TheLysts vs Letterboxd: Your Life Is More Than a Watchlist
Letterboxd is beautifully designed and beloved by cinephiles, and we respect that. But your taste does not stop at the cinema. The same person who curates a top films list also has opinions on restaurants, books, travel destinations, music, and products. Letterboxd handles one slice of your life. TheLysts handles all of it, powered by AI that turns any URL, image, or PDF into a structured, shareable list in seconds. Track films alongside everything else you love, discover recommendations near you from friends, and monetize the lists your community values.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | TheLysts ✅ | Letterboxd 🎬 |
|---|---|---|
| AI List Creation (from URL, image, PDF) | ✅ Paste a URL, snap a photo, or upload a PDF and AI creates the list for you | ❌ Manual logging only. Search and add films one by one |
| AI Smart Columns and Auto-Fill | ✅ AI suggests relevant columns and fills missing metadata automatically | ❌ Fixed fields (rating, review, date). No customization, no AI |
| AI Item Suggestions | ✅ AI recommends new items based on theme and taste | ❌ Limited nanogenre recommendations via third-party (Nanocrowd) |
| Multi-Category Lists | ✅ Movies, TV, books, restaurants, travel, products, wine, and more | ❌ Films only (TV has been coming in the future since 2011) |
| Near Me / Geo-Discovery | ✅ See friends' geo-tagged picks near your location on a map | ❌ No location features |
| Built-In Chat and Sharing | ✅ Chat messaging, group sharing, instant link sharing | ❌ No messaging. Sharing is limited to social links and embeds |
| Private Groups | ✅ Create private circles or publish lists publicly | ⚠️ Private lists via secret links (added in 2023), but no group functionality |
| List Monetization | ✅ Creators earn from premium and exclusive lists | ❌ No monetization. Letterboxd monetizes through Pro/Patron subscriptions |
| Modern Mobile App | ✅ Native iOS and Android with full feature parity | ✅ Solid mobile app (some features are web-only for Pro/Patron) |
| Pricing | ✅ Free | ⚠️ Free tier with ads. Pro and Patron paid tiers for full features |
Where Letterboxd Falls Short
Films only, forever
Letterboxd launched in 2011 with a promise to eventually add TV shows. More than a decade later, it is still films only. TheLysts does not box you into a single category. Build lists for anything.
No AI, all manual work
Every film on Letterboxd requires manual search, logging, rating, and review. TheLysts lets you paste an article like Best Films of 2025 and AI instantly turns it into a complete structured list with metadata filled in.
No location-based discovery
Letterboxd can show what your friends watched, but not what is great near you right now. TheLysts Near Me feature surfaces geo-tagged recommendations from your network on a map.
Creators cannot earn
Film critics, cinephiles, and movie influencers put major effort into their lists and reviews. They get no compensation on Letterboxd. TheLysts lets creators monetize curated lists and turn taste into income.
Pay-to-unlock basic features
Want advanced stats, streaming filters, or no ads? Letterboxd puts these behind paid plans. TheLysts core features are free.
What Letterboxd Does Well (and How TheLysts Goes Further)
Letterboxd has a passionate community, strong design, and major cultural relevance in film. Their Year in Review is iconic. Community reviews are often entertaining, and new product direction is ambitious.
That is exactly the point: Letterboxd is a film community tool. TheLysts is a life curation platform. If you want to track films and the restaurant after the movie, the book the director recommended, and the city you now want to visit, TheLysts keeps it all in one place.
Who Should Try TheLysts Alongside Letterboxd?
You do not have to leave Letterboxd. But if you want one place for all lists and recommendations, TheLysts is the better fit. It is especially strong for people who curate across categories, want AI to speed up list building, care about social discovery, or want to earn from their expertise.
Ready to go beyond Letterboxd?
Download TheLysts free and start building smarter lists today.