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Publishing · head to head

Goodreads vs Pressbooks

Goodreads logo

Goodreads

Publishing

Amazon-owned book cataloguing, review and recommendation app

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Pressbooks logo

Pressbooks

Publishing

Open source book production built on WordPress, and the default tool for open textbooks

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Goodreads being owned by Amazon since 2013, the platform is structurally oriented toward driving Kindle and Amazon purchases rather than existing as an independent literary community, even though it remains free to use.; Pressbooks self-hosting is free in licence terms only; it requires WordPress multisite administration, upgrades and backups, which is a real staff cost most institutions underestimate.
  • They diverge on capability: Goodreads covers Reading tracking and shelves, Pressbooks covers Single source, three outputs.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Goodreads and Pressbooks actually diverge.

Attributes where Goodreads and Pressbooks differ
AttributeGoodreadsPressbooks
Pricing modelFree, no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by Amazon as a commerce and data feederOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb, Self-hosted

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Publishing).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Goodreads

  • Reading tracking and shelves
  • Reviews and ratings
  • Reading Challenge
  • Groups and discussions
  • Author profiles and Q&A
  • Kindle and Amazon purchase links

Only in Pressbooks

  • Single source, three outputs
  • Cloning and adaptation
  • H5P interactive content
  • LMS integration
  • Open source under the GPL
  • Accessibility tooling

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Goodreads

  • A reader wanting a personal log of books read with ratings and notes over timenot Pressbooks
  • Someone checking aggregated reviews before buying or borrowing a booknot Pressbooks
  • A book club coordinating discussion in a dedicated group spacenot Pressbooks
  • A reader setting and tracking an annual reading goal through the Reading Challenge featurenot Pressbooks

Pressbooks

  • A university library replacing a commercial textbook by adapting an existing open textbook rather than commissioning a new onenot Goodreads
  • A course team that wants readings delivered inside Canvas or Moodle with embedded exercises rather than as a static PDFnot Goodreads
  • A research institute publishing reports that must exist as a web page, an EPUB and a printable document without maintaining three filesnot Goodreads
  • A consortium standardising open textbook production across several institutions with a shared catalogue of adaptable titlesnot Goodreads

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Goodreads

  • Being owned by Amazon since 2013, the platform is structurally oriented toward driving Kindle and Amazon purchases rather than existing as an independent literary community, even though it remains free to use.
  • Interface and feature development have seen limited meaningful investment since the acquisition, and long-standing user complaints about outdated design and moderation tools have gone largely unaddressed for years.
  • Review and rating manipulation, including review bombing and coordinated fake reviews, has been a persistent, documented problem with limited effective moderation response.
  • The recommendation engine and reading data are used to inform Amazon retail and advertising systems, which is a real data use consideration for readers who value privacy around their reading habits.
  • There is no official API for third-party developers since Amazon deprecated the previous public API, which has limited independent tools and integrations that used to exist around the platform.

Pressbooks

  • Self-hosting is free in licence terms only; it requires WordPress multisite administration, upgrades and backups, which is a real staff cost most institutions underestimate.
  • Professional print PDF output depends on a commercial rendering engine that is licensed separately, so the genuinely free self-hosted route produces web and EPUB output but not press-quality print.
  • Design control is limited to the supplied themes unless someone writes custom CSS, so books tend to look recognisably like Pressbooks books.
  • There is no distribution, no ISBN service and no retail channel, so it produces files and web pages but plays no part in selling anything.
  • The editing experience inherits WordPress conventions, and authors working on long or heavily structured manuscripts find it slower than a dedicated writing application.

Pricing, plan by plan

Goodreads

Free
  • GoodreadsFree
    • Full cataloguing, review and group features at no cost
    • No ads sold directly within the reading experience beyond Amazon purchase links
    • No premium tier exists

Pressbooks

Free
  • PressbooksFree
    • GPL licensed, self-hostable with no software fee
    • WordPress multisite administration is your responsibility
    • Print PDF export depends on a separately licensed rendering engine

Which should you pick?

Choose Goodreads if

  • You need reading tracking and shelves.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want reviews and ratings.
Goodreads review

Choose Pressbooks if

  • You need single source, three outputs.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want cloning and adaptation.
Pressbooks review

Questions people ask

Is Goodreads or Pressbooks better?
Neither clearly leads. Goodreads starts at Free and Pressbooks at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Goodreads or Pressbooks?
Goodreads starts at Free and Pressbooks at Free.
Does Goodreads or Pressbooks run on more platforms?
Goodreads runs on iOS, Android, Web. Pressbooks runs on Web, Self-hosted.
Can I use Goodreads for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Goodreads best used for?
Goodreads is most often used for a reader wanting a personal log of books read with ratings and notes over time, someone checking aggregated reviews before buying or borrowing a book, a book club coordinating discussion in a dedicated group space, a reader setting and tracking an annual reading goal through the reading challenge feature. Of those, a reader wanting a personal log of books read with ratings and notes over time and someone checking aggregated reviews before buying or borrowing a book are not what Pressbooks is typically brought in for.
What can Goodreads do that Pressbooks cannot?
Goodreads covers Reading tracking and shelves, Reviews and ratings, Reading Challenge, Groups and discussions. Pressbooks covers Single source, three outputs, Cloning and adaptation, H5P interactive content, LMS integration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Goodreads: Is Goodreads free?

Yes, there is no subscription or premium tier; all cataloguing, review and group features are free.

Pressbooks: Is Pressbooks really free?

The software is GPL licensed and free to self-host. The hosted service is priced, and professional print PDF output requires a commercially licensed renderer, so budget accordingly.

Goodreads: Who owns Goodreads?

Amazon, which acquired it in 2013.

Pressbooks: Can I sell a book made in Pressbooks?

You can sell the EPUB or the printed book through any distributor, but Pressbooks itself provides no ISBN, no storefront and no distribution.

Goodreads: Does Goodreads have an API for developers?

Amazon deprecated the previous public Goodreads API, so third-party tool development is now much more limited than it once was.

Pressbooks: Why do universities use it for open textbooks?

Because an openly licensed book can be cloned into another institution network and adapted for a different course, which turns a finished textbook into a starting point rather than a fixed artefact.

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