Liber, Goodreads, StoryGraph or Libib?
Updated 23 October 2026. Written by Lucas, who made Liber, so read it knowing that.
In short: pick Goodreads if you want friends and reviews, StoryGraph if you want reading stats and recommendations, and Libib if you want a plain list of everything you own, books and films alike. Pick Liber if you want the books you own to look like your real shelves on your iPhone, with no account and nothing to lose if you leave.
What is Liber best for?
Liber is for people who own a shelf of physical books and want them on their iPhone as a bookcase. You scan a barcode, search a title or import a Goodreads export, and each book lands as its real spine, in the cover's colours and at its real size. Tap a spine to pick the book up: time a sitting, mark your page, keep a quote, rate it, or note who you lent it to.
- No account. Your books live on your iPhone and work offline.
- Sync between iPhones is free and end-to-end encrypted.
- Save a copy of your whole library any time, free, as a file Goodreads, StoryGraph or a spreadsheet can open.
- Free for your first 100 books. Liber Plus, for every book after that, is £19.99 a year, £2.99 a month or £49.99 once.
Not for you if you're on Android, want to follow friends and read reviews, want book recommendations, or want to catalogue films and games too.
Liber vs Goodreads: which should I use?
Use Goodreads for the social side: friends' updates, millions of reviews, the yearly reading challenge. Use Liber for the books you physically own, shown as shelves, with no account and no ads. Many people use both: Liber imports a Goodreads export, and Liber's export opens in Goodreads.
Liber vs StoryGraph: which should I use?
StoryGraph is a reading tracker with detailed charts of what you read, mood and pace tags, and recommendations. It needs an account. Liber is about the books you own and what your shelves look like; its reading side is a timer, your page, a daily goal and ratings, without the charts or recommendations.
Liber vs Libib: which should I use?
Libib catalogues books, films, music and games as lists, with a web version as well as apps, and needs an account. Liber does books only, on iPhone only, and draws them as a bookcase rather than a list (there's a sortable list view too). If your collection is mixed media, Libib fits better. If it's books and you want to see them as shelves, Liber does.
What about LibraryThing and BookBuddy?
LibraryThing is the long-standing choice for serious cataloguers who want detailed edition data and a big community, mostly on the web. BookBuddy is a straightforward iPhone catalogue with a one-off upgrade. Both are good at lists; neither draws your shelves.
Can I move my books between them?
Yes. Goodreads, StoryGraph and Liber all read the same kind of export file, so you can bring your library into Liber and take it out again whenever you like. Whatever app you use, save a copy of your library now and then.
Is Liber free?
Yes, for up to 100 books, with every feature you need to use it day to day, sync and export included. We say the limit up front so nobody finds it after an evening of scanning. Readers who started with Liber 1.0 keep Plus free.