Goodreads alternatives, checked against who actually owns them
Goodreads has belonged to Amazon since March 2013, which is why most people go looking for an alternative in the first place. What most lists won’t tell you: the second-most-recommended alternative, LibraryThing, also carries an Amazon stake, held indirectly since Amazon bought AbeBooks in 2008. The genuinely independent options exist, and the strongest of them is a bootstrapped British company. Each one below is checked against who owns it. Last verified 29 August 2026.
Or skip the tracking apps and just describe your next book
| Platform | What it is | Who actually owns it | Independent? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | The default book tracker | Amazon, since March 2013 | ✗ |
| LibraryThing | The veteran cataloguer, free since 2020 | Majority owned by founder Tim Spalding; Amazon holds an indirect minority stake via its 2008 AbeBooks purchase | Founder-controlled, with an Amazon stake |
| The StoryGraph | The strongest modern alternative: mood-based stats and recommendations | The StoryGraph Ltd, a UK company founded by Nadia Odunayo, bootstrapped with no venture capital | ✓ |
| BookWyrm | Open-source, decentralised tracking | No single owner: open-source software run by its communities, and you can host your own | ✓ (community) |
| Hardcover | Newer tracker built by ex-Goodreads users | Founder-led US startup | ✓ (early-stage) |
| Fable | Social reading app with celebrity book clubs | Venture-backed US startup | ✗ (investor-owned) |
| Oku | Minimalist tracker | Small founder-led team | ✓ (early-stage) |
The twist most lists miss
Amazon didn’t just buy Goodreads. It bought AbeBooks in 2008, and AbeBooks had bought 40% of LibraryThing two years earlier, so when people fled Goodreads for LibraryThing after the 2013 acquisition, many of them moved to a platform Amazon already held a piece of. To be fair to LibraryThing: founder Tim Spalding remains the majority owner, has said the widely quoted 40% figure overstates Amazon’s current share after later investment, and has been openly critical of Amazon’s grip on the book world. But if your reason for leaving Goodreads is not wanting Amazon in your reading life, you should know the stake exists, because almost no alternatives list mentions it.
The genuinely independent one
The StoryGraph is the alternative that actually is what people hope it is: a British company, founded in 2019 by Nadia Odunayo, funded by its own users through a paid plan rather than by investors, with the founder on record that she has no interest in outside funding precisely because it would compromise the platform’s independence. It also does the one thing Goodreads never bothered to build properly, recommendations based on mood and pace rather than a five-star average. Its Goodreads import means switching costs you an afternoon, not your history.
Where we fit
Highstreett isn’t a tracking app, so this page has no horse in that race. We’re a book search engine: describe what you want in your own words and get recommendations matched to your taste, built so your money reaches independent bookshops. If you use a tracker, use whichever one respects your reasons for leaving Goodreads. When you want your next book rather than a shelf for your last one, that’s us.
Questions
Is Goodreads owned by Amazon?
Yes, since March 2013. Reviews, ratings and reading data on Goodreads all sit inside Amazon, which also owns Audible, AbeBooks and Kindle.
Is LibraryThing independent?
Mostly, with an asterisk. Founder Tim Spalding is the majority owner, but Amazon has held an indirect minority stake since 2008, when it bought AbeBooks, which had bought into LibraryThing in 2006. Spalding has said the commonly quoted 40% overstates Amazon's current share.
Is The StoryGraph owned by Amazon?
No. The StoryGraph is a UK company founded by Nadia Odunayo in 2019, bootstrapped without venture capital and funded by its optional paid plan. It's the most complete Goodreads alternative with no Amazon connection.
What's the best Goodreads alternative?
For most people, The StoryGraph: independent, actively developed, better recommendations, and a painless Goodreads import. BookWyrm if you want open-source and decentralised. LibraryThing if you want the deepest cataloguing tools and can live with the ownership asterisk.