Which reading tracker app should you use in 2026?

What is a reading tracker app?

A reading tracker is a log for your reading. At minimum it records what you have read, what you are reading and where you are, and what you want to read next. Most add some of the following: goals, stats and charts, reviews and ratings, friends and clubs, barcode scanning, imports from other apps, and exports of your data.

A tracker is not where the reading happens. Ebook and audiobook apps hold the books; a tracker holds the record. A few trackers blur the line: Fable has its own ebook reader, and Literal offers public-domain ebooks and audiobooks in the app.

A recap app is a third kind of tool. It does not keep a log; it helps you remember the story when you return to a book. We include one, Magic Bookmark, because readers ask about it in the same breath.

Why does this site not rank them?

Because the right app depends on the reader. A tracker that suits a print reader in a book club can be the wrong one for an audiobook listener who reads alone. A single score has to decide in advance which of those readers matters more. We record what each app publishes, show it side by side, and let your answers do the ordering. The method page explains the card rows and stamps.

Which apps do we profile?

Nine, listed here with Magic Bookmark first and the others alphabetically, as everywhere on the site:

Every line comes from the app's own listing or website; the price index shows each line with the date its source was read.

Which reader are you, and what should you look for?

Each row has its own guide: print and the reader guide, Kindle readers, audiobook listeners, book club readers, stats and chart readers, privacy-minded readers, home library collectors and series readers.

How do the big three compare?

Most readers end up weighing Goodreads, The StoryGraph and one other app.

• Goodreads is free with no paid tier and has by far the largest community: over 150 million members were reported in September 2023. Its stats centre on the yearly Reading Challenge. It is an Amazon company, its App Store label lists data linked to you for analytics, personalization, app functionality and marketing, and its Google Play listing says it contains ads. Its public API stopped issuing new keys in December 2020. In March 2026 it added a Did Not Finish shelf.
• The StoryGraph is built on charts: moods, pace and genres, with reading, page and listening goals. Buddy reads and readalongs lock comments until each reader reaches that point. Since June 29, 2026 it receives reading progress from Kobo e-readers and apps. The core app is free; Plus is $4.99 a month.
• The third app depends on the reader: Fable for clubs, Hardcover for a light privacy label and an API, Literal for free clubs without ads, BookBuddy for a catalogue, Bookly or Basmo for timing sessions.

Goodreads vs The StoryGraph and Goodreads vs Hardcover set two of these pairs out row by row.

What do privacy labels say?

On the App Store labels we read, Hardcover's is the lightest: Data Not Linked to You, covering usage data and diagnostics. Literal and BookBuddy list no data used to track you. Basmo, Bookly, Fable and Magic Bookmark list identifiers used to track you. Labels are written by developers and describe categories, so read them as a first filter. The privacy guide has each label in full.

What about free versus paid?

Almost every tracker is free to start. Goodreads has no paid tier. The StoryGraph, Hardcover, Fable and Literal have free cores with optional tiers. BookBuddy is free up to 50 books, then a one-time price. Basmo and Bookly sell Pro subscriptions. The free trackers guide explains what each free version covers.

Where do recap apps fit?

Every tracker we profile records where you are; none publishes a recap of the story so far. That matters most for long series, audiobooks and readers who put books down for weeks.

Two tools do this job. Kindle's Recaps and Story So Far work inside Kindle ebooks for US customers, free with the book. Magic Bookmark works with print, ebooks and audiobooks, including library loans: you photograph your page, type the page number or enter the last phrase you heard, and it gives a recap, a cast list and spoiler-free answers that stop there. It covers supported titles only, on iPhone, at one credit per book after a free first credit. It pairs with a tracker rather than replacing one.

How do you choose in ten minutes?

1. Answer four questions: where are your friends, how do you read, do you want charts or clubs, and does the privacy label matter to you.
2. Run the tracker finder with those answers, or scan the feature matrix.
3. Read the profiles of the two apps left, including their limits.
4. Install one and log only what you are reading now for a week; the first-time trackers guide covers setup.
5. If you are moving from another app, follow how to switch reading trackers.

What changed between October and November 2026?

A short dated record for readers using this guide to decide now:

• Bookly's $79.99 Bookly Pro is listed in Apple's catalog as a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, alongside its $4.99 monthly and $29.99 yearly plans. Every other tracker price in our ledger matched when re-read on 4 November 2026.
• Recaps that stop at your place spread beyond Kindle: Google Play Books' Catch me up for its ebooks and Spotify's audiobook Recaps for some titles. None of the nine trackers we profile has one; Magic Bookmark remains the one app among them with a published place-finding feature.
• A new ADHD readers guide matches tracker features to readers who struggle to start or to keep the plot.

How do you test a tracker before committing?

Two weeks with real books tells you more than any comparison page, including this one. A simple test plan:

1. Day 1: add your current book and the last three you finished. Do not import yet.
2. Days 2 to 7: log every session the way the app wants you to, timer or page.
3. Day 8: look at whatever stats or goals screen the app has. Does it tell you anything?
4. Days 9 to 14: use the social or club features if you want them; otherwise ignore them.
5. Day 14: decide. If you opened it without thinking most days, import your history. If not, try the next app on your shortlist.

The first-time trackers guide has more on the first month, and the tracker finder builds the shortlist.

What should you expect to change in 2027?

We cannot know, and we will not guess at features. What we do is re-read every listing each quarter and date every fact, so when apps change, the cards, tables and this guide change with them. Dated notes go in the Reading diary.