5 Alternatives To Goodreads That ~Just Make Sense~

Because we NEED a half-star rating system.

Hi! I'm Kirby, and I LOVE to read. If you're also a book lover, then you've probably heard of Goodreads, the site that lets you search, rate, and track books. It's definitely the most well-known reading tracker out there — but it also has some ~flaws~.

@readwithkirby / Via instagram.com

Like a restricted rating system (where are the half-stars?!?!), a subpar search function, and a lack of community, just to name a few.

So after years of using Goodreads, I decided to seek out some alternatives! I spent a month reading as I usually would and then tracked my books/progress on Goodreads, as well as five comparable apps/sites: BookSloth, Bookly, Libib, Litsy, and The Storygraph. Now I'm going to compare my experiences and give you the pros and cons of each one. Ready? Let's go!

BuzzFeed/Canva

Bookly's mobile app is free to use, but only allows up to 10 books at a time. The Pro version offers unlimited books, insightful reading stats and reports, and a reading "assistant" that helps you stay on top of your goals. You can set multiple types of goals, like a daily minutes goal, a monthly hourly goal, and a yearly overall books goal. You can also keep track of granular stats, like your average reading speed, most pages read in one day, and your current reading streak. That being said, the app can be glitchy and the internal library isn't huge, but luckily you can manually add books very easily.

Thoughts:

Kirby Beaton/Bookly

Pros: Super easy to use, offers a lot of helpful stats, everything is on your phone, offers a variety of goals

Cons: Costs money, can definitely be glitchy sometimes, no community element

Details: Pro subscriptions start at $4.99 for one month, $19.99 for six months, and $29.99 for one year. The app is currently only available for Apple users.

Overall: I will definitely continue to use this app, as I find it the easiest tool so far for tracking my actual reading habits! If you're interested in having an app keep track of all of your goals/reading stats, then I think this is worth the money.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Perfect for: Readers who are interested in goals + data

BuzzFeed/Canva

BookSloth is a phone app with a focus on community. You can start discussions and ask for recs through their "community" tab, and then other users can like and reply. Think of it like Twitter for books! They also have a "discover" section with suggested lists like "Books by Black authors" and "Out of this World Sci-Fi." You can track your books in the app, but their library is limited and didn't have some of the books I read. I was able to "request" them easily, but still haven't seen them added to the app. I did really like the reviewing system though, which not only features half-stars, but lets you choose the elements of the book that make it great, like "writing style," "worldbuilding," and "romance."

Thoughts:

Kirby Beaton/BookSloth

Pros: Engaging community, unique and helpful reviewing system, everything is on your phone, great recommendations

Cons: Limited internal library, app can be slow, can't add dates to your read books

Details: Free in the Apple and Google Play store

Overall: I have a feeling this app is going to go through more improvements soon and will hopefully fix the above cons, so I'm going to keep my eye on it! It doesn't work for what I need right now, but I can see it being an all-encompassing community + tracking app in the future.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Perfect for: Readers who want community + recommendations

BuzzFeed/Canva

Available on phone and desktop, Litsy is almost like Instagram meets Goodreads! You can post pictures, and people can like/reply via their feed or through searching for specific books. It did take me a little exploring to figure out how to use some elements, like adding books to my "currently reading." The rating system is rather limited, with your only options being: "pick," "so-so," "pan," and "bail." However, you are forced to write an actual review, so you can elaborate there.

Thoughts:

Kirby Beaton/Litsy

Pros: Very visual, interactive community elements, fairly easy to use

Cons: Limited rating system, sometimes have to wade through photos to find an actual review

Details: Free in the Apple and Google Play stores and on desktop

Overall: This app has a huge, active community, which is amazing, but that means sometimes reviews get buried underneath other social posts. I wasn't a fan of the limited rating system, but I give it bonus stars for letting you share photos!

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Perfect for: Readers who want a large and active community

BuzzFeed/Canva

The StoryGraph tracks your books like Goodreads, but has the added bonus of a super-intuitive algorithm. Fill out a questionnaire with things like characteristics of books you like and types of books you never read, and you'll get personalized recs. You can also search based on ~your mood~ to find exactly what you want to read next. Books are user-reviewed by mood, pace, character development, diversity level, and there's even optional content warning labels. Bonus: You can import your Goodreads library automatically!

Thoughts:

Kirby Beaton/The StoryGraph

Pros: Intuitive algorithm, detailed review elements, advanced search function

Cons: Limited community element, desktop only

Details: Free to sign up on desktop

Overall: The StoryGraph definitely has the best rating system of all of the apps I tried, and it allows you to quickly glance at a book page and get a sense of it. It's definitely lacking in the community element, but their curated recommendations have already expanded my TBR, so bonus points for that!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Perfect for: Readers who want personalized recommendations

BuzzFeed/Canva

Libib is a website and an app that primarily tracks your personal library. It allows you to tag your books in whatever way you'd like, just like Goodreads, but with an easier-to-read interface. You can rate books you've read, but you won't find community ratings or reviews on here. You will find cool stats about your library and reading habits, though! The biggest downside: you can import your Goodreads library, but I found that a lot of my tags didn't cross over, meaning I had to manually mark which books I'd already read.

Thoughts:

Kirby Beaton/Libib

Pros: Visual library organization, large internal library, annual stats + data

Cons: Ineffective Goodreads import, no community reviews, non-intuitive interface

Details: Free in app and on desktop; an upgraded Pro account is $9/month, but probably not necessary for personal libraries

Overall: If you have a huge personal library, then Libib would work really well for you! Once you get used to the interface, you can easily organize your books in a way that works for you. However, I found this site to be too simplistic for what I need, especially because I want a site that also offers recommendations and community reviews.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Perfect for: Readers with large libraries in need of organizing

BuzzFeed/Canva

Alas, there doesn't seem to be ~the perfect~ book-tracking app (for me!) out there just yet. But overall, I loved the data of Bookly, the social aspect of Litsy, and the recommendations of The StoryGraph. So, I guess I'll be using all three!

Sony Pictures / Via giphy.com

What do you use to track your reading? Let us know in the comments below!