Recap:
I’m ditching Goodreads for reasons, so I tried a dozen other reading trackers, and ultimately, I found five fantastic alternatives to Goodreads.
Today, we’re talking about Pagebound!
Pagebound
You might be soulmates if:
🩷 You miss the forums of the early internet days.
🩷 Gamification motivates you.
🩷 You’re not too keen on AI.
🩷 Your ideal aesthetic is a Lisa Frank lunchbox.
Green Flags
Pagebound is a relatively new reading tracker, but it’s already making its mark and growing rapidly, which is particularly astounding when you discover that it’s run entirely by a team of just two women!
The app has a ton of personality, with whimsical colors and fonts, and highly creative features making for a fun experience distinct from any of the other reading trackers I explored. It’s thoughtfully designed and constantly releasing new updates and features.
Like several other trackers I reviewed, Pagebound offers half stars, giveaways, and reading streaks. (Much to my delight, I was able to hide my reading streak tracker by adjusting my account preferences! THANK YOU. This screenshot was taken before I figured that out.)
Reading community is the goal of this app. To quote Pagebound’s creators, it’s like “if Goodreads and Reddit had a baby.” Each book has its own forum, with posts labeled by what percentage into the book the poster was to avoid spoilers. They host seasonal, community readalongs and intentionally hide follower counts to prioritize community over clout.
And I LOVE this app’s anti-AI stance. The developers’ refusal to use AI in any aspect of the app, including reading recommendations, also separates Pagebound from the pack. Instead, reading recommendations are supplied by user ratings and lists, as well a focus on building a thriving reading community. Their unique review and rating options include book subratings (enjoyment, quality, characters, plot) and the option to sum up a book with emojis.
Quests are reading challenges with user-curated titles. Not only do these serve as a way to match readers with books, but they also incentivize reading. From my brief perusal, many of the dozens of available Quests showcase diverse representation and a good mix of popular and lesser-known titles. You can earn different badges (which appear on your profile) for various tiers of completion of Quests and the seasonal readalongs. You can also earn points (which will eventually unlock other avatars) with various interactions on the app.
You have advanced shelf control over your library, with DNF and Paused shelves, the ability to track which books you own, and quick dropdowns to change your ratings and reading status. There’s an Interested shelf in addition to your TBR shelf, and I genuinely don’t understand the difference there, but maybe someone reading this will appreciate it.
If you’re always busy and booked like me (pun absolutely intended), you’ll appreciate the Plan tab, which allows you to map out when you plan to read certain titles by year and/or month. I’ve been using custom yearly TBR shelves or tags for a few years now to track what I aim to read in a given calendar year, but I like this approach. It reminds me a bit of StoryGraph’s Up Next queue, but this takes it to another level.
I’m definitely a mood reader, so committing to reading a book in a given month is hit or miss for me, but it’s easy enough to edit your plan and move books around as needed. (My mood reading tendency is also the reason I usually have something like 3-7 books I’m currently working through. I hop between them depending on how I feel or how well I can focus.)
Like the other reading tracker apps I’ve been recommending, Pagebound allows you to import your library from Goodreads. They also support imports from StoryGraph. My Goodreads import was VERY fast. I lost 6 books, which is on par for most of the trackers I’ve tried to import to (so probably reflective of an issue with my Goodreads library or more obscure books).
The paid version (Royalty) not too exclusive. In other words, the free version doesn’t feel like a joke (AHEM, BOOKLY). Pagebound Royalty get first access to future perks, priority support, more badges, and the opportunity to request and vote on future features.
Beige Flags
Pagebound offers limited reading stats. As far as I can tell, the stats tab on your profile just shows badges you earn and your yearly reading challenge status. That said, this is intentional. Pagebound’s About Us page explains, “While we also have the basics of book tracking and library organization, we are not primarily a tool for reading stats…We think those needs are already well provided for elsewhere.” Reading discussions and community are their priority, not stats.
The color scheme is fun and distinct, but for me, a tad overstimulating at times. Yes, I’ve entered my boring neutral millennial era. I love these colors, but I’m just so visually/mentally/emotionally/fill-in-the-blank exhausted right now. (Shout out to parenthood and years of unprecedented terrors for making fun colors feel suffocating sometimes!)
As an introvert with a peopley job and busy small children, and as someone who already spends too much time on social media, I generally prefer to ignore the social aspects of reading trackers. I would like to adjust the settings of the Pagebound home screen to show just my book lists rather than a social feed. That brings me to my final beige flag: Only paid subscribers can submit and vote on feature/update requests. So I can’t request this customization option.
These are truly beige flags. If Pagebound keeps doing the cool things they’re doing (and maybe add some display customization options for the overstimulated introverts?), they’ll have a bestseller on their hands.
Is Pagebound the One?
I initially thought Pagebound would be my favorite reading tracker at the end of this journey. They got my first impression rose, if you will. Pagebound is a trailblazer in the world of reading tracker apps, particularly with its anti-AI stance, and I truly love what they’re doing. I just can’t ignore how chronically overstimulated I feel lately and I don’t want to knowingly add to that. (My ADHD brain seeks stimulation constantly, but I’m learning through trial and error that not all sources are equally helpful or soothing for me.) I have to respect and protect my unique brain, especially as a mom and a public educator right now.
Considering my main qualms with this reading tracker are related to its bright color scheme and emphasis of a social news feed, and considering Pagebound’s goal is a vibrant (literally and socially) reading community, I don’t think we’re a fit right now. I’m the wrong audience for what they’re trying to do, even though I want to hop on the Pagebound train, and that’s okay too. This is another one I may try again someday in a different season. I’m deleting the app, but I’ll hang onto the account for later.
I think Pagebound is the perfect reading tracker for former Pizza Hut Book It participants, reader Redditors, and people seeking a happy reading community.
Join me tomorrow to examine the final reading tracker I recommend over Goodreads: Margins.
Disclaimer: I was not compensated by anyone for my opinions, nor am I affiliated with any of these reading trackers except as another reader/user. Information in this post is true to the best of my knowledge at the time of posting. If I have incorrect information, whether due to human error or an app update, please feel free to correct me in the comments!
paige in the library 