The best reading tracker apps for iPhone in 2026

A reading tracker app can do very different jobs. Some are social networks for books, some are quiet journals, some are timers with charts. Before you pick one, it helps to know which job you are hiring it for: finding books, talking about them, measuring your reading, or actually reading more. This list covers eight iPhone apps and says plainly who each one is best for.

We make ReadFirst, so we are not neutral. We checked every fact about the other apps on their App Store pages and websites on 20 October 2026.

Reading tracker apps compared

ReadFirst (our app)

ReadFirst is a reading tracker that also makes room for reading. You choose the apps and websites that eat your time, and Apple Screen Time keeps them locked until you read a page of a printed book and take a live photo of the last page you read. The page is checked on your iPhone and the photo is never saved. Your rule sets the trade, for example one page for 15 minutes in your apps, and the minutes only run while you use them. Read more than the rule asks and the extra minutes go into a bank for later that day. See read to unlock.

The tracker side covers a shelf of printed books (barcode, cover photo, title search or typed), a reading clock with Live Activity, a daily page goal, a streak with one grace day a month, a reading log, reading stats for week, month and year with share cards, Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets and 60 reading medals. Set the minutes to 0 and it runs in Track only. iCloud sync, no account, iPhone and iPad.

Best for: adults who read printed books and keep losing their reading time to their phone. Not for: e-books, audiobooks, reviews, recommendations or a social feed. There is no import from other apps.

Goodreads

Goodreads is the Amazon-owned book community that calls itself the world's largest site for readers and book recommendations. You keep shelves like Want to Read and Currently Reading, update your progress by page or percentage, set a yearly Reading Challenge and get a Year in Books recap. Friends, ratings, reviews and book club groups are the core. It is free on iPhone, iPad and the web.

Best for: finding books through reviews and following what friends read. Our Goodreads alternative page compares it with ReadFirst in detail.

The StoryGraph

The StoryGraph is a reading tracker built around charts and recommendations by mood and pace. It has annual goals for books, pages and listening, reading challenges, streaks, buddy reads, readalongs and book clubs, plus custom tags, quarter star ratings, content warnings, DNF tracking, Goodreads import and Kobo sync. It is free, with StoryGraph Plus at $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year.

Best for: data-minded readers who want to know what to read next. See The StoryGraph vs ReadFirst.

Bookly

Bookly is a reading timer and habit tracker. You time sessions, with ambient sounds if you like, and get stats on time, pages, reading speed and estimated finish. Monthly, yearly and finish-by goals, streaks, readathons, achievements, bookshelf and quote widgets, ISBN scan and Goodreads sync are included. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. It is free with a 7-day trial of Bookly Pro, which starts at $4.99 a month.

Best for: solo readers who love session stats. It has the closest feature overlap with ReadFirst's tracker. See Bookly vs ReadFirst.

Bookmory

Bookmory is a private reading log, journal and timer. It offers daily and yearly goals, stats by pages, time, authors, languages and tags, a timer on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, a daily or weekly streak, a calendar, CSV and Excel import and export to text, Markdown or Excel. Premium costs $3.49 a month or $30.99 a year.

Best for: readers who want a quiet journal with their data in their own hands. See Bookmory vs ReadFirst, which also compares Bookmory, Bookly and The StoryGraph.

Basmo

Basmo is a reading habit tracker and journal with an AI chat about the book you are reading. It has reading goals with a daily goal tracker, stats, a session scheduler and reminders, journaling with emotion tracking, voice notes, a quote designer and a page and highlight scanner. It syncs with Kindle and Notion and imports Kindle highlights. It is free with a 7-day free trial, and PRO costs $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. Its website links to the App Store and Google Play.

Best for: readers who want notes, quotes and AI help on top of habit tracking.

Fable

Fable is a social app for book clubs and TV clubs with reading tracking built in. You log daily progress by page or percent with reminders and streaks, see stats like top authors and longest streak, and add a streak widget to your Home Screen. Free book clubs, buddy reads and spoiler-free rooms are the heart of it, and you can buy e-books inside the app. It imports from Goodreads and Kindle. Fable Plus costs $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year.

Best for: reading along with online book clubs and discussing chapter by chapter.

Hardcover

Hardcover is an indie, social book catalog that presents itself as "built for readers, not algorithms". You keep lists and tags, write ratings and reviews, see what friends read, choose a public, private or friends-only profile, and set reading goals with stats. It runs on iPhone, iPad and the web and has a public API. It is free, with a Supporter plan at $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year.

Best for: readers leaving Goodreads who want a modern, independent catalog.

How to choose

Start with the job, not the feature list.

• You want to find and discuss books: Goodreads, The StoryGraph, Fable or Hardcover.
• You want to measure your reading: Bookly or The StoryGraph.
• You want a private journal: Bookmory or Basmo.
• You want to read more printed books and scroll less: ReadFirst. It is the only app here that locks other apps until you read.

Many readers combine two: a social app for discovery and a daily app for the habit.

How we compared

We read the US App Store page of every app on 20 October 2026, and the official website where it was reachable. Prices are the in-app purchase prices listed on the US App Store that day; where a store lists several prices for a plan, we name the headline price or write "from". Prices change and differ by country. We did not use ratings or user numbers to rank the apps, and the order after ReadFirst roughly follows the search interest we saw for each app.

We tried to name each app's real strengths and to be clear about what ReadFirst does not do.