lists facts in alphabetical order.
The table
| Product | Formats | How it finds your place | Spoiler protection | Chat | Platforms | Price | Age rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fable (Fable Group Inc.) | Any book you log; its own reader for ebooks bought in Fable | You update progress by page or percentage; clubs can follow suggested milestones | Club talk in "spoiler-free chapter rooms" | With other readers in clubs; no AI chat about the book described | iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision; Android; web | Free; Fable Plus $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year | 18+ |
| General chatbots (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) | Books they learned about, web pages they search, or text you paste | Only from what you tell them | None built in; depends on your instructions | Open-ended; will answer as a character if asked | Web and mobile apps | Free plans and paid plans | ChatGPT 13+, Claude 18+, Gemini 13+ |
| Kindle Ask this Book and Story So Far (Amazon) | Supported Kindle ebooks you bought or borrowed | Your reading position in the Kindle book | Story So Far recaps up to where you've read; Ask this Book answers up to your position by default, with a whole-book option | Ask this Book: questions and follow-ups; no character role-play described | Story So Far: Kindle devices and Kindle iOS app. Ask this Book: Kindle iOS app (see profile) | No separate charge described | Kindle app 13+ |
| Magic Bookmark (Yomu Inc.) | Print, ebook or audiobook you own, buy or borrow, for supported titles | Page photo, typed page number, or for audiobooks the last phrase you heard | Recap, cast list, answers and character chat stop at your page | Questions about the story so far, plus chat with characters (type @) | iPhone, iOS 16.4 or later; Android "on the roadmap" | First credit free (listing); then 1 credit $4.99, 5 for $19.99, 10 for $34.99, 50 for $69.99 | 13+ |
| Thus Far (Krager Labs LLC) | Paper, ebook and audio | Page photo, Kindle or Audible screenshot, barcode scan, or tapping the chapter | Posts carry their chapter and stay hidden until you finish it; PageKeeper checks shared posts | Posts and replies with readers at your chapter; labelled AI "Book Buddies" | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and Apple Vision; iOS 26 or later | Free; hosting a club uses Thus Far Hosts+ (monthly or annual) | 13+ |
Fable (Fable Group Inc.)
- Formats
- Any book you log; its own reader for ebooks bought in Fable
- How it finds your place
- You update progress by page or percentage; clubs can follow suggested milestones
- Spoiler protection
- Club talk in "spoiler-free chapter rooms"
- Chat
- With other readers in clubs; no AI chat about the book described
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision; Android; web
- Price
- Free; Fable Plus $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year
- Age rating
- 18+
General chatbots (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)
- Formats
- Books they learned about, web pages they search, or text you paste
- How it finds your place
- Only from what you tell them
- Spoiler protection
- None built in; depends on your instructions
- Chat
- Open-ended; will answer as a character if asked
- Platforms
- Web and mobile apps
- Price
- Free plans and paid plans
- Age rating
- ChatGPT 13+, Claude 18+, Gemini 13+
Kindle Ask this Book and Story So Far (Amazon)
- Formats
- Supported Kindle ebooks you bought or borrowed
- How it finds your place
- Your reading position in the Kindle book
- Spoiler protection
- Story So Far recaps up to where you've read; Ask this Book answers up to your position by default, with a whole-book option
- Chat
- Ask this Book: questions and follow-ups; no character role-play described
- Platforms
- Story So Far: Kindle devices and Kindle iOS app. Ask this Book: Kindle iOS app (see profile)
- Price
- No separate charge described
- Age rating
- Kindle app 13+
Magic Bookmark (Yomu Inc.)
- Formats
- Print, ebook or audiobook you own, buy or borrow, for supported titles
- How it finds your place
- Page photo, typed page number, or for audiobooks the last phrase you heard
- Spoiler protection
- Recap, cast list, answers and character chat stop at your page
- Chat
- Questions about the story so far, plus chat with characters (type @)
- Platforms
- iPhone, iOS 16.4 or later; Android "on the roadmap"
- Price
- First credit free (listing); then 1 credit $4.99, 5 for $19.99, 10 for $34.99, 50 for $69.99
- Age rating
- 13+
Thus Far (Krager Labs LLC)
- Formats
- Paper, ebook and audio
- How it finds your place
- Page photo, Kindle or Audible screenshot, barcode scan, or tapping the chapter
- Spoiler protection
- Posts carry their chapter and stay hidden until you finish it; PageKeeper checks shared posts
- Chat
- Posts and replies with readers at your chapter; labelled AI "Book Buddies"
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and Apple Vision; iOS 26 or later
- Price
- Free; hosting a club uses Thus Far Hosts+ (monthly or annual)
- Age rating
- 13+
Region: Kindle's features are described as US only. The other rows come from US App Store listings and English-language pages; we found no other regional limits stated. Sources for each row are listed at the end and on each profile.
What does the table tell you at a glance?
- Only two products lock AI output to your page: Kindle's Story So Far and Ask this Book (inside Kindle ebooks) and Magic Bookmark (alongside your own copy). See how page-locked recaps work.
- Two products lock discussion to your chapter: Fable's club chapter rooms and Thus Far's chapter feeds. That protects you from other readers, not from an AI.
- Only one product here offers chat with characters locked to your page: Magic Bookmark. A general chatbot will play a character but has no page lock. See chatting with book characters.
- Audiobooks: Magic Bookmark added audiobook support on 27 October 2026 (version 1.1.1); Thus Far accepts an Audible screenshot to save your chapter. Kindle's features work inside Kindle ebooks.
How to choose by format
- Kindle ebook, in the US: start with Story So Far and Ask this Book. They cost nothing extra.
- Print book: Magic Bookmark (page level, supported titles, iPhone) or Thus Far (chapter-level discussion).
- Audiobook: Magic Bookmark (last phrase you heard) or Thus Far (Audible screenshot).
- Any other book: a general chatbot, prompted carefully. See Can ChatGPT recap a book without spoilers?
What this table does not tell you
- How accurate each tool's AI output is. We did not test them, and AI recaps can be wrong. Our guide to checking an AI recap helps you spot errors.
- How big each catalog is. Amazon says "thousands" of best-selling English-language ebooks. Magic Bookmark's page for authors says it launched with "several hundred" books. Thus Far does not publish a count.
- Privacy in detail. The App Store privacy labels differ a lot. Fable and Magic Bookmark list identifiers as data used to track you, Thus Far lists purchases, identifiers and usage data, and the Kindle, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini labels list no tracking data but many categories linked to you. See Reading app privacy labels.
Questions
- Q1
Which AI reading companion works with paper books?
Magic Bookmark works with print books at the page level, for supported titles on iPhone. Thus Far saves your chapter in a paper book from a photo, a barcode scan or a tap. Kindle's Story So Far and Ask this Book only work inside Kindle ebooks.
- Q2
Is Kindle Story So Far available outside the US?
Amazon describes Story So Far, Recaps and Ask this Book as available to US customers. We found no other countries on the pages we read.
- Q3
Which apps let you chat with book characters?
Magic Bookmark lets you type @ to chat with a character who only knows the story up to your page. General chatbots will answer in a character's voice if you ask, without a page lock. Amazon describes Ask this Book as answering questions about characters, not as character role-play.
- Q4
Which is cheapest?
If you already buy Kindle books, Amazon's features have no separate charge. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini have free plans, and Fable and Thus Far are free with optional paid plans. Magic Bookmark's first credit is free, then each book uses one credit, from $4.99 down to $1.40 in a 50-credit pack.
- Q5
Why aren't these ranked?
They do different jobs for different formats, so a single score would hide the facts that matter to you. Our page on how we choose explains what we record and where it comes from.
Sources
- 1Fable: Track & Discuss Books, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy)read 2026-10-30
- 2Fable websiteread 2026-10-27
- 3Fable, Google Play listingread 2026-09-27
- 4OpenAI Help Center: Does ChatGPT tell the truth?read 2026-10-30
- 5Claude Help Center: Claude is providing incorrect or misleading responses. What's going on?read 2026-10-30
- 6ChatGPT, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy)read 2026-10-30
- 7Claude by Anthropic, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy)read 2026-10-30
- 8Google Gemini, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy)read 2026-10-30
- 9ChatGPT: Plans and Pricingread 2026-10-27
- 10Claude: Plans and pricingread 2026-10-27
- 11Google Gemini: subscriptionsread 2026-10-27
- 12About Amazon: How Kindle helps you stay immersed in every book you read (published 2 April 2025, updated 2 July 2026)read 2026-10-30
- 13Amazon Kindle: Reading App, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy)read 2026-10-30
- 14Good e-Reader: Ask this Book is live on the Kindle app for iOS (14 December 2025)read 2026-10-27
- 15Magic Bookmark: Book Recaps, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy and version history)read 2026-10-30
- 16Magic Bookmark website (home page, pricing and FAQ)read 2026-10-30
- 18Thus Far: No-Spoiler Book Club, US App Store listing (incl. App Privacy and version history)read 2026-10-30
Related
- 01AppsDesk-review profiles of interactive reading apps, in alphabetical order: Fable, general chatbots, Kindle Ask this Book and Story So Far, Magic Bookmark and Thus Far.Interactive Reading Apps
- 02How page-locked recaps workHow an AI reading companion finds your place, matches it to the book, cuts the story off at your page and writes a recap, cast list or answer. With diagrams, limits and what each maker says.01 Guides
- 03Reading app privacy labelsThe App Store privacy labels of seven AI reading tools side by side: data used to track you, data linked to you, and what it means for page photos and pasted text. Copied 2026-10-30.02 Resources
- 04AI reading companion checklistA printable checklist for choosing an AI reading companion or Kindle AI feature: place-finding, spoiler lock, accuracy, formats, price, privacy, authors' rights and age rating.02 Resources