StoryGraph vs Goodreads vs Readistry: Which Reading Tracker Fits You?
A clear, honest comparison of StoryGraph, Goodreads, and Readistry — what each one is built for, where each falls short, and how to pick the reading tracker that matches how you actually read.
These three apps get compared a lot, which is a little funny, because they’re not really trying to be the same thing. Goodreads is a social catalogue. StoryGraph is a stats-and-discovery engine. Readistry is a private log. Put them side by side and the question isn’t “which is best” — it’s “which one is built for the way you read.”
Here’s an honest breakdown of all three, from the people who made one of them.
Goodreads: the social catalogue
Goodreads is the incumbent, and incumbency has its perks. The catalogue is enormous, nearly every book is already in it, and almost everyone you know has an account. If your reading life is social — you want reviews, friends’ shelves, and the yearly Reading Challenge counting books toward a number — Goodreads still does that, for free.
The trade-offs are well known by now. It’s owned by Amazon, so discovery leans commercial. The interface has aged. And it tracks reading at the lowest resolution: a book is either unread, reading, or read. There’s no concept of a session, a page count for the day, or how long you actually spent.
Choose Goodreads if: you want the biggest catalogue and a social feed, and you don’t mind who owns it.
StoryGraph: the stats engine
StoryGraph is what most people mean when they say “the good Goodreads alternative.” It’s independent, it imports your Goodreads history, and it’s genuinely better at data: mood tags, pace, page-count breakdowns, content warnings, half-star ratings, and recommendations that feel like they’re for you rather than for a warehouse.
It keeps a social side — challenges, buddy reads, a community — but you can lean on it as lightly as you like. There’s a free tier, and a paid Plus subscription unlocks the deepest stats and up-to-the-minute features.
Choose StoryGraph if: you love charts, want thoughtful recommendations, and like a little community without the full feed.
Readistry: the private log
Readistry starts from the opposite end. There’s no feed, no friends list, and no public profile — not “private settings you can switch on,” but no social layer to begin with. Your library is yours, full stop.
What it does instead is track the act of reading. You log a session by entering the pages you read — say, 112 to 147 — and optionally the minutes. Your progress updates, your streak ticks over, and your stats build quietly in the background: pages per day, hours, books toward a gentle yearly goal. In December it writes you a printable year-end roundup. It won’t recommend your next book, on purpose — that’s what bookshops and librarians are for.
The free tier tracks three books, forever. Premium is $1.99/month for unlimited books, fuller stats, audiobook and reread tracking, and the roundup.
Choose Readistry if: you want to track your reading privately and simply, and the social stuff was never the point.
Side by side
| Goodreads | StoryGraph | Readistry | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owned by | Amazon | Independent | Independent |
| Social feed | Yes | Light | None |
| Tracks sessions (pages/time) | No | No | Yes |
| Stats depth | Basic | Deep | Focused |
| Recommendations | Yes (commercial) | Yes (personal) | None, by design |
| Private by default | No | Partly | Yes |
| Imports from Goodreads | — | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes (3 books) |
| Paid tier | — | Plus | $1.99/mo |
They’re not mutually exclusive
Plenty of readers keep two of these. It’s common to use Goodreads or StoryGraph for discovery and reviews — finding the next book, seeing what friends think — and a private log like Readistry for the actual tracking, where you’d rather not perform. Nothing stops you exporting your library and keeping a foot in each.
If you’d rather consolidate, pick by your dominant mode:
- You read socially. Reviews and friends are half the fun → Goodreads, or Hardcover if you want the same warmth without Amazon.
- You read analytically. You want to understand your taste and habits → StoryGraph.
- You read privately. You want a quiet record and a streak, and nothing watching → Readistry.
A note on switching
The good news is that none of this locks you in. Goodreads exports your whole library to a CSV, and both StoryGraph and Readistry import it. If you’re thinking of moving, our guide to exporting your Goodreads library walks through it, and our wider roundup of Goodreads alternatives covers Hardcover, Bookly, and Literal too.
The right reading tracker is the one that disappears into your reading instead of competing with it. For some people that’s a thriving community; for others it’s a quiet drawer no one else can open. Both are good ways to read — they’re just different ones.
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