The StoryGraph (or simply StoryGraph) is a social book cataloging platform launched in 2019.
Design
The StoryGraph was created by software engineer Nadia Odunayo in 2019,
initially as a side-project for tracking books. Based on the comments of Goodreads users and other book readers, Odunayo focused on the implementation of systems on the platform for personalized book recommendations.
In comparison to Goodreads
The StoryGraph positions itself as "a fully-featured Amazon-free alternative to Goodreads".
Both sites allow readers to add books to their reading list, log and review books, and set reading challenges.
As compared to Goodreads, The StoryGraph focuses more on giving users access to their analytics, rather than on social interaction. For example, as of 2026, The StoryGraph users cannot comment on reviews, or like them.
The platform builds recommendations based on analyses of users' reading habits. Users also receive an evaluation of books they have read, broken down by mood, pace, length, genre, and rating, and can receive additional statistics for a monthly fee. Unlike Goodreads, The StoryGraph offers the option to give books half or quarter star ratings.
Goodreads is considered to hold a monopoly in the field, consequently limiting the growth of similar sites. Tom Critchlow, a data consultant based in the United Kingdom, argued that Amazon's ownership of Goodreads would continue to hinder alternative platforms, saying, "Amazon has showed no mercy when dealing with competitors before. If you were to compete, you would need significant scale. Again, you'd be dealing with Amazon directly."
Reception
Chris M. Arnone of
Book Riot commended The StoryGraph for not being affiliated with Amazon and for distancing itself from Amazon products, but criticized the platform for its lack of a strong social community, stating, "this is the most glaring place where The StoryGraph falls behind Goodreads. The community on Goodreads is huge, with multiple groups and social media connections to automatically add people you know in other spaces. The StoryGraph just doesn't have any of that. There are no API tie-ins to other social media platforms at this time. This not only means you can't import friends from
Facebook or
Twitter, but you can't directly post from The StoryGraph to those platforms. While this might be something they're working on, this lack of interaction hurt my review of The StoryGraph. The StoryGraph does provide the ability to search for similar users based on your reading preferences. That's as far as the community goes right now."
Mara Franzen, another writer for Book Riot, took a different view than her colleague, arguing, "I have been a die-hard Goodreads fan since 2016, but after spending time with Storygraph, I think I might make the switch. It's just so much more user-friendly, and I was recommended so many books that I'm actually interested in. I loved being able to see my reading data and was even surprised by it a bit."
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