High Shelf / Trakt alternative
Movies & TV · Switching guide

High Shelf vs. Trakt

Trakt is built for people who want their watch history automated and love a stats dashboard — its real home is the API other apps plug into. High Shelf covers the same movie-and-TV tracking as a normal, standalone app, and adds books, games, and music.

Download on the App Store

Free to use. Forever.

At a glance

How they compare

Both track movies and TV in depth. The real difference is automation versus breadth.

FeatureHigh ShelfTrakt
MoviesYesYes
TV shows, per episodeYesYes
BooksYes
Video gamesYes
Music / albumsYes
Auto-tracking via Plex/Kodi/Jellyfin scrobblingYes
Next-episode countdownYesYes
Social feed & followsYesYes
One-click Trakt importYesn/a
Why people switch

An app, not a dashboard for other apps

Trakt's power is real — for people already wiring it into a media server. Most people aren't.

Two more media types

Trakt stops at movies and TV. High Shelf keeps going into books, games, and music, on the same profile.

Bring your history with you

Import via Settings → Import — your watched movies and shows land matched against High Shelf's catalog.

Built to be used directly

No API key, no third-party client to pick — High Shelf is the whole product, with its own feed, reviews, and lists.

To be fair

What Trakt gets right

If your setup already scrobbles from Plex, Kodi, Jellyfin, or another player, Trakt's automatic tracking is genuinely hard to beat — High Shelf logs manually, same as most trackers that aren't built around a media-server integration.

Trakt's stats depth and the ecosystem of third-party apps built on its API are also more mature, simply from being around longer as an API-first product. If that automation and ecosystem matter more to you than having books, games, and music in the same place, Trakt is a reasonable place to stay.

Keep the history. Widen the shelf.

Sign up, then head to Settings → Import to bring your Trakt watch history over in a couple of clicks.

Download on the App Store

Frequently Asked Questions

Does High Shelf import Trakt history?

Yes, via Settings → Import — your watched movies and shows come across and match against High Shelf's catalog automatically.

Does High Shelf support Plex, Kodi, or Jellyfin scrobbling like Trakt?

No, not currently. Logging on High Shelf is manual, through the app or web.

Is a paid subscription required for basic tracking on either app?

No. Trakt's core tracking is free, with VIP adding extras. High Shelf's core tracking is also free forever, with an optional Pro tier for extra stats and themes.

Does High Shelf show upcoming episode air dates like Trakt's calendar?

Yes — each show's page shows its next episode with a live countdown.

Can I track books, games, and music too?

Yes — same account, same profile, same social feed.