The 8 best apps for reading books for free, ranked

There are two things I love in this world: interpreting written symbols with my eyes to understand abstract works of fiction, and free stuff. And you’re telling me there are apps that let me combine my two great loves? Definitely.

Here are eight free apps for accessing books, sorted by library and actual freeness.

8. Kobo

Kobo is a free app with a wide selection of books, but – and I hate to say it – there are not many free Books in this app. Most of them are only available for purchase. I know we’re looking for ways to read books for free, but I can’t necessarily recommend any third-party apps that promise to give you free books forever, because that’s a way to get a computer virus.

But when it comes to free apps for reading booksthere are some really good ones, and Kobo is one of them. With over 6 million books on this app, the money you saved downloading for free must make you willing to buy something.

7. Barnes and Noble

I ride for you, Barnes and Noble. How could I not? I remember sitting on the floor in your stores, skimming comics and then stuffing myself with pastries from your cafes. Did your competitor Amazon ever give me that? No, it didn’t. The books in Barnes and Noble’s book app aren’t free, but the hazy feeling of nostalgia that hits you when you pull up the free app certainly is. Combine that with a selection of millions of books, comics, manga, and audiobooks, and you have something that, while not free, is priceless.

6. Scribd

Scribd lets you read millions of books, magazine articles, and even sheet music for FREE. There is a 30-day time limit, though, so read fast. Really fast. After your 30-day free trial ends, you’ll have to pay for the books you read. But hey, is there a book you’ve been dying to read but don’t want to pay for? Get Scribd and read it in a month. Unless you’re trying to get through House of Leaves or something, you’ll probably be fine.

5. Kindle

For better or worse, Kindle has become the gold standard for reading books without having to touch dirty pages of the real world. It’s all clean digital stuff. And LOTS of it. Kindle has a HUGE library of books, millions. A veritable Library of Alexandria before the fire. What else did you expect as a subsidiary of Amazon? While many of these books are available for purchase, there are actually some free titles on Amazon too, you just have to look for them. And depending on what you want to read, the subscription-based Kindle Unlimited might be worth it too.

If you love free stuff as much as I do, I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.

4. Wattpad

If you’re into indie authors, Wattpad is for you. It’s home to thousands of writers who are just starting out and posting their work online. foh freeand all you have to do is download the app and read to your heart’s content. They have all the good genres. Sci-fi. Romance. Horror. Poetry. Plus, Wattpad has works in a number of languages, from English to French to Portuguese and more. What are you waiting for? You’ll never learn to be trilingual by just sitting there like a sweet potato.

3. Huge amounts of 50,000

If the name didn’t clue you in, Oodles has tons of books in the app that you can actually read for free. Granted, they’re all classic/public domain books. Anything in copyright will be really hard to find. But with over 50,000 titles to choose from, you’re sure to find SOMETHING that’s in the public domain and interests you. Jane Austen. Mark Twain. Charles Dickens. Just pick one and read it, even if just to brag at a party that you read it. A fairy tale about two citiesYou read the part that says, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” and that’s it, but nobody needs to know.

2. Libby

Do you know the BEST place to read for free? At your local library! You forgot, didn’t you? In the Internet age of instant convenience, I don’t want to GO OUT to find free books, I want the free books to come TO ME. But what if I told you there was a way to get to your local library without ever leaving your house? Sounds like a shortcut! Kwisatz Haderach! What is that? It’s not Paul Atreides. It’s Libby! Libby is an app that lets you connect to participating libraries around the world and read all the books (and audiobooks!) that are on their online shelves! Lovely!

1. Your Internet browser

Disclaimer: I am not asking you to commit the Internet crime of piracy. You can decide for yourself whether you want to raise the pirate flag before surfing the Internet. Like Pontius Pilate, I wash my hands of any responsibility. But I will tell you that there are tons of free books on the Internet! Project Gutenberg has a bajillion free e-books that are clearly in the public domain. Want to read hamlet? Beowulf? Paradise lost?Some weird and obscure stuff lost in the annals of history? Project Gutenberg probably has it. If you’re the mystical type, you can also visit the Sacred Texts website and read all the collected spiritual writings of all the major world religions (and all the cool apocrypha that didn’t make it into the dogmatic category). If you’re the fan faction type (with a penchant for smut), you can spend the rest of your life on Archive of Our Own reading about shagging your favorite characters.

There are sooooooo many public domain books on the internet. Want to read a classic? Just google it.