Moneymagpie Team
28th May 2025
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Despite the boom of BookTok, the literacy of children is plummeting and a recent survey revealed 40% of Britons haven’t read a book in the last year. Some of that may be due to access to books in the cost of living crisis – especially as, while libraries are amazing, not everyone can get to one locally with ease.
There are lots of places to get ebooks for free. This helps with avid readers saving money and is a great way to encourage your children to read more, as they can read on their chosen device. However, it’s a wild world out there and some people are out to scam you for your love of reading. Make sure you check out how to spot the legitimate free ebook websites and how to spot book pirates.
A List of Legitimate Free EBook Websites
Why Pirated eBooks are Bad for Everyone
Piracy Red Flags to Watch Out For
Why eBooks?
Readers recently reported that they are constantly distracted. In fact, the Reading Agency’s State of the Nation report revealed that an average 46% of people feel distracted when reading, rising to a huge 55% for those aged 16-44 years old. One of the main reasons cited for reading less is lack of time (24%), too.
Ebooks provide a great way to manage the distracted reading problem, as you can more easily access them on whichever device is easiest for you to regularly access, such as a phone or tablet. With some apps, they can also sync with either the equivalent audiobook (such as with Kindle Unlimited) or at least have a text-to-speech readaloud function. This means people can choose to continue reading their book by listening to it if they are unable to sit down and focus on the words.
Ebooks are versatile
EBooks also suit people for various reasons: you can adjust the font size, access from different devices, and use screen readers if you have a visual impairment. They don’t weigh anything to carry around with you, nor do they take up physical space at home – you can store thousands on your device!
EBooks are also useful because they’re cheaper, when they aren’t free. The cost of paperback books has risen in recent years, due to the ongoing rises in printing and publishing costs. What used to be around £6.99 regularly reaches £10 or more – and hardbacks are easily over £20. EBooks don’t have the printing costs behind them, which means they can be distributed at scale without any change in the production price. This makes them more affordable to sell – and cheaper.
But we’re here for free eBooks, right? Right!
A List of Places for Legitimate Free eBooks
There is never any good reason to pirate eBooks (more on that below). The biggest reason? It’s easy to get hold of free eBooks from a number of legitimate websites! Try these to build your eBook collection.
Hoopla, BorrowBox, and Libby
These are library-linked borrowing apps. So, even if you can’t get to your local library to borrow a physical book, you can still borrow eBooks entirely free. If they don’t have it, you can request it – just like with a physical book! Your library will let you know which linked app or apps they use – and you usually don’t need to visit the library in person to get your library card to get started, either. Check out Hoopla, BorrowBox, and Libby for more details.
Kindle Unlimited and Kobo Plus Free Trials
If you’re a new eBook reader, make the most of free trials. Kindle Unlimited is Amazon’s online bookstore, with hundreds of thousands of free books available to read via the Kindle app. You don’t need a Kindle device to read them. Sign up for a free month to try out the platform and read the titles that take your fancy – remember to cancel the trial before it ends if you want to avoid being charged the monthly £7.99 subscription price (which can be cancelled any time). The standard trial is thirty days, but keep an eye out as they often run deals up to three months’ free reading.
Kobo Plus is the leading competitor of Kindle. Again, you don’t need a Kobo e-reader to read their books. You can get the 30-day free trial just by signing up, and choose whether you want just eBooks (£8.99 a month), audiobooks only (£8.99 a month) or both (£11.99). This is significantly cheaper for avid combo-reader-listeners than other options such as Audible.
Prime Reading
We’ve already mentioned Kindle Unlimited, but did you know that if you have an Amazon Prime membership, thousands of books are already included for you to read for free? With Prime Reading, you’ll have access to a selection of Kindle Unlimited books, magazines, and audiobooks but without any extra subscription. The selection is far smaller than Kindle Unlimited, but there is still a LOT to choose from. Sign up for a free Amazon Prime trial of 30 days (or hunt around online for an extended trial offer!) to try it out.
Free Romance eBooks with Harlequin
Harlequin is a very established name in romance, and there’s a huge list of free romance eBooks available on their website. It’s updated regularly, so check back each month to find new titles.
Free eBooks for Teens
Big Five Publisher Simon and Schuster have a dedicated website for young readers! Even better, it includes up to four free young adult and teen books every month – perfect for getting your teenager into reading more. Sign up on the dedicated Simon Teen website to get started.
Free Childrens eBooks
Oxford Owl is a free eBook resource run by Oxford University Press for children between 3 to 11 years old. All the publications are tablet friendly, making them easy to access and for your child to read with you.
Project Gutenberg
One of the largest online public domain libraries, Project Gutenberg is a reliable and extensive resource for anyone looking for free ebooks online. It focuses mainly on books out of copyright in the US, which means you’ll find older titles – perfect if you want to catch up on some classics or find some hidden gems.
BookBub
BookBub is a huge marketplace for authors and they run a daily deal for free eBooks. Sign up to get them!
Radish
Radish is an online platform mostly used by self published (independent) authors and small presses for serialised fiction. This means that rather than free eBooks, you can get free chapters – and complete a serial by reading each chapter or section.
Google Books Free eBooks
Did you know that Google Books has over ten million free titles on their store? Visit the web page to search for a title, or browse the most popular downloads. You’ll find a lot of public domain titles but also loads of free ebooks available on promotions from publishers and indie authors to help spread the word about their books.
Free eBooks with Apple
You don’t need an Apple device to access their Apple bookstore, you can browse online or download the app. And they have tons and tons of free ebooks every month – including popular titles, brand new big releases and more.
Free Magazines with Readly
If you don’t have the attention span to read a whole free eBook, try magazines to get back into the reading habit. Readly has thousands of titles available – and currently has a one-month free trial available (£12.99 a month thereafter, cancel anytime). However, they frequently have two- or three-month free trials, so keep an eye out for offers! If you decide you like the platform, try getting a gift card rather than a rolling subscription as there are usually money-saving options to go via this route.
Become an ARC Reader
If you are desperate to get your hands on free ebooks before they’re published, you can apply to be an Advanced Reader Copy reader. This is when publishers and independently published authors send out digital or physical copies of their book before publication, to generate interest. In return, they ask you to review their book on websites like Goodreads, Storygraph, or Amazon – but you aren’t obliged to. However, if you’re getting a free eBook it doesn’t take much to leave a few lines on a review which will really help the author sell their book!
NetGalley is the leading marketplaces to become an ARC reader. You can also search on social media platforms like Threads to find independent authors and small publishers who have opened calls for ARC readers to go to them directly. You’re not guaranteed to receive an ARC when you apply, but the more reviews you leave, the more likely you are to be accepted regularly for free eBooks.
Try Free Audiobooks
If you want to get into reading but think audiobooks are more your thing, you’re in luck!
BookBeat Extended Free Trial
BookBeat is a streaming service for audiobooks. You can get a thirty-day free trial – or use the MoneyMagpie exclusive to sign up to 75 days free (40 hours’ listening time) for thousands of titles with the code TRY75.
Spotify Premium Free Trial
Spotify recently launched their audiobooks scheme and you can try it out with a free Spotify Premium Trial (have a Google around for a free trial offer as they change frequently). They work it out by hours listened per month, so make sure you choose a book under the 15 hours’ listening time if you want to finish it!
LibriVox
LibriVox is a phenomenal project with thousands of volunteer-read public domain titles that give you endless free audiobook listening. Don’t let ‘volunteer read’ put you off: this is where many professional audiobook narrators start out, and often continue to donate their time to support the project.
Why Pirated Books Are Bad for Everyone
You may have heard of pirate book sites that list ebooks for free online. However, these are terrible – don’t do it! There are so many ways to get ebooks for free legitimately, that piracy isn’t worth it. Not only do you open yourself up to scams like downloading malware or signing up to subscriptions you can’t cancel, it hurts the author, too.
Did you know that even when you borrow an ebook or physical book from the library, the author gets paid a small amount? This means it doesn’t cost you anything, but it helps them maintain their job! Authors are paid so little, every penny counts.
Piracy is also bad for you as a reader, because there is no guarantee you’re getting the book you think you are. Whether you’re reading an earlier leaked version with errors, or a completely scam version that’s made with AI to rip off the author, the reading experience will be ruined for you.
Piracy Scams to Look Out For
There are so many ebook piracy sites out there, it’s hard to list them all. But it’s easy to spot them. Protect yourself and run away if you see any of these red flags:
- Every book is free (most legitimate free eBook sites have free and paid sections)
- You can only read an excerpt before signing up (often to a paid subscription)
- The book title is available before it is officially published
- The books are only PDF files – legit sites will offer different formats such as ePub
- It’s an ‘online library’ without a real lending system (you never have to return the book)
- You’re asked to read on their specific app that needs to be downloaded (and isn’t one of the ones listed above)
There’s no need to pirate when there are so many ways to get free eBooks online, so try the many ways above to find your favourite way to read for free!
