The StoryGraph

The StoryGraph
Type of site
Social cataloging, book reviewing, metadata aggregation
Available inEnglish
Founded2019; 7 years ago (2019)
FounderNadia Odunayo
URLapp.thestorygraph.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
Current statusActive

The StoryGraph (or simply StoryGraph) is a social book cataloging platform launched in 2019.[1] Most StoryGraph features are free to use, with additional reader statistics features on a paid tier.[2][‡ 1] The StoryGraph is often positioned as an alternative to Amazon-owned Goodreads.[3] As of April 2025, the platform had 4 million user signups.[‡ 2]

Design

The StoryGraph was created by software engineer Nadia Odunayo in 2019,[3] initially as a side-project for tracking books. Based on the comments of Goodreads users and other book readers, Odunayo focused on the implementation of systems on the platform for personalized book recommendations.[4][5][6]

In comparison to Goodreads

The StoryGraph positions itself as "a fully-featured Amazon-free alternative to Goodreads".[7] Both sites allow readers to add books to their reading list, log and review books, and set reading challenges.[8] As compared to Goodreads, The StoryGraph focuses more on giving users access to their analytics, rather than on social interaction. For example, as of 2026, The StoryGraph users cannot comment on reviews, or like them.[9] The platform builds recommendations based on analyses of users' reading habits. Users also receive an evaluation of books they have read, broken down by mood, pace, length, genre, and rating, and can receive additional statistics for a monthly fee. Unlike Goodreads, The StoryGraph offers the option to give books half or quarter star ratings.[10]

Goodreads is considered to hold a monopoly in the field, consequently limiting the growth of similar sites. Tom Critchlow, a data consultant based in the United Kingdom, argued that Amazon's ownership of Goodreads would continue to hinder alternative platforms, saying, "Amazon has showed no mercy when dealing with competitors before. If you were to compete, you would need significant scale. Again, you'd be dealing with Amazon directly."[6]

Reception

Chris M. Arnone of Book Riot commended The StoryGraph for not being affiliated with Amazon and for distancing itself from Amazon products, but criticized the platform for its lack of a strong social community, stating, "this is the most glaring place where The StoryGraph falls behind Goodreads. The community on Goodreads is huge, with multiple groups and social media connections to automatically add people you know in other spaces. The StoryGraph just doesn't have any of that. There are no API tie-ins to other social media platforms at this time. This not only means you can't import friends from Facebook or Twitter, but you can't directly post from The StoryGraph to those platforms. While this might be something they're working on, this lack of interaction hurt my review of The StoryGraph. The StoryGraph does provide the ability to search for similar users based on your reading preferences. That's as far as the community goes right now."[11]

Mara Franzen, another writer for Book Riot, took a different view than her colleague, arguing, "I have been a die-hard Goodreads fan since 2016, but after spending time with Storygraph, I think I might make the switch. It's just so much more user-friendly, and I was recommended so many books that I'm actually interested in. I loved being able to see my reading data and was even surprised by it a bit."[8]

References

  1. ^ Gennis, Sadie (2024-01-06). "StoryGraph is the Goodreads alternative worth switching to". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
  2. ^ Krasnoff, Barbara (2025-03-07). "Four book logging apps to keep you reading". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
  3. ^ a b Barnett, David (16 February 2025). "'Reading is part of my identity': the woman taking on Goodreads owner Amazon". The Observer. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  4. ^ Wille, Matt (4 February 2021). "Amazon's Goodreads is ancient and terrible. Now there's an alternative". Input Mag. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  5. ^ Herman, Lily (30 July 2021). "Meet The Book-Obsessed Entrepreneur Challenging Goodreads' Reign". Bustle).
  6. ^ a b Manavis, Sarah (10 September 2020). "Why Goodreads is bad for books". The New Statesman. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  7. ^ Novitz, Julian (2025-02-26). "Amazon's Goodreads builds community, but breeds division. Indie rival StoryGraph is playing it safe – and gaining ground". The Conversation. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
  8. ^ a b Franzen, Mara (1 June 2022). "Is StoryGraph a Good Alternative to GoodReads?". Book Riot. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  9. ^ "StoryGraph users can comment on the reading activity/review of their friends". roadmap.thestorygraph.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2025. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  10. ^ Koop, Lauren (8 September 2021). "Join The Migration of Readers Moving From Goodreads to StoryGraph". studybreaks.com. StudyBreaks. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  11. ^ Arnone, Chris M. (21 May 2021). "The StoryGraph Review: Is It Worth Replacing Goodreads?". Book Riot. Retrieved 2 August 2022.

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

  1. ^ "Plus | The StoryGraph". app.thestorygraph.com. Retrieved 2025-12-26.
  2. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. The StoryGraph. 2025-04-10. Retrieved 2025-12-26. On Monday we passed 4 million user signups! 🎉
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_StoryGraph