Are you looking for places to download free ebooks? If so, then you’re in the right place! Books can be expensive (which is one of the biggest problems book lovers face), so it is wonderful when you are able to find ebooks for free!
There are actually lots of places to get free ebooks legally, so today we’re going to talk all about the best places to find and download free ebooks. These 15 sites are some of my favorite places to find free ebooks to read, so check them out and find some great new reads today!
Want to learn even more ways to get books without spending so much money? Check out my FREE guide on how to get print books, ebooks, and audiobooks for less!
1. Project Gutenberg
One of the first places you’ll want to check for free ebooks is Project Gutenberg. This is one of the best free ebook sites for classic books, so when you’re looking for free ebooks to download this should definitely be on your list to check!
This site offers downloads of over 60,000 free books in the public domain. Everything on here is free and legal, and you’ll find tons of free classic ebooks including a lot of the world’s best literature. But, of course, there are plenty of other fun and less well-known books to read as well! So whether you’re looking for Pride & Prejudice or odd little Sci-Fi short stories, Project Gutenberg’s free ebooks are certainly a treasure trove!
To find the books you’re looking for, you can use a basic keyword or author search or you can use their more advanced search form when needed. You can also discover books by browsing through the whole catalog or by taking a look at the 100 most-downloaded books from yesterday, from the past week, or from the past month.
This versatility in how to find books is refreshing, and another thing I love about Project Gutenberg is that they offer multiple formats for reading. So you can read their books online, download free epub books, download free Kindle ebooks, and more! This means you can read from your web browser, from your smartphone, from your computer, your tablet, your Kindle, etc. You have a lot of flexibility and can really read from any device you own.
So all in all, if you’re wondering where to download free ebooks then Project Gutenberg is the perfect first stop as you search for books to read!
2. OverDrive or Libby
Another of my top places to search for free ebooks is the OverDrive/Libby apps. To use these apps, you will need to have a library card since they work by syncing your device to your local library’s online lending system. But when you’re looking for free online library ebooks, this is definitely the place to go!
In both OverDrive and Libby, you can access and download any of the ebooks and audiobooks in your library’s collection. (Pro tip: if you have library cards from multiple libraries, enter all your card numbers so you can access a wider range of library catalogs!) All you need to do to get started with these apps is enter your library card number, and then you can start typing in a book title or author to see if your library has the book available to download.
Unfortunately, because this is a library lending system there are only a certain number of electronic “copies” of each ebook that they can lend out at one time. This means that if you’re looking for a super popular book (like free Harry Potter books to read) you may find that you have to place a hold and wait for someone else to return a copy before you can check it out. Your OverDrive/Libby account does allow you to place a lot of holds, though, so thinking ahead about what books you might want to read is a good idea. If you plan ahead, you will likely be able to have at least a few ebooks available whenever you want to read them!
But while you might have to wait anywhere from a day to a couple of weeks for the most popular books at your library, you will likely find that there are also plenty of fantastic books to explore that are immediately available for download. My OverDrive app is nearly always the first place I go when I’m looking for a free EPUB download of a book I want, so I highly recommend signing up and getting ebooks for free through your local library!
3. ManyBooks
ManyBooks calls itself your “Friendly Neighborhood Library,” and this is exactly what it is! When you’re searching for free ebook download sites, this is a great one to use if you want a clean and beautiful interface.
There are over 50,000 free ebooks in the ManyBooks library, and they span across a variety of genres. No matter what genre you’re interested in, you’ll definitely find some books in that category here! Their collection includes ebooks in the public domain as well as books from a variety of self-publishing authors, so there are some fun new works to discover as well as classics to read.
One of the things that sets ManyBooks apart and makes it one of the best free ebook download sites is its commitment to quality standards. Even the self-published books must meet these standards before they are uploaded to the site, which means there is less junk to sort through as you try to find a new book to read.
All the books on this site are free and most are available in a multitude of e-reader formats, so when you’re looking for a free ebook library you can’t go wrong with browsing the selection here. And who knows, you may even find a new favorite book or new favorite author!
4. Google Play Books
While not all of the titles on Google Play Books are free, there is quite a collection of free books that you can browse. You’ll find a large collection of classics from War and Peace to The Time Machine and beyond, as well as a rather large collection of who-knows-what from more modern books to other publications.
Unless I have a specific public domain book in mind to search for, I find that Google Play Books works best when not searching for specific ebooks for free online. Instead, it’s far better when you’re simply curious about what books might be out there and are open to anything you come across (fair warning: the books you find might be trash. Or they might be amazing! That’s just the risk you take 😉)
You can use the search bar to discover what is available, by searching the word “free” or searching more specific terms like “free classic ebooks,” “free fantasy ebooks,” or “free romance ebooks.” You can then scroll through whatever comes up and decide if there’s anything you think looks interesting.
You never know what you’ll find on here, but if you’re bored and just looking for some new possibilities to read then this is a fairly good place to get ebooks for free.
5. Kindle Unlimited Free Trial
If you haven’t used Kindle Unlimited before (or haven’t used it recently) then this is a great way to find even more ebooks to read for free. Kindle Unlimited is a cool subscription service by Amazon that allows you to read as many books as you want for free every month. You can learn all about this subscription service and how it works here.
But if you simply want to sign up and try it out yourself, you can sign up for a free 30 day trial to start reading unlimited books at no cost! Of course, it’s only free for 30 days (not forever), but that’s still a pretty good amount of time to be able to read as many books as you can fit into a month for free.
While this subscription service contains the Kindle name, you don’t actually need a Kindle device to use it. All you need is the free Amazon Kindle app installed on your smartphone, tablet, computer, etc. Once you have the app installed, you’re good to start your free trial and begin reading lots of books.
If you have 30 days where you’ll have a lot of free time to read, then that is an especially good time to use your Kindle Unlimited free trial. There are over one million titles available, so you’ll have lots of free ebooks to explore!
Already used your free trial? You can still get a great deal on Kindle Unlimited by getting a 1-month or 6-month Kindle Unlimited subscription!
6. Bookboon
While most of the sites on this list are for finding fiction books, novels, and the like, Bookboon is a little bit different. Rather than fiction books, they offer more educational and learning-focused books in the economics, engineering, business, and IT fields of study. If you’re looking to read entire books online free but want the books you read to help you learn a new skill, then Bookboon is the place to go!
This site is quite easy to use. All you have to do is create an account and you will immediately gain access to over 1,000 titles for students (or for those of us who are students at heart 🙂). From books on improving your English to books introducing you to the internet of things (IoT), you’ll be able to learn all sorts of new things when you spend time exploring these free ebooks for online reading.
But if you find you’re interested in discovering more books around the subject of businesses and working, Bookboon also offers a Business Books subscription service. While this is normally a paid plan, you can get a 30-day free trial of their business books if you want to check it out.
So while there are no fiction books or stories on this site, Bookboon still earns its place on this list of the best free ebook websites since it allows people to read free ebooks and gain new knowledge from them…which is an excellent and amazing thing!
7. Smashwords
As far as free EPUB sites go, another one you might be interested in is Smashwords. This site is somewhat similar to ManyBooks in that it offers a variety of indie and self-published books for you to explore and download for free. However, unlike ManyBooks, Smashwords does also list some books that you must pay to download.
But with over 70,000 titles on Smashwords for free, all you have to do is start browsing or narrow your search down by clicking a specific genre. And if you wish to avoid their paid books and see only the free ones, then you can check out their free ebooks page or simply make sure the filter is set to free at the top of each search page.
It’s unlikely you’ll recognize many of the authors on here, but this site makes it easy to see blurbs from the books and easy to see the ratings that other readers have given each book. With this helpful information, it’s likely you’ll be able to find a fun new read even if you don’t recognize the author!
8. Kobo
When you’re wondering where to get free ebooks, Kobo is another great place to go! This online bookstore does offer paid books, but they also have a lovely collection of free ebooks you can enjoy.
If you’re looking for their free ebooks, all you have to do is go to the Kobo free ebooks page and you can find books to download in a variety of genres. With both fiction and nonfiction titles, there will be something for everyone and you’ll likely find plenty to keep you entertained.
But also, if it’s your first time using Kobo, send me a quick note and I’ll send you a coupon code you can use to get $5 off your first book (on a purchase of $5.01 or more). This means you can get a book free or nearly for free, depending on the price of the book you are interested in. Since Kobo has tons of books from major publishers, you can easily get any modern book that you’ve been looking for!
So if you’re looking for free EPUB book downloads or want to get a specific book using the coupon code, Kobo is the perfect site to visit!
9. Feedbooks
Feedbooks is another example of EPUB download sites similar to Smashwords and ManyBooks. But unlike those two sites, the free ebooks available on Feedbooks are only free public domain titles and not original works.
While there are a lot of sites on this list that offer EPUB ebooks from the public domain, what makes Feedbooks still worth visiting is the high quality of the ebooks. The type and formatting is quite easy to read and the books are easy to download and start using, so if you are looking for a download of free ebooks in the public domain then this is definitely still a site you should check out!
10. Amazon Prime Reading
Did you know that if you have Amazon Prime you can read ebooks for free? This feature is called Amazon Prime Reading, and with it you have access to over 1,000 titles you can read for free!
You can learn more about how to use Prime Reading here, but essentially you can keep an eye out for titles that say they are eligible or you can click the box that reads “Prime Reading Eligible” in the left sidebar of search to filter results and find free ebooks.
If you are already paying for Prime, then using Amazon Prime free ebooks is a no-brainer way to get ebooks for free online reading. Unlike a Kindle Unlimited subscription, Prime Reading just comes automatically as one of your benefits when you subscribe to Prime. So if you have Prime, then go check it out now…or if you don’t, then start a free 30-day trial of Prime to get access to this cool and free library of Prime eligible books!
11. Nook
Looking for even more free ebooks for downloading? Barnes & Noble’s Nook Store offers a variety of free ebooks for Nook and other devices that you can enjoy.
Whether you’re looking for a book in a specific subject or want to explore a new series that you haven’t read before, Nook offers lots to choose from in an easily accessible EPUB format. So be sure to take your time on here and browse to see which ebooks you can find for free!
12. International Children’s Digital Library
Are you hoping to find free ebooks for kids? If so, then you should check out the International Children’s Digital Library. This library is an amazing free resource online with digitized children’s books from around the world.
The ebooks you’ll find on this site are written in 59+ different languages, so there is a lot to explore no matter what language you’re interested in. And you can find books in all lengths and reading levels here, so there is something for every age of kids and quite likely a lot that adults will enjoy as well.
The website’s design is a bit bright and much to look at, but the resources they provide make it worth using despite this. Plus, you can browse books through a variety of categories including by the age of your child, by book length, by cover color, or by thematic characteristics. It’s a fairly easy system to find good books to read!
The books on this site are great to read to children or fun for them to read on their own to keep them occupied, so be sure to start browsing to find children’s literature ebooks free for your child (or for yourself) to enjoy!
13. Open Library and Internet Archive
Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive and is one of the more popular free ebook download sites on the internet. Its goal is to create a web page for every book ever published, but it also offers scanned copies of over 1.7 million books that you can borrow for free.
While many of the books on here are public domain works, there are also lots of more modern books as well. These more modern books are offered through the Open Library’s “Book Sponsorship” program where patrons purchase a book to donate to be scanned and distributed for others to borrow. But like a normal local library, you will have to join a wait list if someone else has already checked out the book you want.
Over the last few years, however, Open Library’s methods for borrowing and book sponsorship have created quite a bit of controversy over possible copyright violations. While there doesn’t appear to be any law they are directly violating, they are definitely pushing the bounds of current copyright law. So before you decide to borrow any works still under copyright from the Open Library, you should consider for yourself whether doing so is in line with protecting and honoring the rights of authors and creators…or if you should instead stick to only downloading public domain books from here.
The books on this site are in scanned format to read online without downloading, or if you prefer you can install Adobe Digital Editions to download an encrypted EPUB or PDF file that will automatically disappear from your device after two weeks. (Note that the sync function on Adobe Digital Editions does not work well between devices, so you should download the book directly on the device you wish to read on).
While there is some controversy to consider when you download ebooks online from this site, the public domain ebooks here are certainly a good find and you’ll also discover that there is a read aloud feature with every book you download (which makes this an especially good site for the print disabled). So if you are looking for an out-of-print or rare book, or for something in the public domain, then this is one of the free ebook websites you should be sure to check out!
14. Amazon’s Always Free Kindle Books
Amazon gives one more option for ebook free downloads, and you can find it in their always-free ebook selection. This selection consists primarily of classic ebooks free to read, but if you dig around you might find some other cool offers for free or cheap. Amazon definitely is one of the best ebook download sites for quality and ease of reading, so it’s awesome when you can find something you like on here for free!
15. Free Book Promotion Sites
Last but not least, if you aren’t looking for anything in particular and would prefer someone else to do the work of finding good free ebook deals for you, then there are several sites that offer information on limited-time free and legal books for you to download.
If you want ongoing information on new free books then you can either bookmark these sites to visit regularly and see new deals…or you can sign up for email lists to get free book suggestions straight to your inbox. Whatever you decide to do, here are a few of the best sites to find awesome book offers put together by others:
- BookBub: Bookbub curates limited-time free books from across 20 genres (from both big publishers and excellent independent authors). Then they pass along this information to you with links to take you directly to the free books. It doesn’t get better than this!
- Freebooksy: If you want to get books for free, then Freebooksy is a good place to look. The books you’ll find here are usually free for only around 24-48 hours, so you really have to snatch them up quick when you see them.
- Reddit Free Ebooks: Reddit’s Free Ebooks subreddit is a place where people share about the free books they find across the internet. All links posted in this subreddit are supposed to take you to legally free books, so take a look and see what you find! It’s not very well organized for searching for a specific book, but who knows when you’ll find a gem as you browse?
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