Sofa is the newest name chasing the same "one app instead of five" idea High Shelf is built on — movies, TV, and books, with a clean modern interface. The real difference is breadth: High Shelf adds video games and music to the same profile, with a free core that never asks you to pay to keep tracking.
Free to use. Forever.
Closest comparison on this list — same core pitch, different breadth.
| Feature | High Shelf | Sofa |
|---|---|---|
| Movies | Yes | Yes |
| TV shows | Yes | Yes |
| Books | Yes | Yes |
| Video games | Yes | — |
| Music / albums | Yes | — |
| Social feed & follows | Yes | Yes |
| Core tracking free, forever | Yes | Check current pricing |
| Direct Sofa import | Not yet | n/a |
If movies, TV, and books were already enough for you, this is a genuinely close call. If they weren't quite enough, here's the difference.
Games (via IGDB) and music albums (via Last.fm) join movies, TV, and books — same profile, same feed.
Tracking, ratings, reviews, and social features aren't behind a subscription — an optional Pro tier only adds extras on top.
Season and episode progress with live next-episode countdowns baked in, not just a show-level watched flag.
Sofa is the closest thing to a direct competitor here — same "one app instead of five" pitch, and its interface has drawn a lot of well-deserved praise for being clean and considered.
If movies, TV, and books cover everything you track and you don't care about games or music, the choice mostly comes down to which interface and community you personally prefer — a genuinely close call, not an obvious one.
There's no one-click import from Sofa yet — search any title, log it, done. Most people rebuild their most recent year of watching and reading in a single evening.
Download on the App StoreNot yet — there's no direct import from Sofa today. You log titles manually; search matches automatically against High Shelf's movie, TV, and book catalogs, so it's quick even without an import tool.
Yes — video games and music albums are both first-class media types alongside movies, TV, and books, all on the same profile.
Yes. Core tracking, ratings, reviews, lists, and social features are free forever. An optional Pro tier adds extra stats and themes.
iOS is available now on the App Store, with Android in progress. A full web app also works in the browser, same account, same data.