Goodreads alternative
A reading log that isn’t owned by a bookshop.
Goodreads is the biggest book database in the world and it is owned by the biggest bookshop in the world. Stadu is a reading log that is only a reading log — and that also remembers the rest of your year.
The honest version
Stay on Goodreads if
- Your friends are there and you read because of what they are reading.
- You rely on the sheer size of the catalogue — obscure editions, ISBNs, every translation.
- The yearly Reading Challenge is what keeps you going.
- You want public reviews and a profile people can follow.
Move to Stadu if
- You would rather your reading history not sit inside an advertising business owned by a retailer.
- You want no account, no email and nothing uploaded.
- You want the books next to the films, games, gigs and trips from the same year.
- You want a clean export of everything you have logged, for free, whenever you want it.
Stadu vs Goodreads
| Stadu | Goodreads | |
|---|---|---|
| What you can log | Books, films, TV, games, concerts, places, trips, life events | Books only |
| Owner | An independent developer in Germany | Amazon, since 2013 |
| Advertising | None | Ads shown to all users; no ad-free tier |
| Account | None | Required |
| Where your data lives | On your phone | On Goodreads’ servers |
| Catalogue size | Open Library — large, but not Goodreads-large | The largest book catalogue there is |
| Data export | One backup file, free | CSV export exists, with long-standing reports of missing "date read" values |
| Price | Free, no ads | Free, ad-supported |
Competitor details checked against their own sites in September 2026. Prices and limits change — follow the links before deciding.
The thing Goodreads is still unbeatable at
Scale. If a book exists, Goodreads has it, usually in every edition and translation, with thousands of ratings attached. No independent app is going to match that, and Stadu does not claim to — book search here runs on Open Library, which is broad but not comprehensive in the same way.
Goodreads also has your friends in it, which is the real lock-in. A reading log with nobody else in it is a different product, and for some readers a worse one.
What you are actually paying with
Goodreads is free and shows ads to everybody — there is no ad-free tier. It has been owned by Amazon since 2013. Your reading history is therefore a commercial signal inside a retail business, which is a perfectly legal arrangement that a lot of readers are nonetheless uncomfortable with once they notice it.
Stadu is free because it costs almost nothing to run: there is no server, so there is nothing to monetise. Your books never leave your phone.
Books are not the only thing you did this year
The deeper limitation is not ownership, it is scope. Goodreads knows what you read and nothing else. The film that wrecked you, the album you played to death, the trip you took — none of that is in the record.
In Stadu, books are one entry type among eight, all landing on the same Lifeline. Your reading year is visible as part of your actual year, and the Year in Review counts it alongside everything else.
Getting your books across
Goodreads does offer a CSV export, though readers have reported for years that it can come back missing the "date read" column — worth checking your file before you rely on it.
Stadu does not currently have a Goodreads importer, so books are added by searching. It does import your Steam library, Discogs collection and Last.fm concert history in one tap.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good Goodreads alternative that does not need an account?
Is Goodreads owned by Amazon?
Does Goodreads show ads?
Can I import my Goodreads library into Stadu?
Does Stadu have a reading challenge?
Keep reading. Keep the data.
A book log that is yours, on a timeline that holds the rest of your year.
Available now on Android. iOS coming later.