Reading tracker apps, compared honestly

Seven reading tracker apps, including ours. Every price, trial and feature below was checked on the app's official listing or website on 28 September 2026.

By Rai Ansar, who makes Pagehour · Updated 28 September 2026

Disclosure: we make Pagehour. It's listed first because it's ours, not because of a ranking, and it's new, so it has no ratings yet.

Which reading tracker app should I use?

Pick by the job. To time your reading and see a finish date: Pagehour or Bookly. For reviews and friends: Goodreads or Fable. For detailed stats and mood-based picks: StoryGraph. For a reading journal with a timer: Bookmory. To block distracting apps while you read: Margins.

All seven are free to download and on both iPhone and Android. They differ most in what the paid tier costs, whether they show ads, and whether they can take your Goodreads library.

How do reading tracker apps compare on features?

Four of the seven list a reading timer, four list a Goodreads import, and three carry ads in their free version according to Google Play. Only Pagehour and Margins list both a timer and a Goodreads import without an ads label.

How much do reading tracker apps cost?

Paid tiers run from $3.49 to $5.99 a month and $29.99 to $59.99 a year on the US App Store. Goodreads lists no in-app purchases. StoryGraph has the longest trial, 30 days with no payment details needed.

Some apps list extra purchases too: Bookly has discounted, family and one-off “Bookly Pro” ($79.99) options, and Fable sells individual ebooks. The table shows each app's standard monthly and yearly plan.

What is each reading tracker app best at?

Each one leans a different way: time and pace (Pagehour, Bookly), community (Goodreads, Fable), statistics and discovery (StoryGraph), journaling (Bookmory) and focus (Margins). Our read on each is below, with what its own listing says.

Pagehour (ours): time, pace and finish date

Start a timer, read, stop on the page you reached, and see a line like “31 pages · 23 min · finish Oct 9”. Streaks count your local calendar day, with time-zone travel and daylight-saving changes covered by tests; today and yesterday can be backfilled free. Audiobooks log listening minutes. Goodreads import and CSV or JSON export are free, there are no ads, and there's no account: your library stays on your phone. Pro adds history beyond 7 days, logging missed days up to 60 days back, and two streak freezes a month. Not built yet: a Home Screen widget and a year-in-review.

Goodreads: reviews and the biggest community

Its listing calls it “a free service for book tracking, recommendations and reviews”, with the Reading Challenge, the Choice Awards, friends' updates and online book clubs. The Google Play listing carries a “Contains ads” label, and the listing mentions no timer. App Store listing.

StoryGraph: stats and mood-based recommendations

Charts, mood and pace filters, machine-learning recommendations, buddy reads and a full Goodreads import (custom shelves become tags). Plus adds custom charts and stats filters; its page offers a 30-day trial with no payment details. The iOS app was last updated on 15 March 2026. StoryGraph Plus page.

Fable: book clubs and reading socially

Built around clubs with spoiler-free chapter rooms, plus lists, goals, daily streaks you can edit after the fact, and a Home Screen widget. It imports from Goodreads and Kindle, and also tracks TV shows. App Store listing.

Bookly: timer and reading stats

A tap-to-start timer, reading speed, estimated finish time, streaks, reports and iCloud sync, with no account needed. The Pro trial is 7 days; Google Play labels it “Contains ads”. App Store listing.

Bookmory: reading journal with a timer

A reading timer with pause and resume, calendar view, rich-text notes, quote highlights and photo text extraction. Premium removes ads and adds automatic sync. Bookmory's site.

Margins: a calm, good-looking library

Cover choices, search “by vibes”, monthly recaps and a feature that blocks other apps while you read. It imports from Goodreads, StoryGraph and Fable, and says “almost all features are free”. App Store listing.

What do unhappy reviewers complain about?

Mostly paying. In our pull of recent US App Store reviews, pricing and paywalls were the most common 1–2 star complaint for Bookly and Bookmory, and second for Margins. StoryGraph's low ratings were mostly about the interface.

Two of those reviews, word for word: a Bookly reviewer wrote Constantly asking to be paid. Pop up for premium at every stage. A Bookmory reviewer wrote My reading streak randomly reset and I faithfully logged every day. More quotes, and what Pagehour does about each, are on Pagehour vs Goodreads.

How did we check these facts?

On 28 September 2026 we read each app's US App Store listing (description, in-app purchase prices, rating), its Google Play listing (ads label), and its own website where it states a trial. Anything a listing doesn't mention is marked “Not listed” or “Not stated” rather than guessed.

• App Store (US): Goodreads, StoryGraph, Fable, Bookly, Bookmory, Margins; ratings from Apple's iTunes Search API the same day.
• Google Play (US): Goodreads, StoryGraph, Fable, Bookly, Bookmory, Margins.
• Official sites: StoryGraph Plus (30-day trial), Bookmory (Premium features), Fable, Margins.
• Review counts and quotes: iTunes Customer Reviews feed (US), most recent reviews, pulled 26 September 2026.
• Pagehour: our own App Store prices and the app as shipped, 28 September 2026.