The best ebook libraries, according to hackers
13 ebook libraries recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.
- Most recommendedAnna's Archive134 people recommend it
- Built to lastBookOrbitowners report a median of 0.17 years
- Least regretSourceLibrary11 recommend, 0 criticize
- Free and lovedProject Gutenberg76 people recommend it
All ebook libraries
- Anna's ArchiveA huge free, DRM-free archive of books and research papers that people praise for opening up and preserving knowledge, though critics dislike its paid memberships and messy duplicate listings.134recommend
- Project GutenbergA large free library of public-domain books, downloadable as EPUB and plain text and readable in any browser. Critics say many books have poor formatting and dated scanned images.76recommend
- Standard EbooksFree, carefully typeset and proofread EPUBs of public domain classics, with git-tracked source for every book. Common caveat: some critics dislike its editorial changes to the original texts.34recommend
- Library GenesisRecommended as a free source of books and textbooks, often DRM-free. The most common caveat is that Meta scraped it for AI training.15recommend
- LibGenFree shadow library of books and textbooks, valued for easy downloads and access to old and hard-to-find titles. Critics point to knockoff sites under the LibGen name stuffed with ads.12recommend
- SourceLibraryA free, open source collection of historical texts, including thousands of Renaissance books, with a research agent for answering questions about them. Some texts are machine translated.11recommend
- Open LibraryFree online library catalog with strong English coverage, and borrowing from its digital collection. Caveat: scans are often poor and non-English coverage has gaps.10recommend
- Z-LibraryRecommended for finding and reading books, with a Tor hidden service that is often the most reliable way in and mirrors of Sci-Hub; the search is weak and one critic says it is aggressive about monetizing.10recommend
- BookOrbitPeople recommend it for managing ebooks and syncing reading progress and annotations with KOReader, with data kept under the owner's control. Critics say it looks vibecoded.10recommend
- Perseus Digital LibraryFree online library of Greek and Latin texts, translations and tools, valued for its long track record and depth. Critics say it is incomplete and sometimes unreliable.9recommend
- The Cypherpunk LibraryA free, open-access library of cypherpunk books on a clean website. Critics note the hover animations slow Firefox and the site needs a clearer mission statement.7recommend
- BookLoreFree self-hosted ebook library people use as a Calibre replacement for its better UX and e-reader integration, though the most common caveat is that maintenance has stalled.6recommend
- SefariaFree library of Jewish texts with translations, commentary and cross-references, praised for making classical sources easy to read and connect.5recommend