Work · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Project Gutenberg

Free books that are completely legal

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Project Gutenberg launched in 2015; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   DevFreeBooks▲288

   A collection of free books for developers

   2016 · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Hackershelf▲15

   Collection of free books for the intellectually curious

   2015 · its alternatives →

3. 3
   Oyster Books (web client)▲92

   Introducing the Oyster Web Reader

   2014 · its alternatives →

4. 4
   OverDrive▲62

   eBook lending for free through public libraries

   2014 · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Bookshare▲56

   I'm giving away my books

   2014 · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Ginkgotree▲73

   A Tumblr for making your own textbooks

   2014 · its alternatives →

7. 7
   BitBooks▲78

   Build online books directly from Github

   2014 · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Getting Real▲234

   The smarter way to build web apps. A free book by 37signals.

   2015 · its alternatives →

9. 9
   CODY▲136

   Free library of HTML, CSS, & JS nuggets

   2014 · its alternatives →

10. 10
    reSRC▲53

    Free programming learning resources incl. 500 free books

    2014 · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Code▲76

    The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

    2016 · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Atomic Free▲190

    Learn to prototype for free

    2017 · its alternatives →

13. 13
    We Need Diverse Books▲87

    Advocating and supporting non-majority narratives

    2014 · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Dev Free Books▲4

    A huge collection of free books for developers.

    2015 · its alternatives →

15. 15
    The Unsplash Book▲107

    The world's first 'fully' open source book

    2015 · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Pressbooks▲108

    Create books: print and ebooks

    2015 · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Free Music Archive▲101

    Interactive library of high-quality, legal audio downloads

    2015 · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Buck Books▲76

    Never pay more than a buck for a book ever again

    2015 · its alternatives →

19. 19
    SE eBook▲152

    SE eBook

    2014 · its alternatives →

20. 20
    OpenSpritz▲73

    A free speed reading bookmarklet inspired by Spritz

    2014 · its alternatives →

21. 21
    The Book of Bad Arguments▲88

    Beautifully illustrated and free to read online!

    2014 · its alternatives →

22. 22
    bookmarq▲98

    Book suggestions from your friends and influencers

    2015 · its alternatives →

23. 23
    Pro Git, 2nd Edition▲83

    The entire Pro Git book

    2014 · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Oyster▲43

    Netflix for books

    2014 · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →