It’s no surprise that in 2026, reading apps have become synonymous with the hobby. From joining book clubs on Fable to tracking your reading on Goodreads, these reading apps are a great way to connect with other readers, share your thoughts, and find new books to add to your never-ending TBR!

Whether you’re looking to track your reading, listen to audiobooks, or organize your digital ebook collection, these are the essential apps you should have downloaded on your iPad, tablet, or phone so they’re ready to go when the reading mood strikes!

These are all FREE to download apps, with some extras available for purchase.

Reading Tracking Apps

These apps are designed to track your reading progress, share your reviews with others, join book clubs, and more!

Something to consider when choosing your book and reading tracking app—while you can transfer data from some apps to others, it’s not always seamless or possible. I suggest you do your research and choose the one that best works for you, because if you want to switch later on, it could be a huge headache to get all your historical reads transferred over (manually or through an integration). They all have their own pros and cons, which we’ll get into here.

Fable

Fable, “the social app for bookworms and bingewatchers,” combines the ability to track both books and other media like TV and film. It’s mostly know for it’s ability to join and manage book clubs, with some other pros and cons!

Fable App Pros:

• Promotes social elements
• Book club management
• Clean, easy to use UI experience
• Ability to rate books with half stars

Fable App Cons:

• Limited Desktop Abilities
• Geared more towards romantasy, contemporary romance, and popular new releases
• Difficult to export data if you want to switch at any point

Goodreads

Goodreads, owned by Amazon, is the gold standard and most popular book tracking platform. It has lots of book tracking abilities, but many people have their qualms with it.

Goodreads App Pros:

• Ability to track yearly reading challenges
• Hosts giveaways
• Lots of organizational options through tags and lists, including tracking re-reads, DNFs, etc
• Barcode scanner that allows you to add book to your lists easily on the go

Goodreads App Cons:

• No ability to rate using half stars
• UI and design leaves a lot to be desired
• Lacking of granular stats like pages read, most read genres, etc.

Storygraph

The book and reading tracking app Storygraph is what many would say the best of both worlds!

Storygraph App Pros:

• Extensive reading stats including most read moods, genres, authors, etc.
• A black-owned, independent app
• Includes giveaways, as well as social aspects

Storygraph App Pros:

• The interface can be a bit clunky
• Less social interaction
• There are some features locked behind a paywall

Audiobook apps

If you’re an audiobook reader, you need an app or storefront to get your audiobooks! These are my recommendations for apps where you can purchase, borrow, and listen to your favorite genres in audio form.

Everand

Everand (formerly Scribd) is a subscription-based reading app that gives users access to ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, podcasts, and more through a membership fee. Their fee is actually more generous than a service like Audible, with their mid-tier option offering three titles for $16.99 per month.

Everand App Pros:

• Can download audiobooks to listen offline
• Can be more affordable than purchasing audiobooks individually, especially if you don’t mind not owning physically
• Available across multiple devices

Everand App Cons:

• Can sometimes have availability restrictions
• You do not own the books, they are rented

Libro.FM

Libro.fm allows readers to purchase audiobooks firectly from independent bookstores! You create a free account, and choose to either buy audiobook a la carte, or get one audiobook per month for $14.99.

Libro.fm App Pros:

• Supports local independent bookstores
• DRM-free audiobook purchases
• Easy-to-use audiobook player

Libro.fm App Cons:

• More expensive than other audiobook programs
• Smaller ecosystem and library than Audible
• Your local bookstore might not be supported

Spotify

Did you know that you can listen to audiobooks through Spotify? With a premium membership, you get 15 hours of audiobook listening per month. Something to keep in mind, is that regardless of how fast you listen to books, audiobooks are always counted at the same length. (If you listen to a 10 hour book at 2x speed, you are not charged for only 5 hours)

Spotify App Pros:

• Convenient if you already use Spotify regularly
• Combines music, podcasts, and audiobooks in one app
• Clean, familiar interface

Spotify App Cons:

• Audiobook listening hours are limited
• Designed primarily for music rather than readers
• Smaller audiobook catalog compared to dedicated audiobook platforms

Library Apps

One of the best advances of modern day technology, in my humble opinion, is the ability to digitally borrow books from the library. I use Libby religiously (I’d say about 90% of my reads are borrowed from Libby), but I’d also use Hoopla if it was offered in my area. Both of these apps allow you to digitally borrow audiobooks, books, magazines, and manga/comics right to your device!

Libby

Libby (Overdrive) is one of the main apps you can use on your device to link your library card, and digitally borrow millions of ebooks, audiobooks, manga, magazines, and more! My favorite is the fact that I can send ebooks directly to my Kindle by linking my Amazon account, but you can also read digitally on your phone, iPad or other device. They also have a desktop site, where you can listen to your audiobooks.

Libby App Pros:

• Free access to ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and comics through your library card
• Ability to send ebooks directly to Kindle devices in the United States
• Multiple library cards can be added to your account

Libby App Cons:

• Popular books can have long waitlists
• Availability depends entirely on your local library’s collection
• Loan periods are limited

Hoopla

Similar to Libby, Hoopla is an app where you can link your library card and borrow titles. Hoopla even offers TV and film, just like your traditional library! You can sync your digital content across all your devices, so it’s truly an all-in-one free entertainment app.

Hoopla App Pros:

• No waitlists on most titles
• Offers ebooks, audiobooks, comics, movies, TV shows, and music
• Easy borrowing process with instant access
• Great selection of manga, graphic novels, and digital comics

Hoopla App Cons:

• Not every library system is available
• Restrictive monthly borrowing limits
• The reading experience feels less polished than Libby
• Smaller ebook selection compared to some library collections

eBook Deals & Reading Apps

These are the apps where you’ll actually be able to browse or purchase books. I didn’t include the obvious apps like Books (Apple) or Google Play (Android), but rather apps that do have a specific purpose and can help your browsing and buying experience (and save you money).

Kindle

Kindle App Pros:

• Largest ebook marketplace available
• Access to Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading
• Ability to highlight, annotate, and sync progress across devices
• Frequent ebook sales and daily deals
• Can be used without a Kindle

Kindle App Cons:

• Deeply tied to Amazon’s ecosystem
• Limited support for EPUB files without conversion
• You are buying a “license” for the book, and you could lose access

Bookbub

Bookbub isn’t a reading app itself, but more a marketplace that features current deep discounts on ebooks. You can sign up for their email newsletter and get heavily discounted deals sent right to your inbox, with popular ebooks as low as $0.99.

Bookbub App Pros:

• Personalized recommendations based on your reading preferences
• Works across Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and other ebook platforms
• Allows you to follow favorite authors and receive release alerts

BookBub App Cons”

• Deal quality varies from day to day
• Recommendations can become repetitive over time
• Focused more on older titles than new releases