For years, avid book lovers have congregated on Goodreads in search of good recommendations and a community that shares their passion for reading. Goodreads has remained a constant as the best place for avid readers. But is that still the case?

StoryGraph has targeted the same corner of the internet, looking to cater to the needs of passionate readers wanting to keep tabs on their habits and find new titles to consume.

Does StoryGraph measure up to Goodreads, or does it even surpass it? Let's take a look at both platforms and what they offer.

What Is Goodreads?

Goodreads landing page

Goodreads is a well-known and established website that houses a formidable database of books and book reviews. Since it's been around for so long, there are a lot of alternative sites and apps to Goodreads. Yet, it's still here.

The platform allows you to create a profile, curate your own library catalogs and reading lists, and add to the database by registering books. It lets you keep track of the titles you're reading and leave your thoughts and review at the end. You can also track what your friends are currently reading and see people's recommendations and what they agree is a 'good read.' It's like a social media platform made for book lovers.

What Is StoryGraph?

StoryGraph landing page

StoryGraph is an alternative to Goodreads. It's a platform where readers can look for new titles to consume, leave reviews and share recommendations. The website also allows its users to register books themselves. Since StoryGraph is relatively new to the scene, it doesn't house as extensive a catalog as Goodreads does, but it continues to grow.

What Does Goodreads Offer?

Upon its creation, Goodreads filled a void for avid readers. It became a place where you can share your thoughts on book titles and find the next best book to consume. When it comes to features, the platform offers what users now view as the standard.

Goodreads lets you track what friends and strangers consume. It also offers information on each book in its database, so you have a general idea of what it's about, who wrote it, whether it's a series or a standalone, and so on. You can check to see if a title that's grabbed your attention is a good fit for you or not by reading its annotation and browsing community reviews.

The platform also allows you to track what you have already read, are currently reading, or wish to read, helping you efficiently manage your library.

Goodreads categories

You get a Recommendation box on your homepage that keeps changing the more books you go through, read, and review. Another box that appears when you're viewing a title is the Readers also enjoyed box. If you're into young adult novels or mystery titles, it shows you a range of ones that other users agree are like the one you're considering, giving you more variety.

The platform allows you to create Shelves by tagging books in a category you deem fit for them, making the process of finding certain titles much easier in the future.

Goodreads shelves

You can also compare your books to other people's—a friend, a stranger, whoever you choose. The Compare Books feature shows you stats on how exactly two books overlap or differ through a Venn diagram. You can also see how the two of you rated the same books. Additionally, you can access a Book Compatibility Test to determine how similar your tastes are with that other person.

A pretty neat feature is the Year in Books summary you get at the end of each year. Goodreads provides you with statistics on everything you read in that time, and you're also able to access previous years and compare.

You can also set Annual Reading Challenges for yourself, which you can modify at any given point. You can set a goal to read a certain amount of books or one to read a set number of pages. If you read many short books, one would be more easily achievable, and if you like longer books, the other.

Goodreades Reading Challenge

Goodreads' reading challenges are self-imposed. You control them, so you can start them whenever you want, and they can be whatever you want. There are no repercussions if you fail and no rewards if you complete them, only your personal satisfaction.

What Does StoryGraph Offer?

StoryGraph officially went live on January 1st, 2021, and it quickly garnered lots of attention and praise.

StoryGraph shares the same premise as Goodreads. It was created as a place for book lovers, where they can track their reading, look at statistics, and find their next read based on mood, preference, reviews, and recommendations.

If you're not happy with Goodreads and don't want to leave all of your reading progress behind, StoryGraph has a solution. You can export all of your Goodreads data and import it to StoryGraph. That's the first thing you get asked upon creating a profile on the platform—whether you want to get your Goodreads data.

Storygraph and Goodreads data

StoryGraph's homepage displays a slew of categories, including Currently Reading, Just For You, From Your To-Read Pile, New On The StoryGraph, and From Books You Own. Everything you see on your homepage is designed to cater to you and your reading tastes.

As soon as you sign up, you get given a questionnaire. It asks about your preferences, genres and tropes you love and hate, what you'd rather and what you never want to consume. With the help of your answers, StoryGraph's algorithm selects the best recommendations for you.

The platform offers a Community page that presents you with books read, finished, and reviewed by people you follow. You can easily find your friends on the site and follow them to keep tabs on their experiences and recommendations. That's as close to a social media site as StoryGraph gets.

StoryGraph Community

You get a What You Like To Read feature that visualizes your preferences on a bunch of categories, like pace and mood of the book, fiction or non-fiction, and so on. You also get What You're Currently Reading, Books You've Read Recently, and Books You Own, among others.

Like with Goodreads, StoryGraph lets you create Reading Challenges. The entire site aims to help you with your reading experiences and sharing them with others.

While Goodreads has ads on its platform, StoryGraph is currently ad-free with no immediate plans to implement any in the future.

Goodreads vs. StoryGraph: Reviews

In terms of features, StoryGraph's reviews differ from Goodreads'.

A prominent difference is that on StoryGraph, you can review a title with half-star or quarter-star ratings, while on Goodreads, you can only give out full ones.

StoryGraph Review

Upon marking a title as read, StoryGraph allows you to write a review. While reviewing, you can answer a bunch of questions regarding the book itself (genres and pace), the characters (flawed, diversity, character development), and you have a section where you can share your thoughts.

The platform even provides you with an option to add content warnings/trigger warnings to your review, letting potential readers know what they can expect to come across in the book. StoryGraph allows you to leave a more complete review.

Goodreads Review

In comparison, Goodreads asks for a star rating, tags to indicate if you're reading, about to read, or have read the book, and you can add the time it took you to finish it. It leaves a field where you can share your thoughts on the title and gives you the option to hide certain things if you deem them as spoilers.

Goodreads vs. StoryGraph: DNF Function (Did Not Finish)

Not finishing a book isn't ideal, but it happens. When it happens on Goodreads, you can either mark it as read with a poor review or leave it to remain on your reading list and try to ignore it. Doing one feels like a lie, and doing the other leaves you facing your failure to finish a book. StoryGraph offers a third option.

StoryGraph DNF button

The StoryGraph platform has a "did not finish" option, giving you an easy way out of a book you dislike enough not to finish.

Goodreads vs. StoryGraph: App and Device Support

Book lovers use apps to both consume and share their thoughts on books, so having an app is important.

Goodreads offers an application for Android and iOS, with no app available for Windows Phone users.

StoryGraph offers what's called a Progressive Web App. It's not an app per se, but once you install it through your mobile browser, it's supposed to look and behave exactly like an app. StoryGraph provides instructions on installing the app on your iOS, Android, or any alternative device.

Goodreads vs. StoryGraph: Which Is the Better Platform?

Both Goodreads and StoryGraph are free platforms where it costs you nothing to create an account. They're easy to use, and the features they have are pretty self-explanatory.

The two platforms are fairly similar in their goals but differ in design. Since Goodreads is the older platform and it's been around for longer, its design can seem outdated, whereas the newer StoryGraph boasts a modern look.

What gives StoryGraph an edge over Goodreads is that it can work with its competitor's data. If you want to take all your Goodreads data and import it to StoryGraph, you can. The same does not apply in the reverse scenario.

Since the two platforms are so well-matched, it isn't easy to crown a clear winner. StoryGraph offers more detailed stats and reviews, while Goodreads is more sociable. Ultimately, it's up to your personal preferences which one is the better platform for you.

No matter which platform you choose, what's important is reading. Whether you consume books or ebooks, keep reading.