Standard Ebooks
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 13 ebook libraries by recommenders
Free, 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.
Free, 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.
42 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 34
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 34 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 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
Well-formatted, polished editions
“Public domain catalogs are huge now. Standard Ebooks, Internet Archive, Gutenberg - tens of thousands of well-formatted free EPUBs.”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you” “I've used https://standardebooks.org/ to pull nicely formatted Project Gutenberg books on any e-reader”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better” “Standard Ebooks does a nice job of typesetting and proofreading”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “Cartographers have been hiding illustrations inside Switzerland’s maps (2020)” - Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Standard Ebooks: Public Domain Day 2026 in Literature”
- Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Standard Ebooks: Public Domain Day 2026 in Literature”
- Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: tale.fyi, we deserve a home for fiction”
- Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “The New Bibliomaniacs”
Free access to public domain classics
“For public domain books, I use Standard Ebooks, Project Gutenberg, and Internet Archive, generally in that order.”
Comment from 8 Apr 2026 in “Kindle to end store downloads and registering for 1st-5th gen kindles in May” “Most of the ebooks I've been reading lately are all public domain classics from Standard Ebooks.”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “Chopping up books when they're physically too big” “I loved when I found StandardEbooks.org and Gutenberg - all these classic books for free.”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: What did you find out or explore today?” - Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “A dumpster arrived behind my university's library”
- Comment from 24 Nov 2025 in “PS5 now costs less than 64GB of DDR5 memory. RAM jumps to $600 due to shortage”
- Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “The enshittification of Amazon paperback books”
- Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “KOReader”
- Comment from 29 Jul 2026 in “KOReader”
Consistent, standards-compliant EPUBs
“That will get you a decent standards-compliant file with basic accessibility features accounted for.”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “I Bypassed Adobe and Microsoft to Build a Git-Tracked Book Production Pipeline” “it is generally trivial to use their tooling to build your own high-quality ebook”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better” “Standard Ebooks takes consistency to an unbelievable level.”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better” - Comment from 23 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better”
- Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Your ePub Is Fine. Kobo Disagrees. Blame Adobe”
- Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better”
- Comment from 27 May 2026 in “I Bypassed Adobe and Microsoft to Build a Git-Tracked Book Production Pipeline”
Polishes Project Gutenberg texts
“is excellent and my understanding is that they use Gutenberg books as a source for theirs but done up much nicer”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better” “I've used https://standardebooks.org/ to pull nicely formatted Project Gutenberg books on any e-reader”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better” “They take the text from Gutenberg and add a level of polish to the ePubs.”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Editorial changes alter original texts
“they do edit the books to make changes for readability”
Comment from 28 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: DRM-Free Books” “Many of the changes are unjustified IMO, and often detract from the charm of the original”
Comment from 21 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better” “it was non-trivial because the editorial changes are mixed with the technical changes”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better” - Comment from 16 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better”
Harsh dismissals of its quality
“SE sounds truly, truly awful. Thanks for making me aware of its existence so I can avoid it.”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better” “Why would I want books from people who have an aversion for doing things right?”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Standard Ebooks: Public Domain Day 2026 in Literature” “has a serious addiction to publishing dreck no one should waste time reading”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Has_not_been_viewed_much” - Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Standard Ebooks: Public Domain Day 2026 in Literature”
Other ebook libraries people recommend
The four most recommended other ebook libraries, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anna's Archive | 134 | 57 | 70% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Project Gutenberg | 76 | 8 | 90% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Standard EbooksThis page | 34 | 8 | 81% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Library Genesis | 15 | 2 | 88% | 7 | — | Approved |
| LibGen | 12 | 2 | 86% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 48 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Most of the ebooks I've been reading lately are all public domain classics from Standard Ebooks.”
“some nice free places like standardebooks.org”
“Standard Ebooks for high quality public domain books”
“The format is nice, I love standard ebooks”
“has a serious addiction to publishing dreck no one should waste time reading”
“they do edit the books to make changes for readability”
“publishers like Standard ebooks provide a kepub download”
“I have free and legal access to all the ebooks I could ever want from Standard Ebooks”
“amazingly formatted classics”
“I really wanted a Standard Ebooks compliant EPUB”
“That will get you a decent standards-compliant file with basic accessibility features accounted for.”
“discover the treasure troves of standardebooks.org”
“that guides producers through making the correct choices”
“Many of the changes are unjustified IMO, and often detract from the charm of the original”
“SE is an amazing and wonderful resource”
“it was non-trivial because the editorial changes are mixed with the technical changes”
“If you think something was done in error, please let us know and we'll be happy to fix it.”
“it is generally trivial to use their tooling to build your own high-quality ebook”
“SE sounds truly, truly awful. Thanks for making me aware of its existence so I can avoid it.”
“They modernise texts for American readers.”
“Both are valuable, but they serve different segments.”
“It splits the community and number of possible volunteer hours for one.”
“every book has an associated git repository (on GitHub)”
“Standard Ebooks takes consistency to an unbelievable level.”
“is excellent and my understanding is that they use Gutenberg books as a source for theirs but done up much nicer”
“They take the text from Gutenberg and add a level of polish to the ePubs.”
“standardebooks.org is great!”
“I've used https://standardebooks.org/ to pull nicely formatted Project Gutenberg books on any e-reader”
“Public domain catalogs are huge now. Standard Ebooks, Internet Archive, Gutenberg - tens of thousands of well-formatted free EPUBs.”
“For public domain books, I use Standard Ebooks, Project Gutenberg, and Internet Archive, generally in that order.”
“between that and Standard Ebooks I'm probably set for life”
“I loved when I found StandardEbooks.org and Gutenberg - all these classic books for free.”
“Needless to say, I'm greatly in your debt!”
“Why would I want books from people who have an aversion for doing things right?”
“Can Standard Ebooks finally stop the amateur hour crap?”
“Standard Ebooks produces exceptional quality documents”
“Apart from that, they produce nice editions.”
“that I wouldn't have otherwise if it weren't for this service.”
“Standard Ebooks does a nice job of typesetting and proofreading”
“go to the library or standardebooks.org, the entire Western canon is free”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.