Bookshelf
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 7 ebook reader apps by recommenders
Free ebook library that shows books by metadata instead of folders, so nesting doesn't matter. Fits self-hosted setups without cloud lock-in.
Free ebook library that shows books by metadata instead of folders, so nesting doesn't matter. Fits self-hosted setups without cloud lock-in.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 3 months
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Shows all books regardless of folder nesting
“that solved it: you can see all your books no matter how deeply nested they are”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “More Tailscale tricks for your jailbroken Kindle” “it does the job very well independently of your file structure and nesting”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “More Tailscale tricks for your jailbroken Kindle” Library view by author or series
“There are several plugins that give you a library view based on metadata instead of folders and filenames.”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Your ePub Is Fine. Kobo Disagrees. Blame Adobe” “Best UI for viewing my books by author/series/etc IMHO.”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “KOReader” “You can add a library view!”
Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “More Tailscale tricks for your jailbroken Kindle” Self-hosted with no cloud lock-in
“BookShelves app might be an option, with no cloud lock-in.”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you” “available from anywhere with limited infrastructure”
Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “Bookshelf – Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage”
Other ebook reader apps people recommend
The four most recommended other ebook reader apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOReader | 193 | 32 | 86% | 11 | 1 yr7 owners | Approved |
| BookshelfThis page | 15 | 5 | 75% | 6 | 3 mo3 owners | Approved |
| Apple Books | 10 | 29 | 26% | 6 | — | — |
| Kindle app | 9 | 12 | 43% | 6 | — | — |
| Librera Reader | 8 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
19 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“dismayed to see the bookshelf plugin archived with no mention of ongoing support”
“I can't imagine how you end up at "use Cloudflare proprietary offerings" and reconcile that with "self hosted"”
“available from anywhere with limited infrastructure”
“About five hundred dependencies (give or take).”
“way too laggy and unresponsive on my 2015 paperwhite”
“I find the UI confusing, going off in unexpected directions, and it's very unintuitive.”
“You can add a library view!”
“It has a very attractive and intuitive UI.”
“Best UI for viewing my books by author/series/etc IMHO.”
“install different plugin on KOreader and customize it in a way you like is fantastic”
“it does the job very well independently of your file structure and nesting”
“that solved it: you can see all your books no matter how deeply nested they are”
“But of course there is a plugin for that”
“There are several plugins that give you a library view based on metadata instead of folders and filenames.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, we now have slanted books”
“BookShelves app might be an option, with no cloud lock-in.”
“Native app, reads EPUB and comics, has Calibre wireless sync, and browses those public domain catalogs directly.”
“This bookshelf is perfect for the guy who wrote it and there isn't anything exactly like it out there.”
“the browser search functionality works in the bookshelf”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.