All the #BookTok girlies know Goodreads has been the reigning reading tracking website since its founding in the prehistoric year of 2006. The site allows users to create reading goals, see what their friends are flipping through, and find new book recommendations based on their genre preferences. It had everything a bookworm needs. You can even go back and upload old novels you finished before getting the app so it accurately shows your whole reading journey. But also, it’s kind of old. No tea, no shade, but shouldn’t there be a more comprehensive app for readers to catalog their books on by now? It seems like Goodreads hasn’t updated its algorithm since Rihanna was still regularly releasing music…
Well, back in 2020, Nadia Odunayo got fed up. A tech entrepreneur who was inspired by her own frustrations with Goodreads started Storygraph: a Black, independently-owned alternative to Goodreads, the latter of which has been owned by Amazon since 2013. Storygraph quickly built up a cult-following of “OG” bookworms and now, #BookTok is catching up.
Whether you’ve been a loyal Storygraph user since COVID-19 hit or scrolling on Goodreads for nearly two decades, it doesn’t hurt to compare the two products to find which is best for yourself. As a certified book nerd since my middle school days, I can say I’ve used both Goodreads and Storygraph. Each has their own pros and cons. Let’s break it down.
The Aesthetics
Both Goodreads and Storygraph have a nice, minimalist aesthetic. Goodreads is branded with earthy tones and gives off the light academia vibe that readers who enjoyed Emma by Jane Austen or Little Women by Louisa May Alcott will die for. Storygraph has relaxed blues and dark greens on their chic user-interface. More technically advanced, Storygraph is the winner for modern users. But, you can’t knock a classic design like Goodreads’.
The Features
There’s overlap between both platforms since they have the same purpose in mind, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t unique features that come with each app.
Goodreads
- Custom tags and lists
- Reading challenges
- Book Clubs
- Giveaways
- Ask the author submissions
- Submit questions to any author, anytime, and there’s a chance they’ll answer you via their Goodreads account.
- Spotify Wrapped, but make it book-ish
- Kindle notes and highlights
- Since Goodreads is owned by Amazon, Kindle Unlimited readers can sync their annotations from their Kindle to their Goodreads account.
Storygraph
- Custom tags and lists
- Reading challenges
- Book Clubs
- Content warnings
- Half and quarter stars for the book rating system
- Built-in “DNF” and “Owned” tags
- The pain of DNF-ing a book. (It means “Did Not Finish,” for those who haven’t heard the phrase.) There isn’t an option for this on Goodreads, so if you get bored of a book, figuring out how to categorize it can be hard.
- “Up Next” Queue
- Sometimes trying to decide on your next read can be hard. With Storygraph, you can queue up to five books you want to read in a specific order.
The Recommendations
Now, onto the big difference: how their recommendation algorithms work. According to Book Riot, Goodreads is programmed to recommend the most popular books to users — bestsellers or trending authors. Storygraph is programmed to recommend books based on user preference — meaning the books aren’t necessarily bestsellers or widely-read. A major pro Storygraph users find with this algorithm is that it’s much more inclusive of authors of color, women, and other marginalized groups.
Hop on whichever site seems to suit you more and start working on that 2023 reading goal. Don’t let #BookTok or white noise get in between you and your ideal tracker. Besides, the actual stories you read are what matter most. We know all the cool girls are reading books these days. (Yes, even Taylor Swift.)