15 websites where you can download books for free

Printed books can be expensive, which makes it unsurprising why e-books are growing in popularity. If you’re a thrifty student who is looking for platforms to download books — from fiction to non-fiction — for free , we’ve got you covered.

Whether you’re an avid reader or just need to save a couple of hundred bucks on that expensive college textbook, here are 15 websites where you can get all that you’re looking for and download books for free.

Printed books are slowly being replaced by e-books, especially since some can be downloaded for free. Source: Fred Tanneau/AFP

Platforms where you can download books for free

PDF Books World

Its website notes that PDF Books World library is a high-quality resource for free PDF books.

You can expect to find books that are not just simple PDF files but professionally created editions with features including legible font sizes and more.

Planet ebook

Classic literature fans can head on over to Planet ebook, which only publishes PDF versions of selected readings. Its website notes that they offer mobile-friendly designs and multi-format e-books.

LibriVox

Audiobooks, anyone? LibriVox audiobooks are free, enabling you to listen on your computer or other mobile devices.

Free-eBooks.net

On Free-eBooks.net, you can discover thousands of books categorised into sections like academic, fiction, children’s books, and even textbooks.

eBookLobby

Perhaps the best place to look when it comes to non-fiction, eBookLobby offers adults books on health and wellness, art, and cooking, among others.

OnlineProgrammingBooks

For those in the IT field or are just starting out, OnlineProgrammingBooks compiles online books related to programming, computer science, software engineering, web design, mobile app development, networking, databases, information technology, AI, graphics and computer hardware already provided by publishers or authors on their websites legally.

ManyBooks

With more than 50,000 books on the site for free, ManyBooks lives up to its name of being the “friendly neighbourhood library”.

Visitors looking at e-books for children at the 64th Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, on October 10, 2012. Source: Daniel Roland/AFP

OpenCulture

OpenCulture is a platform where you can get e-books, online courses, online certificate programmes, audiobooks, podcasts, textbooks, language lessons and more for free.

KnowFree

On KnowFree, you can find quality resources related to professional and technical research, white papers, case studies, magazines, and e-books. This makes it perfect for working professionals, as resources are divided by the field they belong to, such as Human Resources or Management.

GetFreeEbooks

GetFreeEbooks isn’t just where you download books for free. Here, you’ll find informative videos on what to read, how to read, and even how to write. What makes this website stand out is that it suggests novels one should read based on the genre they have chosen. 

Free Computer Books

This IT-based website lets you download books for free.

O’Reilly

O’Reilly partnered with Creative Commons and Internet Archive to bring open books to readers. Free of charge, books with various forms of “open” copyright are made available to those who want to download them for free.

Internet Archive

The next website where you can download books for free is the Internet Archive. It is a non-profit library filled with millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.

Open Library

Open Library started out as an online project designed to preserve interesting websites, e-books, and other digital assets.

Its founders wanted to “create a web page for every book ever published”. Today, users can “borrow” and read millions of e-books for free. All you need to do is to sign up for an account and browse the Open Library. You can even add new books to its collection.

Project Gutenberg

One of the most well-known sites where you can download books for free, Project Gutenberg houses over 60,000 free e-books for readers to choose from.