Goodreads alternatives in 2026

Updated 3 November 2026

The eight alternatives at a glance

Facts about the other apps were checked on their own sites, help centres and store listings on 3 November 2026. The full 16-row table with Goodreads included is on the best bookshelf apps page.

The StoryGraph checked on 3 November 2026: App Store listing, roadmap.thestorygraph.com/requests-ideas/posts/reading-timer, roadmap.thestorygraph.com/requests-ideas/posts/storygraph-currently-reading-widget, roadmap.thestorygraph.com/requests-ideas/posts/monthly-book-wrap-up. Hardcover checked on 3 November 2026: App Store listing, hardcover.app/supporter, roadmap.hardcover.app, docs.hardcover.app/api/graphql/schemas/readingjournals. Bookmory checked on 3 November 2026: App Store listing, play.google.com/store/apps/details. Fable checked on 3 November 2026: App Store listing, fable.co/blog/fable-reading-challenges-for-january-2026, help.fable.co/article/187-whats-included-in-fable-plus, help.fable.co/article/91-can-i-read-books-on-my-laptop-can-i-access-my-club-discussion-on-a-computer. LibraryThing checked on 3 November 2026: App Store listing, blog.librarything.com, librarything.com/topic/376363, play.google.com/store/apps/details. Libib checked on 3 November 2026: libib.com/pricing, App Store listing. Bookshelf checked on 3 November 2026: getbookshelf.com, App Store listing.

Why readers look for a Goodreads alternative

Goodreads launched in 2007, has more than 150 million members and has been owned by Amazon since 2013. It has shelves, quarter-star ratings since October 2026, reviews, groups, the yearly Reading Challenge and seasonal challenges. The full comparison is on Book Nook vs Goodreads.

• Ads. Goodreads is free with ads, and shows sponsored books and display ads.
• No reading timer. Goodreads keeps no reading sessions, minutes or Lock Screen timer.
• Lists and grids. Goodreads shows your shelves as lists and grids of covers, with no shelf themes or decorations.
• A yearly summary only. Year in Books comes once a year. Goodreads has no monthly recap, and with no reading sessions it has no statistics on minutes read.
• Book clubs. Goodreads has discussion groups, but none that track where each member is in the book or hide comments from further along.

1. Book Nook

Book Nook is a free reading tracker for iPhone and iPad (iOS 17 or later), Android (8.0 or later) and the web at trybooknook.com. It has no subscription, no paid tier and no ads. One account syncs across all three. You can export all your data as a JSON file at any time. It imports Goodreads, StoryGraph and Fable libraries.

Your books on a bookshelf

Book Nook draws your books standing on wooden shelves as covers or spines. You drag a book to move it, and you can tilt it or turn it spine-out. There are five themes (Simple, Dark Academia, Cottagecore, Coquette and Matcha Cafe), a custom theme you design yourself, and 65 decorations, such as plants, candles, lamps and dragons, to stand between the books. Shelf lights shine on each row of books from under the board above it, with a brightness you set, and the Real book sizes switch draws each book at one of four heights, mass market, paperback, large or oversize, from the size of its edition. You can keep as many bookshelves as you like and switch to a List or Mosaic view of the same books at any time; the books keep their places on the bookcase. More in virtual bookshelf apps and aesthetic bookshelf apps.

Adding and rating books

Search by title or author, scan the barcode with your phone camera, or add a book by hand with your own cover photo. Each book has a status (to be read, reading, finished or did not finish), page progress and a rating in quarter stars. Every book page has reviews and discussion threads, and every author and series has a page of its own. For a large home library, cataloguing by barcode goes a shelf at a time.

Reading timer and reading sessions

The reading timer records each session with the minutes and pages you read. On iPhone the running timer shows on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island as a Live Activity; on Android it shows as a notification with Pause and Stop. You can start a session without opening the app from Control Center, the Lock Screen or the Action button on iPhone (iOS 18 or later), and from Quick Settings or a widget on Android. Each session is saved to the book you are reading, so its minutes count towards your statistics and your daily minutes goal. See reading timer apps compared.

Statistics, goals and Reading Wrapped

Statistics cover minutes and pages over time, a reading calendar, streaks, genres and a ratings chart, with a yearly books goal and a daily minutes goal. Every statistic is free. Reading Wrapped sums up each month and each year in 9:16 pages you can share to Instagram Stories and TikTok from the phone apps, or share and save from the web. Imported books keep their finished dates, so your Goodreads years show in your statistics. Read how Reading Wrapped works.

Book clubs, challenges and nooks

A Book Nook book club reads one book at a time. Each member's place comes from their own copy on their shelf and is counted as a percentage, so a member reading a different edition still lines up. A comment written further along stays folded, with its replies, until you reach that point or tap it, and notifications do not quote a comment you have not reached. You can start a private book club from any book page; only the people you invite can see it, and the invite sheet opens straight away.

Reading challenges have a goal and a deadline, and any reader can create one; there is also a yearly reading challenge. Nooks are groups for talking about books, with a thread of posts. Clubs, challenges and nooks work on the web as well as on both phones. See book club apps compared and reading challenge ideas for 2027.

Friends, reviews and points

Follow other readers and see a feed of what they are reading, finishing and reviewing, with likes and comments. Reviews can mark spoilers inside the text, and a book's reviews sort by most recent or most liked. Reviews, posts, comments and finished books earn points, and milestones such as a first review or a met yearly goal earn stamps for your public profile.

Widgets and a daily reminder

Home screen widgets on iPhone and Android show one of your bookshelves, the books you are reading, today's minutes against your daily goal, your yearly goal and the reading timer. iPhone also has Lock Screen widgets for your daily goal, your streak and your current book. A daily reminder on iPhone and Android names the book you are reading; it is on at 6:00 PM by default, and you can change the time or turn it off. See how the bookshelf widget works.

2. The StoryGraph

The StoryGraph is an independent reading tracker founded in 2019, known for charts of your reading and recommendations by mood and pace. It has yearly and monthly Wrap-Up graphics, goals for books, pages and listening, challenges, book clubs, buddy reads and readalongs. It imports from Goodreads. Price: free; Plus is $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year and adds custom charts, extra stats filters, wrap-ups for any date range and stats comparisons. Platforms: iPhone, Android, web.

Book Nook adds your books on a themed bookshelf, a reading timer with a Live Activity on the iPhone Lock Screen, and home screen widgets, with every statistic free. See Book Nook vs The StoryGraph, StoryGraph alternatives and Goodreads vs StoryGraph.

3. Hardcover

Hardcover is an independent book tracker. It has statuses, lists and tags, privacy settings for each book, a reading journal for notes and quotes, a series tracker, a yearly recap, half-star ratings and a public API used by tools such as KOReader. It imports from Goodreads, StoryGraph and CSV files. Price: free; Supporter is $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year and adds stats for any date range, librarian edit access and collaborative lists. Platforms: iPhone, Android, web.

Book Nook adds your books standing on themed shelves, a reading timer, book clubs, reading challenges, Reading Wrapped for every month and home screen widgets, with every statistic free. See Book Nook vs Hardcover.

4. Bookmory

Bookmory is a solo reading journal by the independent developer TonySoft. It has a note editor with text recognition from photos, a reading timer with a Live Activity on iPhone, statistics by author, publisher and tag, daily and yearly goals, an Annual Rewind, and tracking of owned books, loans and purchases. It has no friends, feed or clubs. Price: free with ads; Premium is $3.49 a month or $30.99 a year and removes ads, and adds sync, full statistics and custom themes. Platforms: iPhone, Android.

Book Nook has a Live Activity timer too, and adds no ads, free sync, a web app, a decorated bookshelf, friends, book clubs and challenges. See Book Nook vs Bookmory.

5. Fable

Fable is a social app for book clubs and TV clubs that also sells ebooks. Everand, part of Scribd, bought it in June 2025. Its clubs have spoiler-free rooms by chapter, readers rate books in half stars with tags and a spice level, and Fable's editors set monthly challenges. It has Monthly Wraps, a year in review and a streak widget, and imports from Goodreads (in beta) and Kindle. Price: free with ads; Plus is $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year and removes ads, and adds advanced stats and weekly and monthly goals. Platforms: iPhone, Android; Fable's help centre says its clubs cannot be used on a computer yet.

Book Nook adds book clubs on the web as well as both phones, a decorated bookshelf, a reading timer, challenges any reader can create, and every goal and statistic free with no ads. See Book Nook vs Fable.

6. LibraryThing

LibraryThing has catalogued books since 2005 and has been free with no limit since 2020. It draws records from over 2,000 libraries, including the Library of Congress, and handles books, CDs and DVDs with collections and tags. Members talk and run challenges in groups and forums. It imports Goodreads and CSV files. Price: free. Platforms: web, with iPhone and Android apps; the iPhone app was last updated in February 2024.

Book Nook adds a bookshelf you arrange to match your real shelves, a reading timer, statistics on minutes and pages, monthly Reading Wrapped and book clubs that follow each member's page. See Book Nook vs LibraryThing.

7. Libib

Libib catalogues books, films, music, video games and board games, at home and in schools and small libraries. The free Basic plan has no ads and holds 5,000 items in up to 100 collections, with ISBN and UPC scanning, notes, ratings and CSV import and export. It has no goals, clubs or friends. Price: free up to 5,000 items; Pro is $9 a month or $99 a year and adds lending, patrons, holds and reports. Platforms: iPhone, Android, web.

Book Nook has no limit on books, and adds covers and spines on shelves you arrange, a reading timer, goals, friends and book clubs. See Book Nook vs Libib.

8. Bookshelf

Bookshelf is an app by Bookshelf LLC for Apple devices. It organises books into collections, times reading sessions with a Live Activity, keeps notes and quotes, makes study cards from notes, and has an AI librarian called Book Chat, unlimited with Gold or paid for with token packs. It imports from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Kindle and Reading List. Price: free; Gold is $6.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $79.99 once. Platforms: iPhone, iPad and Mac, with a web page for sharing collections.

Book Nook adds Android and a full web app, books standing on themed shelves, book clubs, reading challenges anyone can create and monthly Reading Wrapped, free with no tokens. See Book Nook vs Bookshelf.

How to move your Goodreads library to Book Nook

1. On goodreads.com, open My Books. Under Tools in the left column, choose Import and export, then Export Library, and download the file when the link appears.
2. Sign up for Book Nook on iPhone, Android or trybooknook.com.
3. Open Import books, from Getting started or the settings icon on the Profile tab, choose Goodreads and pick the file.
4. Check the books, choose which bookshelves they go on, and import.

Each book comes across with its title, author, ISBN, status, your rating, your written review and the dates you added and finished it. Goodreads exports carry no start date. You can untick books and choose bookshelves named after each status, after your Goodreads shelves, or one bookshelf for everything. Books already on your shelves are skipped unless you choose to update them, so importing twice does no harm, and you can undo an import for 7 days. Missing covers and page counts are filled in from Book Nook's catalogue.

StoryGraph exports from Manage account, Manage your data. Fable has no export of its own; the ShelfBridge or Fable Exporter extension for Chrome saves one. The full steps are in how to move from Goodreads to Book Nook.

Which Goodreads alternative to choose

Pick Book Nook. Your Goodreads ratings, reviews and finished dates come across in one import, your books stand on a bookshelf you arrange, and it is the only app we compared with all 16 features in our table; no other has more than 12. Join Book Nook and bring your Goodreads export.