In my last Bookish Considerations post, I shared about my experience with Goodreads, which I have been using to catalogue my books since 2012. (As a quick aside, thanks so much to those of you who friended me on Goodreads after that post!) At the end of my Goodreads musings, I mentioned that I am also an active user of The StoryGraph. Today, as promised, I’m continuing the series with a few thoughts on this lesser-known Goodreads alternative.
What’s the story on The StoryGraph?
I think that almost everyone in the bookish world has at least some familiarity with (and likely strong opinions on) Goodreads, but not as many people are regular users of The StoryGraph, so I’ll begin with a brief history. The site was started in 2019 by a London-based software engineer; the creator initially intended for The StoryGraph to be a companion app to Goodreads, but she quickly realized it was more likely to be a competitor. Unlike Goodreads, The StoryGraph is not affiliated with Amazon and has no tie-ins to any other social media platforms. The StoryGraph focuses more on the tracking aspects of book collecting, whereas Goodreads prioritizes social interactions around reading. While a number of people have made the jump from Goodreads to The StoryGraph (or, like me, are using both), it still has nowhere near Goodreads’ numbers: as of February 2025, The StoryGraph had 3.8 million users, compared with more than 150 million members on Goodreads. (I’d be curious to see data on active users; I have a feeling those numbers would be closer.)
My Own Adoption of The StoryGraph
I joined The StoryGraph in the summer of 2021, after hearing many fellow book lovers rave about their experience with the new book tracking site. At the time, I imported all of my Goodreads shelves and reviews, which is meant to be done just once as an onboarding step. Since then, I’ve not kept up with my StoryGraph shelves (which The StoryGraph calls tags), so while some of my StoryGraph tags may resemble my Goodreads shelves, they are very outdated.
I use The StoryGraph a little differently than Goodreads. I record all of my current and completed reads on The StoryGraph, just as I do on Goodreads, and I share my full reviews on both platforms. But I do not maintain my TBR on The StoryGraph TBR (my TBR lives solely on Goodreads), and I do not keep up with any other specialized shelves/tags. I also do not follow the reviews of many friends on The StoryGraph, though this is mostly due to the nature of the app (more focused on books than community) and not an intentional choice. In fact, I would like to have more friends on The StoryGraph, and you are more than welcome to friend me (I’m @kendranicole28)!
Like Goodreads, The StoryGraph has a number of features that may appeal to others but that I have not personally used. I tend to ignore the Giveaways and book recommendations (though I like that these are customized to the user based on documented reading habits), and while I love that The StoryGraph makes it easy to read along with other readers through Read Alongs, Buddy Reads, and Book Clubs, I have very limited experience with these features.
What I Love
You might be wondering: if Goodreads and The StoryGraph have so much overlap, and if I’m not using a number of The StoryGraph’s exclusive features, why have I continued to stick with both platforms? The answer has everything to with book data. I REALLY love that The StoryGraph utilizes users’ book reviews to create a comprehensive profile for every book, with information on mood, book pacing, level of character development, and even whether or not characters are lovable. These are obviously subjective metrics, but they can provide a helpful barometer when determining whether or not a book will work for me, and it’s fun for me to see whether I agree with other readers’ reviews once I’ve read the book myself.
Content warnings are another useful feature of The StoryGraph. These are listed at the bottom of each book profile and can remain hidden if you would rather not see the warnings (and potentially have parts of a story spoiled). I don’t always view these, but if other book reviewers have mentioned a trigger warning, I might take a look at these before jumping into a book to check for any of my personal hangups/triggers (such as infidelity, abuse, or child loss); this information doesn’t necessarily rule out a book for me, but I do like to be prepared. I have found these warnings particularly useful when screening books to read aloud with my kids.
One of The StoryGraph’s biggest selling points is quarter- and half-star ratings. If you follow my book reviews, you know that I utilize a half-star system, and I HATE that I have to round my ratings up or down on Goodreads. The StoryGraph also has a built-in way to mark DNFs, which is another longstanding request of Goodreads users.
While the half-star ratings are tough to beat as The StoryGraph’s #1 feature, I would have to say that it’s StoryGraph’s Reading Stats that make this platform impossible for me to leave. The StoryGraph charts are a quick and easy way for me to gauge my current reading, thanks to graphs dedicated to various metrics from my books for any set time frame. Whether I’m curious which genres I’ve been reading most, or how this month’s page count stacks up to previous months, the graphs have the answer. (Because I’m a HUGE reading stats nerd, I have other reading trackers and spreadsheets that congregate that data for me, but when it comes to reading data, I can never have too much. Bring on ALL THE GRAPHS!)
Areas for Improvement
My biggest critique of The StoryGraph is the user interface. I know many find it to be more visually appealing than Goodreads, but I still feel that there’s plenty of room for improvement on that front. I don’t find the platform (website OR app) to be especially intuitive, and it can be difficult to search for book titles. Many of the books are missing data or have inaccurate information, which is frustrating—especially when it throws off my stats.
One of The StoryGraph’s aims is to offer a more customized reading experience, part of which involves offering a personalized (AI-generated) book preview that uses your own reading history to make predictions on whether or not a book is a good fit. This is a great idea, but my hangups around AI have kept me from relying on this feature and, when I have chosen to preview my personalized predictions, I’ve found them to be wildly inaccurate.
The StoryGraph’s biggest shortcoming is one I’ve already mentioned: it’s simply not a great social platform. This is partly due to the smaller community, and partly because the platform doesn’t make it easy to find or add friends. In general, I would say that The StoryGraph is great for solo readers but not ideal for those wanting to keep up with what their friends are reading.
My Future with The StoryGraph
With so much overlap between Goodreads and The StoryGraph, it may seem like overkill to keep up with both platforms. But they each have enough unique offerings that I can’t see myself abandoning either one: I stick with Goodreads because of my history with the platform and the social component, while The StoryGraph provides me with plenty of nerdy book data and scaffolds for helping me refine my reading selections. After having spent four years with The StoryGraph, my final verdict is that the platform is not a great replacement for Goodreads, but it is an excellent supplement, and I’m happy to be a (mostly) satisfied user of both.
Okay, my reading friends, I am SO EAGER to hear from you all on this one: are you a StoryGraph user? If so, what do you love about the site and what hasn’t worked well for you? Are there any special features I didn’t touch on here that I need to know about? And for those of you who have NOT given StoryGraph a try (or if you have tested it out and decided it wasn’t for you), I want to know why! Please share your thoughts, questions, opinions, etc. in the comments!
Ugh! I tried out SG for one year to compare with GR and I’m still there! You’re right about the graphs and half stars! So I’m doing both! I can’t quit either one. I’m following you on GR but not SG. Heading over to do that now!