A Hardcover alternative for readers who'd rather keep it private
Hardcover is a newer social reading site, and many readers leaving Goodreads have gone there. If what you really wanted to leave was the social part, Volumes keeps your reading, your shelves and your quotes to yourself.
Hardcover is a social reading tracker with reviews, lists and a reading journal, which many readers leaving Goodreads have moved to. Volumes is private, and puts your reading beside the books you own.
Volumes and Hardcover, feature by feature
Feature
Volumes
Hardcover
No account needed
YesKept in your own iCloud
NoAccount needed
Not tracked across apps
Yes
Yes
No ads
Yes
YesFunded by supporters
Native Mac app
YesNative on iPhone, iPad and Mac
PartlyiPad app on Apple silicon Macs
Barcode scanning
YesOne book or a whole shelf
Not listed
Track who borrowed a book
YesPlus hand-over links
No
Record which shelf a book is on
Yes
No
Save your own quotes
YesPhotograph the page
YesIn its reading journal
Import from Goodreads
YesAlso StoryGraph, LibraryThing
YesAlso StoryGraph
Export your library
NoComing soon
Partly
No subscription or paid tier
YesEverything included
YesOptional supporter plan
Android or web
NoComing soon
YesAndroid and web
YesPartlyNoNot mentioned in their own listing or help pages
If you came to Hardcover from Goodreads or The StoryGraph, import that export into Volumes: it reads both as they are. Volumes also reads any spreadsheet with an ISBN column.
Open Settings in Volumes
Under the library title on iPhone, the gear on iPad, and ⌘, on a Mac.
Import from Another App
Tap Choose a File and pick the export. Or share the file to Volumes from Files or Mail.
Add to My Library
Check the count, then add. Volumes tells you what came in and anything it couldn't use.
Which is for you
An honest choice
Choose Hardcover if…
You want a social reading site with reviews, lists and friends, without Amazon.
You use Android or the web.
Choose Volumes if…
You want your reading private, with no profile or account.
You own a lot of physical books and want them catalogued, shelf by shelf.
You lend books and want to remember who has them.
You want a native Mac app.
Privacy and price
What it costs you
Hardcover
An account is needed. Its App Store privacy label lists only usage and diagnostics data, not linked to you.
Free, with an optional Supporter membership at $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year (US App Store prices).
Volumes
No account and no ads. Your library is kept in your own iCloud, and Volumes doesn’t track you across other apps or websites. The privacy policy sets out the little that leaves your device.
Free on the App Store, with no subscription.
Hardcover
Social, or private
Hardcover has reviews, lists, friends and a public profile, and is funded by supporters rather than ads.
Volumes leaves the social side out altogether. There's no profile and nothing public; what you read, what you own and what you think of it stays in your own iCloud.
Questions
Good to know
Can I import my Hardcover library?
If you have your original Goodreads or StoryGraph export, import that: Volumes reads both. Volumes also reads any spreadsheet with an ISBN column.
Can I get my books out of Volumes later?
A full library export is coming soon. Until then you can share any single book or quote, and your library lives in your own iCloud rather than on our servers.
What do I need to run Volumes?
An iPhone or iPad with iOS 26 or later, or a Mac with macOS 26 or later. Volumes is free on the App Store.
Everything else
Everything else in Volumes
Your reading, your shelves, your loans and your quotes, in one private app on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
