Best book tracking apps, compared honestly
Seven book tracking apps, including ours. Every price, trial and feature below was checked on the app's official listing or website on 15 October 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.
Free to download. It shows no ads and needs no account.
Which book tracking 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. If you are leaving Goodreads, four of the seven list an import: Pagehour, StoryGraph, Fable and 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 book tracking 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.
| App | Reading timer | Goodreads import | Ads (Google Play label) | App Store rating (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pagehour (ours) | Yes | Yes, free | No ads | New, no ratings yet |
| Goodreads | Not listed | n/a (exports CSV) | Contains ads | 4.8 · 758,195 ratings |
| StoryGraph | Not listed | Yes | No label; says “ad-free” | 4.5 · 3,590 ratings |
| Fable | Not listed | Yes (and Kindle) | No label | 4.8 · 81,782 ratings |
| Bookly | Yes | Not listed | Contains ads | 4.6 · 62,042 ratings |
| Bookmory | Yes | Not listed (imports CSV or Excel from other apps) | Contains ads (Premium removes them) | 4.8 · 16,160 ratings |
| Margins | Yes (“meditation reading timer”) | Yes (and StoryGraph, Fable) | No label | 4.9 · 19,617 ratings |
How do the Goodreads imports compare?
Four apps list a Goodreads import. StoryGraph's listing is the most specific about what moves over, including custom shelves, and Pagehour's is free and can be run again without duplicating books. Pagehour imports a file you export from Goodreads; its listing describes no live sync.
| App | Goodreads import | What the listing says comes across |
|---|---|---|
| Pagehour (ours) | Yes, free | Export your library from Goodreads and import the file. Ratings, finish dates and your to-read pile come across; the import is duplicate-safe, so you can run it again later. |
| StoryGraph | Yes | Currently-reading, read, to-read and did-not-finish shelves. Custom shelves become custom tags. |
| Fable | Yes (and Kindle) | Book lists from Goodreads and Kindle. The listing doesn't say which fields. |
| Margins | Yes (and StoryGraph, Fable) | The listing says “Import from Goodreads, StoryGraph, and Fable” and doesn't say which fields. |
| Bookly | Not listed | No import is mentioned. |
| Bookmory | Not listed | “Import records you kept in other reading apps from CSV or Excel files”; Goodreads isn't named. |
Where Pagehour is behind: it is new, so it has no ratings, and it has no friends, clubs, reviews or book recommendations. If those matter more than a timer and a finish date, stay with Goodreads, Fable or StoryGraph. The steps to export your Goodreads file are on how to export your Goodreads library, and the full comparison with Goodreads is on Pagehour vs Goodreads.
How much do book tracking 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.
| App | Paid tier | Monthly | Yearly | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pagehour (ours) | Pro | $4.99 | $29.99 | 7 days (yearly) |
| Goodreads | None | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| StoryGraph | Plus | $4.99 | $49.99 | 30 days, no payment details |
| Fable | Fable Plus | $5.99 | $49.99 | Not stated |
| Bookly | Pro | $4.99 | $29.99 | 7 days (also $19.99 for 6 months) |
| Bookmory | Premium | $3.49 | $30.99 | Not stated |
| Margins | Subscription | $5.99 | $59.99 | Not stated |
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 book tracking 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”. A day counts as soon as it has real pages or a real minute of reading, and sessions that run past midnight, daylight saving and time-zone travel are tested. 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 stats beyond the last 7 days, logging missed days up to 60 days back, and two streak freezes a month.
Goodreads: reviews and the biggest community
Its listing calls it “the free book tracker and reading community”, with more than 150 million members, the Reading Challenge, the Choice Awards and book club groups. You can share shelves and progress with friends. 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 and graphs, mood and pace filters, machine-learning recommendations, streaks, buddy reads, readalongs and a Goodreads import that maps custom shelves to tags. Plus adds custom charts, and the listing says upgrading helps keep the platform ad-free; 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 online book clubs and TV clubs, plus lists, annual 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 timer, reading speed, estimated finish time, streaks, reports and iCloud sync, with no online account or signup 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, calendar view, notes with underlining and highlighting, text extraction from photos and reading stats. Premium removes ads and adds automatic sync across devices. App Store listing.
Margins: a calm, good-looking library
Cover choices, search “by vibes”, hand-illustrated monthly recaps and a feature that blocks other apps while you read, plus a meditation reading timer. 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.
| App | Reviews | 1–2★ | Most common complaint |
|---|---|---|---|
| StoryGraph | 200 | 38 | Interface and navigation (24 not in another category); bugs 4; missing features 4 |
| Bookly | 200 | 22 | Paywall or pricing: 10 |
| Bookmory | 200 | 14 | Paywall or pricing: 6; sync or import: 4; streaks: 2 |
| Margins | 200 | 14 | Uncategorised: 7; paywall or pricing: 4 |
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.
Want the timer, the finish date and your Goodreads shelves in one free app?
Bringing a Goodreads library? Export it in three steps first, or work out your finish dates with the reading time calculator.
How did we check these facts?
On 15 October 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; the live page blocks automated reads, so we read an archived copy from 22 July 2026), 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 listing and prices, 15 October 2026.