Best Reading Apps

What is the best reading tracker app?

The StoryGraph is the best reading tracker for most readers: free, with detailed charts, a Goodreads import and progress synced from Kobo. Stay on Goodreads if your friends are there, try Hardcover for a tidy social tracker, and use Bookly if you want a timer for each session. None of them recap the story for you.

By the Best Reading Apps editors · Checked 30 October 2026 · Desk research

Our pick

Price: Free

The StoryGraph

Our pick for most readers

Imports your Goodreads shelves, then gives you charts of your reading, mood-based discovery, challenges and content warnings. Buddy reads and readalongs keep comments locked until each reader reaches that point, and it syncs with Kobo.

The catch: Unless you read on Kobo, you update your page by hand. StoryGraph Plus costs $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year.

Also good

Best for community

Goodreads

Free, with no in-app purchases, more than 150 million members, a Book Scanner, a Did Not Finish shelf and the yearly Reading Challenge.

The catch: Fewer charts than The StoryGraph, and you still type your page to update progress.

Best for a tidy social tracker

Hardcover

Lists, tags, reviews, goals and stats, with a profile you can make public, private or friends-only.

The catch: Supporter costs $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, and its community is smaller than Goodreads'.

Best for timed reading sessions

Bookly

A one-tap reading timer with ambient sounds, stats on time and pages, goals in hours, pages or books, and reminders.

The catch: The App Store lists many overlapping Pro prices, so compare before you subscribe.

Already on an iPhone? Apple Books tracks reading too

If you read in Apple Books, its Reading Goals feature sets a daily goal, tracks streaks and counts the books you finish this year. It is not a social tracker, but it costs nothing extra.

A tracker is not a bookmark

Trackers log what you read and how far you got. None of the trackers here recaps the plot when you come back after a break. If that is your problem, pair your tracker with a recap tool: see how to get back into a book you stopped reading.

For a deeper comparison of trackers, with import and export details, see our sister site Best Book Tracker Apps.

How do you choose a reading tracker?

  • You want charts, moods and content warnings: The StoryGraph.
  • Your friends and book clubs are on Goodreads: stay there. It added half-star ratings in October 2026 and a Did Not Finish shelf in March 2026; see our note on half stars.
  • You read on a Kobo: The StoryGraph, because Kobo can send your progress to it automatically. See how the Kobo and StoryGraph sync works.
  • You want to time each session: Bookly.
  • You want control over who sees your reading: Hardcover lets you make your profile public, private or friends-only.

What should a reading tracker record?

Keep it simple, or you will stop updating it. Most readers need four things: a status for each book (want to read, currently reading, read, did not finish), your progress by page or percentage, the date you finished, and a rating. Notes are a bonus.

Use the did-not-finish shelf honestly. A book you abandoned on purpose is a decision, not a failure, and marking it keeps your currently-reading list short enough to be useful.

If you are starting from nothing, log only the books you read this year rather than rebuilding a lifetime list in one evening. If you are moving from Goodreads, import instead of retyping: The StoryGraph brings over your currently-reading, read, to-read and did-not-finish shelves.

Questions

What is the best free reading tracker?
The StoryGraph and Goodreads both have free core apps. Goodreads has no in-app purchases at all; The StoryGraph sells an optional Plus plan.
Can I move from Goodreads to The StoryGraph?
Yes. The StoryGraph imports your currently-reading, read, to-read and did-not-finish shelves from Goodreads, and turns custom shelves into tags.
Does Apple Books track reading?
Yes. Reading Goals in Apple Books sets a daily goal, tracks streaks and counts the books you read this year.
Which reading tracker has a timer?
Bookly is built around a one-tap reading timer that logs time and pages for each session.
Which reading tracker syncs automatically?
The StoryGraph receives your Currently Reading progress from Kobo automatically once you connect the accounts. Elsewhere, you update your page by hand.

Sources

  1. Apple App Store (US), StoryGraph: Reading Tracker, read 2 November 2026.
  2. Apple App Store (US), Goodreads: Book Tracker & More, read 2 November 2026.
  3. Apple App Store (US), Hardcover.app, read 2 November 2026.
  4. Apple App Store (US), Bookly: Book Tracker, read 2 November 2026.
  5. Apple App Store (US), Apple Books, read 2 November 2026.