Once upon a time, Goodreads was the holy grail for tracking books, in addition to being an all-around bookish website. Many readers, however, fell out of love, bemoaning the platform’s outdated design and a dearth of necessary features. And since it’s associated with Amazon, many have sworn to have nothing to do with it. This is compounded by the many issues that plagued Goodreads over the years, such as the rise of bot reviewers, review bombing, and harassment of authors among other vile things. Thus, readers abandoned Goodreads in droves in favor of newer bookish apps.
Over the years, many platforms have tried to compete with Goodreads, but none have been as successful. Book Riot has reviewed many of these apps, including The StoryGraph, Bookmory, Bookly, Bookworm Reads, Booksloth, and Fable. But while they have yet to match or even surpass Goodreads’ level of success as the leading bookish app, many new apps have already emerged to compete for a piece of the pie.
But why the need for newer apps when there are already existing ones out there?
Perhaps you’re a reader who uses two or three apps: Goodreads for socializing with your friends, and another one for the stats. Perhaps you like Bookmory’s visually appealing book calendar or some other app’s eye-popping design. Most book tracker apps I’ve tried don’t have all the features that readers need, with some of them even locked behind a subscription, so it’s becoming more and more common to use two or more apps for tracking.
In the list below, let’s break down these newcomers. We’ll learn what makes them good or bad, what distinguishes them from the competition, what specific features they offer that may not be found elsewhere, whether you should skip it, and whether it’s worth trying at all.
This is a free book tracker that includes a recommendation engine based on searches. What distinguishes it from the rest is the ability to add who recommended the book to you, select favorite covers, and even search for books based on “feels.”
Pros
Like the rest, you can import books from Goodreads, search by Vibes, use a reading tracker with a timer, add a daily reading goal, add recommended by, and review books by half stars.
Cons
What disappointed me, however, is that its catalog appears to be incomplete, particularly for future releases. Logging in with a phone number is also a bit cumbersome.
Verdict
Still, this is a full-stack, visually appealing reading tracker that could be an alternative to Goodreads, sans the social feature.
This is a robust book management app. Aside from powerful book tracking, it also supports book library management, which is ideal for teachers. You can track library books and student checkouts, track checkout history, and allow for self-checkout of books.
Pros
Add a book by searching Google, which is extremely powerful, or by using barcodes. The app works without a subscription, can even sync to Dropbox or iCloud without paying anything, and doesn’t require an account to use.
Cons
The basic and unintuitive user interface disappointed me; it’s difficult to keep track of what’s going on with my books. In addition, the more advanced features (such as library management) are locked behind a payment of $4.99.
Verdict
The barebones UI may be ideal for those who want a no-frills tracker. The app is particularly useful for teachers and librarians who manage or loan out books to students. If you’re a casual reader or a teacher/librarian, you can give this one a shot.
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This is a book tracker, recommendation engine, and bookish social media platform all in one. Some users refer to it as the book version of Letterbox HD, and the developers claim to be “anti-Amazon” and “pro-authors.”
The app boasts airlists (or AirTable for books), a series tracker to track progress in a series, reader similarity to see if your interests overlap with another reader, and trending books (or the most read on the app).
Pros
Most of the features are similar to Goodreads. It has a lot of capabilities, as you’d expect from a book tracking app. You can set your account to private, there’s no limit to how many books you can add, and, most importantly, because it’s cloud-based, you can sync your books online.
Though there’s a pro subscription, it’s more like community support to help the platform thrive.
Cons
The most significant drawbacks are the lack of a timer in the tracker and the absence of Apple or Google integration for easier signups.
Verdict
Because it includes a social component, this platform is a viable alternative to Goodreads and The StoryGraph. Its features are free, whereas they would cost a lot in other similar platforms.
This is an AI-powered book recommendation engine that also includes a full-featured book tracker.
I like how when you add a book, it shows its estimated completion or reading time. It also has a pretty and clean interface.
Pros
There’s no need to create an account. And if this is your cup of tea, you can get AI recommendations through searching your next great read. The app also includes a book calendar, a section for setting reading goals for the year, and how many minutes of reading should be done each day to achieve them. The daily reading goal in minutes also calculates how many books you’re likely to finish in a year and how long it takes to read a book.
What I like best is that it supports library exports and imports through Kindle and Goodreads.
Cons
Some features, such as iCloud sync and backup, CSV export, and reading stats for more than seven days, are restricted to paying customers. The Gold subscription costs $5.99 per month, $29.99 per year, and $69.99 for life.
Verdict
This app is a feature-rich book tracker that competes with The StoryGraph in terms of functionality. Try it if you like The StoryGraph but don’t want the social aspect.
This is more of a book forum and social media app, with a simple reading tracker on the side.
Pros
The platform is extremely social, boasting active community posts and book club discussions. As a tracker, the books you add sync across multiple platforms, allowing you to see them on multiple devices.
Cons
It’s primarily a book forum, rather than a book tracker. Because of that, the catalog may be limited because I’ve noticed that I’m unable to search for upcoming book releases. It also has very limited book tracking capabilities, including no timer, reports or stats, or the ability to sort things out.
Verdict
It’s a book forum first and foremost, so it may not be the best reading tracker for you. Though everything is free, if all you need is a book tracker and nothing else, then skip this.
This is another book tracker designed exclusively for the Apple operating system.
The app can automatically sync reading lists across multiple devices and allows you to lend books. It’s deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem, utilizing iOS and MacOS features such as Shortcuts, Siri, live activity, widgets, and home/lockscreen.
Pros
The tracker has a reading timer, the app can fetch missing covers, and you can even customize the home page to remove or rearrange any tags, such as “currently reading,” “statistics,” and “random quotes.”
Cons
The most disappointing aspects, however, are that adding more books and exporting your library requires payment, and each Apple platform requires a separate purchase, which is $19.99 for life, to work together.
Verdict
There’s a limit to the number of books that can be added, but it’s not known how many. This is a huge deal breaker in the long run—who wants to switch to another app after having built a huge library? You can’t even export your books without upgrading.
If these aren’t deal breakers, give it a try.
This is a free book tracker with encyclopedia-style features for remembering characters and plot details.
I like the character tracking features, such as character relationships and time stamps for audiobook listening. It may also be used to track individual short stories or poems in collections.
Pros
The app allows you to track books by chapters and characters, add notes, save vocabulary words, import/export data, write private reviews, and retrieve missing covers.
Cons
The book tracker doesn’t have a timer, however.
Verdict
If you don’t mind the lack of a reading timer, this is an excellent book tracker, as it allows you to jot down character names and summaries of what happens in each chapter.
It’s a must-try app for students, book reviewers or bloggers, or anyone who needs to take notes in an organized way.
If you want to explore other apps, here are five book trackers, or you can always give Book Riot’s reading log a try.