Bookshop.org
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 6 online bookstores by recommenders
People recommend Bookshop.org as an ethical alternative to Amazon that shares profits with local bookstores and lets you filter ebooks by DRM-free status.
People recommend Bookshop.org as an ethical alternative to Amazon that shares profits with local bookstores and lets you filter ebooks by DRM-free status.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 7.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 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
Ethical alternative to Amazon
“bookshop.org is a good alternative to both Abe and Amazon, presenting a single shop front to lots of bookshops”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “The enshittification of Amazon paperback books” “care about quality (or about not having your money go to fund fascist billionaires)”
Comment from 15 Mar 2026 in “The enshittification of Amazon paperback books” “Why not just go to a better online seller?”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “The enshittification of Amazon paperback books” - Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “Think Weirder: The Year's Best SciFi Ideas”
Shares profits with local bookstores
“Bookshop allows you to configure your local bookshop to receive a cut of your purchases”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “What does Jeff Bezos think is going to happen?” “Bookshop.org will also pair with local book stores and share some profits.”
Comment from 15 Mar 2026 in “The enshittification of Amazon paperback books” “supporting a small bookstore in addition to the author”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Quill OS: An open-source OS for Kobo's eReaders” - Comment from 19 Dec 2025 in “Amazon will allow ePub and PDF downloads for DRM-free eBooks”
Filters ebooks by DRM
“Bookshop.org lets you filter by drm when you search.”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: DRM-Free Books” “The bookshop.org filter works nicely.”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: DRM-Free Books”
Other online bookstores people recommend
The four most recommended other online bookstores, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O'Reilly subscription | 24 | 16 | 60% | 4 | 11.75 yrs3 owners | — |
| Bookshop.orgThis page | 15 | 2 | 88% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Kobo Store | 11 | 3 | 79% | 5 | — | Approved |
| AbeBooks | 8 | 1 | 89% | 4 | — | — |
| ebooks.com | 6 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
13 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Buy books at Kobo or bookshop.org”
“Bookshop allows you to configure your local bookshop to receive a cut of your purchases”
“The bookshop.org filter works nicely.”
“Bookshop.org lets you filter by drm when you search.”
“bookshop.org is a good alternative to both Abe and Amazon, presenting a single shop front to lots of bookshops”
“Why not just go to a better online seller?”
“Bookshop.org will also pair with local book stores and share some profits.”
“care about quality (or about not having your money go to fund fascist billionaires)”
“none of them could directly link to the book search page”
“have completely switched over because of that feature”
“supporting a small bookstore in addition to the author”
“it’s said this for about a year now with no progress”
“somewhere more ethical, like Bookshop”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.