A New Challenger in Book Tracking
On Monday, June 29, 2026, the reading tracker StoryGraph teamed up with Rakuten’s Kobo, the maker of a more open eReader (and Kindle alternative), allowing book lovers to automatically track their reading habits. The integration was announced in May and is now live for all Kobo account-based content. This makes the Kobo the first eReader to integrate with StoryGraph’s book community platform, serving as another way to chip away at Amazon’s dominance in the digital books market.
How the Integration Works
The StoryGraph-Kobo partnership changes the landscape: it will now automatically sync a user’s reading progress with their StoryGraph account. When you finish a book on your Kobo eReader, it will automatically be marked as “Read” on StoryGraph, keeping your reading stats up-to-date. The feature works with both ebooks and audiobooks, and it works with any Kobo device and Kobo’s apps.
Deeper Analytics and Community
Book trackers like StoryGraph are popular because they offer an easy way for people to keep a record of their reading history, favorite books, and discover recommendations based on what others are reading. As StoryGraph’s name implies, its analytics tend to go deeper, offering readers detailed charts about their reading moods, pace, and more, to improve reading habits. It also offers an online community where you can participate in reading challenges and join book clubs, while staying motivated to read by earning “streaks.”
Background and Market Impact
Founded by Nadia Odunayo in 2019, StoryGraph began as a side project and didn’t take in outside funding. It has since evolved into a community of over 5 million readers. The Kobo integration will now put the app in front of the eReader maker’s 12 million users in 190 countries. Kobo and StoryGraph aren’t alone in capitalizing on the cultural revival of reading, driven by online communities like #booktok and reading apps. According to Pew Research, around three-in-ten U.S. adults (31%) reported reading an ebook in the past year, up from 17% in 2011.
Competitive Landscape
While many Goodreads competitors emerged over the years, few have been able to establish a solid footprint because they lacked the ability to integrate with customers’ e-reading devices, as Goodreads does with Kindle devices. The new Kobo-StoryGraph integration changes that. The startup Everand, which offers a marketplace for ebooks and audiobooks, also recently bought the digital book community app maker Fable — without the hardware. Possibly Kobo could be eyeing StoryGraph for its own M&A in the future?
Pricing and Availability
The new Kobo-StoryGraph integration doesn’t require a subscription, though the StoryGraph app does offer a $5 per month Plus subscription that adds deeper stats, filters, custom charts, and comparison tools.