AllMyBooks vs Goodreads
The world’s largest reading-social platform — reviews, recommendations, and reading tracking — rather than a tool for cataloguing the physical books you own.
Every Goodreads fact on this page was checked against Goodreads's own public pages, most recently in July 2026.
One Library co-owned by the people who keep it — family, or a church or school’s volunteers — a shared catalogue with member roles, and no cap on members or books.
No item caps — catalogue as many books as you own. Free during our launch trial, and accounts created during the launch phase keep the full free tier forever; a supporter plan follows for collector-depth features, and export is never gated. The no-caps promise covers catalogue items; image storage has a fair-use ceiling we would talk to you about before applying.
How sharing a Library worksWhat Goodreads costs
Prices in Goodreads's own terms, as of July 2026, each linked to the page it was read from.
- GoodreadsFree
Free and ad-supported, with no paid tier.
Source: Goodreads's published pricing ↗
Feature by feature
| Feature | AllMyBooks | Goodreads |
|---|---|---|
| Shared library | AllMyBooks strength: One Library co-owned by the people who keep it — family, or a church or school’s volunteers — a shared catalogue with member roles, and no cap on members or books. How sharing a Library works → | Limitation: Individual accounts with a friends-and-followers model — there's no shared household catalogue. |
| Pricing & item caps | AllMyBooks strength: No item caps — catalogue as many books as you own. Free during our launch trial, and accounts created during the launch phase keep the full free tier forever; a supporter plan follows for collector-depth features, and export is never gated. The no-caps promise covers catalogue items; image storage has a fair-use ceiling we would talk to you about before applying. Pricing, plainly → | Free and ad-supported, with no paid tier. |
| Adding books | AllMyBooks strength: ISBN barcode scanning in the browser — no app install — plus shelf-photo scanning for whole shelves, both uncapped. Pre-ISBN books resolve by LCCN. Ways to add books → | Cover and barcode scanning in the mobile app, including a bulk-scan mode. |
| Collector detail | AllMyBooks strength: Every copy is its own record: printing, condition with dated photos, inscription notes, a value basis you set yourself, and custom fields. How copies and editions are catalogued → | Limitation: One record per title on your shelves — its duplicate-finder treats the same book shelved under two editions as something to merge, and there are no per-copy fields like condition, printing, or location. |
| Lending | Loans with due dates and return nudges, plus a patron checkout mode for classroom shelves and little free libraries. How lending works → | Limitation: No lending or loan tracking. |
| Public sharing | Share a curated showcase by link, or give a tiny library its own public catalogue page anyone can browse without an account. Sharing your library → | Public profiles and shelves within the Goodreads community. |
| Import & export | AllMyBooks strength: Readerware, Goodreads, StoryGraph, and LibraryThing exports are recognized automatically — a Readerware TAB export brings copies, shelves, Dewey and call numbers, loans and want-list rows across; any other CSV (CLZ Books included) imports via column mapping, and a UTF-8 MARC 21 file — a LibraryThing MARC export, say — imports with its LC and Dewey classes. Export your whole catalogue as CSV or JSON anytime. Importing and exporting → | Caveat: CSV import (desktop, ISBN required) and CSV export of your library from My Books; the developer API no longer issues new keys and is slated for retirement. |
When Goodreads may fit
- The largest reading community anywhere — an enormous corpus of ratings and reviews means nearly any book you look up has opinions worth reading.
- Social reading done well: friends' shelves and activity, groups, and the annual Reading Challenge.
- Deep Amazon and Kindle integration, including importing your Amazon book purchases.
Switching from Goodreads
Export your library as CSV from My Books → Import and export → Export Library, then drop the file into AllMyBooks — Goodreads exports are recognized automatically, and your books, ISBNs, and ratings come across without manual column matching.