22 Best Websites to Read Free Books Online

Here are 22 websites where you can read books online for free!

Reading is a fun and adventurous way to pass the time and gain something valuable in return.

However, sometimes reading can also be an expensive hobby to maintain, especially with the rising prices of almost everything due to today’s inflation. And as much as I would love to support authors financially by buying every single book I read, my bank account won’t let me.

So, if you are like me and still want to continue this lavish lifestyle as a book lover without breaking the bank, then free online books are the way to go, my friend.

That’s why I decided to hunt down 22 best places you can read books online for free. I have tried a few of these websites myself, so I can testify that they are actually worth taking a look at. Keep reading to find out more.

This post is a little long, so in case you would like to skim through it quickly, here is a table of contents specially made for you.

Table of Contents

Project Gutenberg

Created in 1971, Project Gutenberg is a non-profit organization that provides free books to the public in order to “encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks.”

Today, the website has over 70,000 free ebooks available in its online library.

You can easily start reading books on Project Gutenberg, and you don’t even have to register. You can decide to either read it online or download the ebook for free on your phone.

Although the books are a bit old, but you can find classics such as Romeo and Juliet, which are still worth reading today.

I mean, I read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen for the first time in 2020, and I loved the book so much. It remains one of my favorite books till date.

Google Books

Google Books is owned by Google, obviously. The website is also an amazing place to read books online for free.

You can easily find the book you would like to read by simply typing the book’s title in the search box.

Although some books are not free due to copyright issues, there are still tons of free books to you can get on the website. You can also download the Google Books app on Google Play.

Smashwords

Smashwords is one of my favorite places to read and download books for free online.

There are many paid books on there as well, and it’s very easy to filter out the free ebooks to read. All you have to do is click on the search box for the genre of book you are looking for and click on the “free” option just below the search box.

I have found some really good books for free and others at a cheap price on Smashwords. You can also decide what type of format you would like to receive the book in. It could be in epub or pdf format. Personally, I prefer to download the book in epub format.

Please note that you will need to create a free account before you can buy or download any ebook, which shouldn’t be a problem as it’s an easy registration process.

ManyBooks

Manybooks is an online library with over 50,000 books to read for free.

The website has a large assortment of new and classic books that are just waiting to be explored.

The best part about the website is that all the books are compatible with most e-reader formats.

So, whether you like to read your book in Mobi, epub, or pdf format, you still have plenty of options to choose from.

Internet Archive

Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library that offers free universal access to books, movies, music, software, websites, and more.

It also hosts the Wayback Machine, a tool that allows you to see how web pages looked in the past, which I found to be pretty cool.

Open Library

The purpose of the Open Library is to build a web page for every book that has ever been published.

This website’s collection has over 1 million volumes, making it the ideal destination to read free books online.

Use the search bar if you’re looking for a certain book to read. Make sure the “Ebooks” box is ticked when you obtain your results so that the results only show you free books to read.

Bookboon

Bookboon is a free website that helps students, professionals, and everyone else gain high-quality ebooks or textbooks for free.

The website has over 200 users that get access to leadership books, personal productivity books, and basically any book for professional and personal development.

Also, Bookboon provides students with free academic textbooks written by professors from the world’s top universities, covering various subjects ranging from Engineering and IT to Economics and Business.

There are a lot of free audiobooks options to choose from as well.

Epub.pub

Epub.pub is one of the most well-known independent ebook distributors in the world and another one of my favorite places to read books online for free.

On this website, you can obtain free ebooks in any genre you fancy. The majority of books are read online, but with a nominal donation, you can download the book in either epub or pdf format.

Wattpad

You know we can’t make a post on the best websites to read books online without mentioning Wattpad, the king of online stories.

Wattpad is a well-known website where readers have a great selection of books to read.

It’s also a great place for writers to get free exposure for their work. There are so many successful books that started from Wattpad and were transformed into movies. Books such as Kissing Booth and After first appeared on Wattpad before gaining worldwide success.

If you’re new to Wattpad and would like some book recommendations, you can check out some of my favorite books on the website here.

BookRix

BookRix, like Wattpad, is a free self-publishing service that offers eBook distribution alternatives to independent authors.

In one convenient spot, writers and readers may share their work, connect with other readers, and learn about new books and authors.

ReadAnyBook

ReadAnyBook is one of the best e-library sites for reading books online for free.

With over 500,000 free books to choose from, book lovers are in for a treat with this digital library.

ReadAnyBook has an online reader where readers can get started on reading right away—well, right after they sign up.

Free-eBooks.net

Free-ebooks.net is another cool website to read books online for free.

On this website, readers are offered a great selection of ebooks in hundreds of categories, including fiction and non-fiction.

Once you sign up on the website, you will be able to download five free books every month.

Freebooksy

Freebooksy allows you to discover free eBooks in your favorite genre, regardless of your budget.

The first thing you will need to do on the website is subscribe to their newsletter.

After that, you will receive various ebook options, both free and paid at a cheap rate, in your inbox every day. Easy Brezzy!

All Books World

Another website where many people can read books for free is All Books World. It is well known for providing readers with free books for the rest of their lives.

Popular book series, personal growth books, and romantic novels are all available to read.

Despite the fact that the website does not have a large number of genres to choose from, it is still a good place to go for a short read.

Ebookhunter.net

EbookHunter is a service that allows users to download free ebooks in a variety of genres, including romance, lgbtq fiction, fantasy, and more.

The site makes it easy for readers to not only read online but also download some free books to read at leisure.

Bookbub

BookBub offers a free service that helps readers discover new books and authors.

The website includes new book suggestions, author updates, and book-related articles, as well as free and cheap ebooks that come in most e-reader formats.

Riveted by Simon Teen

Riveted by Simon Teen is an online community for anyone who loves young adult fiction.

You can read full-length books online for free and enjoy exclusive and exciting deals on young adult novels on the website.

You also get the chance to win new and upcoming releases! Although, keep in mind, you will have to register an account in order to gain access to their free books.

AuthorsXP

AuthorsXP is another one of my favorite websites to download and read books online for free.

In exchange for a review on any platform of your choice, you will be able to download the books for free. Your review doesn’t have to be long or anything too fancy. Just giving meaningful feedback on the book is good enough.

The website also offers book deals, giveaways, and other opportunities to work with authors through its typo killer and beta reader opportunities.

Authorama

Authorama is a website that offers a good selection of free books from a variety of authors, both current and classic.

They’re organized alphabetically by the author’s last name, which means the books are easy to find.

Most books here are featured in English, but there are quite a few German-language texts as well.

The website has a large selection of completely free books that have been collected from different authors and brought to you to read for free.

The Online book page

The Online Book Page is a free website that contains many historical and academia books.

While it’s nothing too fancy, I still believe the website can be used for research purpose and/or academic work.

International Children’s Digital Library

The International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL) is a free online library that displays children’s books in over 59 languages.

The goal of the ICDL Foundation is to collect children’s literature from as many world languages as possible and make it available to as many children as possible.

The website has its own online reader, so you can start reading books immediately without having to register.

Bookyards

Bookyards has over 24,000 free ebooks available to choose from, ranging from educational materials to fiction novels.

There is something for everyone to read in this free online library.

And that’s it for this post. If you know of any other websites that weren’t mentioned in this post, feel free to mention them in the comments.

Till next time.

Happy reading!

Rave About Books