is there a website like imdb for books?

If you want the most reviews in one place

Goodreads is a book site and app where readers rate, review and shelve books and get recommendations. Its Google Play listing says more than 75 million members have added more than 2.2 billion books to their shelves, and calls it the world's largest site for readers. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android.

Its Google Play listing calls Goodreads a free service, the UK App Store lists it as free, and we saw no paid plan on either. You pay in a different way: both store listings say the app contains ads. The sign-up page also offers Continue with Amazon and Continue with Apple, which is worth knowing before you create an account.

If you choose books by mood

The StoryGraph is a reading tracker that rates books and recommends them by mood, pace and your own reading stats. You can search and filter by mood and pace, rate in half and quarter stars, and see author approved and reader submitted content warnings. If you are moving from Goodreads, it says it imports your currently reading, read, to read and did not finish shelves, and maps custom shelves to custom tags.

What you give up is some of the depth unless you pay. The extra stats and charts sit behind Plus, a subscription, though the core tracking and recommendations come without it. Its website blocked our request, so these facts come from its app listings.

If you want a prediction before you start

Hardcover is a book tracking app with a social side, for rating, reviewing and listing what you read. It shows a score from 0% to 100% of how likely you are to enjoy a book, based on your own reading, and it tracks audiobooks and did not finish. Profiles can be public, private or friends-only, so you choose who sees your reading.

The catch is size. Its UK App Store listing has 18 ratings and Google Play shows 234 reviews, against 219,000 reviews for Goodreads on Google Play. A smaller community means fewer other readers' ratings around each book. The listing also does not say what the paid Supporter tier adds.

If you want to catalogue what you own

LibraryThing is a cataloguing site and app for your own books, and it takes DVDs and CDs too. It catalogues by search or ISBN barcode, drawing on Amazon data and over 65 million library records. That is a different job from rating and reviewing: it is about knowing what is on your shelves at home.

You give up polish. The apps look little updated, last changed in February 2024 on iOS and January 2025 on Android, and the Android app averages 2.9 stars. The apps are free to download, but its own pages blocked our request, so we could not check its membership terms or price.

When paying is worth it

Paying is optional on Goodreads, The StoryGraph and Hardcover; LibraryThing's terms we could not check. The StoryGraph Plus is £3.49 a month or £34.99 a year, and Hardcover Supporter is £4.99 a month or £49.99 a year, both on the UK App Store. Plus adds custom charts, extra stats filters, stats comparisons, wrap up graphics, a say in the roadmap and priority support. The StoryGraph also pitches Plus as a way to keep its platform ad free and independent, which sets it against Goodreads' ads.

Pay only if you want the extra stats, or you would like to support a smaller independent site. On those three, the rating, reviewing and tracking that makes them like IMDb is available without paying.

These are reader rating sites, not a credits database like IMDb. Goodreads describes itself as a community of readers who rate and review books, so the scores reflect who uses each site. A score on a site with tens of millions of members and one on a site with a few hundred reviews are drawn from very different crowds.

The Goodreads sign-up page offers Amazon and Apple log-ins, and its Google Play and UK App Store listings both say the app contains ads. Neither is hidden, but both are easy to miss.

Hardcover's App Store listing does not say what the Supporter tier adds, so check in the app before you subscribe.