Comparison

Libby, the library app vs StoryGraph

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Libby, the library app

Access millions of free ebooks and audiobooks from your local library. Borrow titles instantly with your library card, download for offline enjoyment, and enjoy a customizable reading and listening experience.

Highlights
  • Borrow ebooks and audiobooks
  • Download for offline access
  • Send ebooks to Kindle
  • Adjust reader settings
  • Customize audio player
  • Create book lists
Currently charting
Read full description

Libby connects you to your local library’s collection of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more. With just your library card, you can instantly read or listen to books on your phone or tablet — for free, thanks to your public library! Browse and borrow everything from timeless classics to the latest New York Times bestsellers, and enjoy your next great read anytime, anywhere. What You Can Do with Libby - Browse your library’s digital catalog of books - Borrow and enjoy ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines - Send ebooks to your Kindle (U.S. libraries only) - Listen to audiobooks through Apple CarPlay - Download titles for offline reading, or stream them to save space - Use tags to create to-be--read lists or organize your favorite titles - Keep your reading position with automatic syncing across all your devices A Beautiful Reading Experience Enjoy a seamless reading experience with Libby’s elegant, easy-to-use ebook reader: - Adjust text size, background color, and book design to fit your preferences - Zoom into magazines, comics, and graphic novels - Define and search for words or phrases instantly - Read and listen to interactive read-alongs with your kids - Add bookmarks, notes, and highlights to personalize your reading An Immersive Audiobook Player Libby’s audiobook player makes listening effortless and enjoyable: - Slow down or speed up playback (0.6x to 3.0x) - Set a sleep timer for nighttime listening - Swipe easily to skip forward or backward - Add bookmarks, notes, and highlights as you listen Read Anywhere, Anytime Libby is designed for everyone, including kids, teens, and adults. Whether you’re exploring new stories, catching up on bestsellers, or revisiting your favorite books, Libby keeps reading simple, fun, and accessible. Built by OverDrive, Libby proudly supports public libraries and the joy of reading for all. Download Libby today and turn your device into your personal library.

About

StoryGraph

Track your reading habits with insightful stats and personalized book recommendations powered by AI. Discover new books based on mood, pace, and genre, and connect with friends for shared reading experiences.

Highlights
  • Import Goodreads data
  • Personalized book recommendations
  • Track reading habits with stats
  • Discover books by mood and pace
  • Read with friends (buddy reads)
  • Custom reading challenges
  • Content warnings for books
Features
Read full description

Import your Goodreads data: We will import all of your currently-reading, read, to-read, and did-not-finish shelves. Any custom shelves will be mapped to a custom tag on The StoryGraph. Simple tracking and insightful stats: Easily track and learn about your reading habits with our wide range of charts and graphs. See how your reading develops over time and use that to help you pick better books. Get smart personalized recommendations: Our machine learning AI is like your trusted go-to friend for book recommendations. It'll understand your reading preferences and find the best books for you. Discover books by mood: In the mood for something adventurous, funny, and fast-paced? What about a darker, slower, more emotional read? Mix and match our comprehensive set of filters to choose your next perfect book. Read with friends: Add live reactions to specific parts of the book without fear of spoilers. Comments are locked for other participants until they reach that point in their reading. Don't have people to read with? We’ve got machine learning-powered suggestions for great reading buddies. Reading Challenges: Want to read one book from every country in the world? Or how about read a book per week across a range of genres? Our reading challenges feature help you set up personal goals or join in with others. Custom Tags: Enhance your book tracking and discovery by making use of our custom tags feature. You can search and filter books by your tags and share curated lists with friends. Content Warnings: When you review a book, you can let us know if there's any content within it that might be triggering for others. Then, when searching for your next read, all of this information is at your disposal. Features: • Import your Goodreads account • Reading charts and graphs • Streaks • Favorites • Buddy reads • Readalongs • Book Clubs • Personalized machine learning recommendations • Follow your friends to see what they're reading • Annual reading, page, and listening goals • Search/browse books by mood, pace, and more • Custom tags • Lists to share with your friends or the public • Create your own reading challenge or join in with others • Dark Mode • Barcode Scanner • Giveaways • Browse similar books • Find similar users • Half and quarter star ratings • Built-in DNF (Did Not Finish) functionality (including tracking pages read) • Progress updates with built-in reading journal • Author-approved and user-submitted content warnings Want to support an independent, Goodreads alternative? Consider upgrading to Plus! • Keep the platform ad-free: You'll help The StoryGraph stay independent! • Custom Charts: Create your own pie and bar charts. • Extra Stats Filters: Filter down your stats to a custom time period, or view stats for your fiction or nonfiction reads, your custom tags, any particular mood or genre, and more. • Custom Wrap-Up Graphics: Pick any custom date range and instantly generate shareable graphics for your reading. • Compare Stats: Compare any two stats segments of your StoryGraph library, whether that's a particular year against a custom time period, your To-Read Pile against your owned books, or a combination of several other options. You can also compare any stats segment with any segment from any other user — mix and match however you like. • Exclusive Charts: When comparing your reading across two different years, see exclusive year-on-year charts on the number of books read and their genres. • Shape the roadmap: You get to vote and comment on upcoming features as well as submit official requests for new ones • Priority Support: Your support tickets and requests for book information updates will be handled first Privacy Policy: https://app.thestorygraph.com/privacy Terms of Service:https://app.thestorygraph.com/terms-of-service

Screenshots

Libby, the library app4 screens
StoryGraph4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Libby, the library app at none against StoryGraph's 2. Libby, the library app also leads on ratings volume (4.6M vs 3.5K) and rating (4.9 vs 4.5). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. StoryGraph sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Libby, the library app asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Libby, the library app holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Libby, the library app has 4.6M ratings behind it against 3.5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Libby, the library app's written reviews are positive against 70% of StoryGraph's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Libby, the library app ships an update monthly, StoryGraph every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Libby, the library app versus StoryGraph: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLibby, the library appStoryGraph
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (4.6M ratings) — better4.5 (3.5K ratings)
Positive reviews83.8% of reviews — better70.2% of reviews
Number of ratings4.6M — better3.5K
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
Best chart rank#3 — better#29
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better14
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB3 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperOverDrive, Inc.The StoryGraph

Customer experience

Libby, the library app

All ratings4,537,350 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews10,333 reviews
Positive83.8%
Neutral4.8%
Negative11.4%

StoryGraph

All ratings3,533 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral5.0%
Negative9.3%
Written reviews1,028 reviews
Positive70.2%
Neutral12.4%
Negative17.4%

User reviews

Libby, the library app

From 4.6M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📚 Extensive library of books and audiobooks
  • 🔍 Convenient search and browsing features
  • 🔖 Easy to manage holds and returns
  • 🔄 Seamless syncing across devices
  • 🕰️ Automatic returns to avoid late fees

Room to improve

  • 🕰️ Long wait times for popular titles
  • 🔍 Confusing search and filtering options
  • 🤯 Buggy and unstable performance
  • 🔒 Lack of offline reading/listening
  • 📚 Limited selection in some genres

StoryGraph

From 3.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🚀 Excellent reading stats and data visualization
  • 💡 Innovative features like buddy reads and reading challenges
  • 👍 Clean and modern design
  • 💡 Independent company, not owned by big tech

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🐛 Slow performance and loading times
  • 🐛 Issues with importing data from other platforms
  • 🐛 Missing some basic features like custom shelves/lists
  • 🐛 Confusing navigation and UI in places

Bugs and requests

Libby, the library app

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • Issues with downloading and syncing content
  • Unreliable playback controls for audiobooks
  • Inconsistent behavior when placing holds
  • Disappearing reading history and bookmarks

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to search across multiple libraries
  • Custom reading/listening speed controls
  • Improved recommendation and discovery tools
  • Option to purchase unavailable titles
  • Customizable reading experience (fonts, themes)
Show 1 more
  • Integration with other e-book/audiobook services

StoryGraph

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes or freezes when trying to update reading progress
  • Incorrect book details and page counts
  • Login issues where users get logged out frequently

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to track re-reads and multiple editions of books
  • More robust social features like following friends, liking reviews
  • Barcode scanning to easily add books
  • Customizable reading challenges and goal tracking
  • Dark mode option

In-app purchases

None

Libby, the library app

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

StoryGraph

Subscriptions2
  • The StoryGraph Plus Monthly$4.991 Month
  • The StoryGraph Plus Annual$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Libby, the library app free?
Libby, the library app is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is StoryGraph free?
StoryGraph is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Libby, the library app or StoryGraph?
Libby, the library app is rated higher. Libby, the library app averages 4.9 out of 5 from 4.6M ratings, while StoryGraph averages 4.5 from 3.5K ratings.
Do Libby, the library app or StoryGraph have ads?
Neither Libby, the library app nor StoryGraph shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Libby, the library app or StoryGraph?
Libby, the library app ships an update monthly, and StoryGraph every 3 weeks. Most recently, Libby, the library app was updated on October 21, 2026 and StoryGraph on October 20, 2026.
Which is more popular, Libby, the library app or StoryGraph?
Libby, the library app currently peaks at #3 in the App Store charts, and StoryGraph at #29. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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