Is Goodreads Free?

Online LearningSocial Media

By Corbin HartwickUpdated on February 21, 2018

One thing you may want to know before you start using Goodreads is: "is the website free to use?" The answer is "yes, for the most part." It costs you no money to do the following things on Goodreads:

  • Create an account
  • Rate and review books
  • Add books to your virtual bookshelves
  • Search for books
  • Read certain e-books
  • Join groups of people who enjoy certain types of books
  • Post a message in a discussion forum about a book or book-related issue
  • Do other fun things such as take quizzes, participate in giveaways, and sign up for newsletters

In fact, there are really only two things that you can do on Goodreads that will cost you money: purchase books and advertise.

Purchasing books on Goodreads

Goodreads doesn't sell books itself; instead, it directs people to retailer websites, where they can purchase books. Some books will have previews on Goodreads; if you like the preview, you can proceed to a retailer website and purchase the full book. Goodreads gets a cut of any sale made this way.

See our How to Read Books on Goodreads and How to Download Books from Goodreads tutorials for more information.

Advertising on Goodreads

If you're an author on Goodreads, you can place advertisements on the website to promote your book. It's a cost-per-mention system, so the more people who click your link, the more you have to pay.

For more information on advertising with Goodreads, click this link.


Anyway, that's a little bit of information on what's free or not free on Goodreads!