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Open Library Review

Worth it

Should I use Open Library?

It looks like you're offline. - openlibrary.org

· 1 month ago

Use it if you want free books, a reading log, or open book metadata — it costs nothing. Skip it if you need reliability, support, or instant access to new bestsellers.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources; user-review depth is thin and mostly Reddit/Hacker News discussion.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Readers on a zero budget
  • Casual reading tracking
  • Developers needing free book metadata
  • Hunting out-of-print books

Not for

  • Anyone needing uptime guarantees or support
  • Privacy-sensitive users wary after the 2024 breach
  • Publishers and authors opposing digital lending
  • Guess: readers who want new bestsellers instantly

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

October 2024 Internet Archive breach; rotate any reused passwords.

medium

Donation-funded means no SLA — DDoS attacks took the site fully offline.

medium

Legal grey area: Authors Guild and publishers contest the lending model.

medium

Controlled lending means limited digital copies for popular titles.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Entire catalog, borrowing, and reading log cost nothing
  • Free open API for book metadata
  • Ambitious catalog: one webpage for every book
  • iOS and Android apps to track reading
  • Backed by the Internet Archive nonprofit

Cons

  • Internet Archive breached and DDoSed in October 2024
  • Two public CVEs disclosed in 2022
  • Authors Guild argues its lending violates copyright
  • Borrow-based model, not unlimited downloads

Sources & method

- 10 sources - Two 2022 CVEs and an October 2024 Internet Archive breach that took sites offline; incident disclosed on the project blog.

official x3review x3security x2news x2
  • CVE-2022-23081, Vulnerability in Open Library deployments from 2016 through early 2022.
  • CVE-2022-32159, Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Open Library.
  • October 2024 breach and DDoS, Internet Archive sites, including Open Library, went down after a data breach and DDoS attacks.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Everything is free, forever
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Clean catalog UI, but availability suffers
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Big catalog, API, apps; borrowing is limited
  • Support quality: 2/5. Volunteer-run community, no SLA
  • Security posture: 1/5. Two CVEs plus a 2024 breach
  • $0 Price Donation-funded nonprofit; no paid tier
  • 2 Public CVEs Both disclosed in 2022
  • Breach + DDoS 2024 incident Internet Archive sites went offline
  • Internet Archive Operator Nonprofit; Brewster Kahle cofounded

Pricing

Free

$0

  • Full catalog and digital borrowing
  • Reading log plus iOS/Android apps
  • Open metadata API

Security

Two 2022 CVEs and an October 2024 Internet Archive breach that took sites offline; incident disclosed on the project blog.

  • CVE-2022-23081Vulnerability in Open Library deployments from 2016 through early 2022.⁷
  • CVE-2022-32159Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Open Library.⁸
  • October 2024 breach and DDoSInternet Archive sites, including Open Library, went down after a data breach and DDoS attacks.⁹

What users say

Redditors and Hacker News users value the free borrowing and clean catalog but repeatedly question its legality and uptime.

“Is openlibrary.org really legal?”
Reddit, r/books
“Openlibrary looks pretty”
Hacker News

Alternatives

Compare Open Library with each alternative.

  • Libby (OverDrive)

    Free, clearly legal ebooks through your library card.

  • Hoopla

    Library-card ebooks, audiobooks, and comics, no waitlists.

  • Project Gutenberg

    Free public-domain classics, no account needed.

Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources; user-review depth is thin and mostly Reddit/Hacker News discussion.

Free nonprofit book borrowing and catalog — great value, but a 2024 breach, downtime, and copyright fights are real.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources; user-review depth is thin and mostly Reddit/Hacker News discussion.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Welcome to Open Libraryopenlibrary.org
    official
  2. Open Library APIsopenlibrary.org
    official
  3. Open Library - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
    official
  4. Is openlibrary.org really legal? - Redditreddit.com
    review
  5. Open Library discussion - Hacker Newsnews.ycombinator.com
    review
  6. Open Library Reader - App Storeapps.apple.com
    review
  7. CVE-2022-23081 - NVDnvd.nist.gov
    security
  8. CVE-2022-32159 XSS - dbugsdbugs.ptsecurity.com
    security
  9. Internet Archive Sites Down After Breach and DDoS Attackstechnadu.com
    news
  10. The Internet Archive's OpenLibrary project violates copyright - Authors Guild via TeleReadteleread.org
    news

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