Amol B
How we ranked them
Four questions, in order: what can you do without paying, does the free tier have ads or a book cap, does it do the physical-book jobs (page capture, offline), and how much does the paid tier cost in a year. We did not rank on design taste, and we declare our bias: Pensovo is ours.
The seven, compared
| App | Free tier | Ads | Paid (US) | Standout | Weak spot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensovo | Unlimited books, streaks, calendar, notes, page capture, collections, sync | None | $5.99/mo, $49.99/yr (7-day free trial) for summaries and narration | Free tier is the whole tracker; on-device page capture | New; catalogue of summaries still growing; no widget yet |
| Bookmory | Unlimited, offline-first | Yes (can crash the app, per reviews) | $3.49/mo, $30.99/yr | Cover calendar, OCR quotes, 1M+ installs | Weak title search; unreliable Goodreads import |
| StoryGraph | Tracking, mood tags, stats | None | Plus $4.99/mo, $49.99/yr | Best stats in the category; not owned by Amazon | App is slow; light social layer; no widget |
| Bookly | 10 books | Full-page ads | $4.99/mo, $29.99/yr, $79.99 lifetime | Reading timer, gamified stats, shelf-photo bulk add | Stingy free tier; lost sessions after device transfer |
| Goodreads | Everything | Yes | Free | Largest catalogue, 150M members, Kindle integration | Dated UI, no dark mode, no half-stars, a feed |
| Hardcover | Tracking, lists | None | Supporter $4.99/mo | Open API, public roadmap | Android app is a web wrapper; crashes reported |
| Margins | Most tracking | None | $5.99/mo, $59.99/yr | Vibes search, focus timer, illustrated recaps | Android build is a September 2026 beta; priciest subscription |
1. Pensovo — best free tracker for paper-book readers
Everything you do with your own reading is free: unlimited books, a two-tap page log, streaks with a calendar, three shelves plus your own collections, notes and highlights, and photographing a page to keep the passage as text (recognition runs on the phone, so it works offline). Sync is free. There are no ads. The paid layer is a shelf of book summaries you can read or listen to, summaries of your own PDFs and streak saves for the day life got in the way — one a month free, five on Premium, never more than two in a row — you can ignore it entirely.
Honest gaps as of launch: no home-screen widget yet, and the catalogue of summaries is young. Goodreads and StoryGraph import (CSV) and dark mode both shipped in the launch build.
2. Bookmory — best offline reading journal
The largest Android community of the indie trackers, and deservedly: a calendar of covers by date, a session timer, a reading journal with OCR quote capture, and everything stored on the device. The two costs are ads on the free tier — which users report crashing the app — and a title search that misses exact matches more than it should.
3. StoryGraph — best for stats
Mood and pace tags, content warnings, charts that no other tracker matches, half and quarter stars, and a company that is proudly not owned by Amazon. Free for tracking; Plus at $4.99 a month adds deeper stats and features. The Android app is slower than the website and there is a light social layer (profiles, buddy reads), which some readers want and some do not.
4. Bookly — best timer, worst free tier
If you want a stopwatch-style reading session with infographics afterwards, Bookly does it best, and its shelf-photo bulk add is a clever trick. But the free tier stops at ten books, shows full-page ads on core actions, and the most common one-star review describes streaks and sessions lost after moving phones — even for paying users.
5. Goodreads — biggest, oldest, free
Still the largest catalogue and the largest network, and the Kindle integration is unmatched. The Android app is also the one every other tracker exists in reaction to: no dark mode, whole stars only, no way to log a reread or a DNF, and a feed with ads. The August 2025 redesign changed the logo more than the app.
6. Hardcover — most open
A public roadmap, an open API and a community that shapes the product. On Android it is largely a web wrapper, and reviews report crashes and login loops. Worth watching, not yet worth switching to on Android.
7. Margins — beautiful, new to Android, expensive
The iPhone favourite (4.9 stars, 19k ratings) arrived on Google Play in mid-September 2026 labelled an early beta. Vibes search ("thriller with a love triangle"), a focus timer that blocks other apps, and hand-illustrated monthly recaps are the reasons people pay $59.99 a year. Its most common complaint is missing books that take months to appear, and it has no page capture. Give the Android build a few months.
Which should you pick?
- You read paper books and want a streak — Pensovo.
- You want an offline journal and do not mind ads — Bookmory.
- You want charts and mood tags — StoryGraph.
- You want a stopwatch and infographics — Bookly, if you will pay.
- You want the biggest catalogue and your friends are there — Goodreads.
Common questions
What is the best free book tracker for Android?
Pensovo, if you want no ads and no book cap; StoryGraph, if you want stats; Bookmory, if you want an offline journal and can live with ads. Goodreads is free too, but dated.
Is there a Goodreads alternative for Android without a feed?
Yes. Pensovo and Bookmory both track privately with no social feed. StoryGraph has a light optional social layer.
Which Android book tracker works offline?
Bookmory is offline-first by design. Pensovo works signed out and its page capture runs on the device; sync happens when you sign in.
Is Margins available on Android?
Since mid-September 2026, as an early beta on Google Play. Expect rough edges for a few months.
Does Bookly have a book limit on the free tier?
Yes, ten books, plus full-page ads. Pro removes both at $4.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $79.99 lifetime.
Which Android tracker can photograph a page?
Pensovo and Bookmory both capture a passage from a photo and attach it to the book. Bookly photographs a shelf to add books in bulk, which is a different feature.
