Goodreads

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Goodreads

A curated collection of the 2 best self hosted alternatives to Goodreads.

Goodreads is a social cataloging service for readers. Users track books, rate and review titles, create shelves and reading lists, get personalized recommendations, and join groups and author pages to discover and discuss books.

Alternatives List

#1
Ryot

Ryot

A self-hosted tracker for media consumption and personal activities, combining watchlist/history, fitness logs, and analytics with import integrations.

Ryot screenshot

Ryot is a self-hosted personal tracking app that helps you log and analyze what you watch, read, play, and do, with an emphasis on keeping your activity history in one place. It combines media tracking with broader life-logging modules (such as workouts) and provides stats to review habits over time.

Key Features

  • Track media items (e.g., movies/TV/anime/books/games) with statuses such as planned/in-progress/completed and maintain history
  • Metadata fetching and matching via external services (varies by media type) to enrich your library
  • Import/sync options to bring existing history from popular services (where supported)
  • Workout/exercise logging module to record training sessions alongside media tracking
  • Personal analytics and insights dashboards to visualize activity over time
  • Multi-user support for households or small groups
  • API-first approach for integrations and automation (where supported)

Use Cases

  • Replace hosted watchlist/history services by tracking viewing/reading/playing progress privately
  • Maintain a combined “life log” for media and workouts with unified analytics
  • Build custom automations using the API (e.g., sync events from other tools)

Ryot fits users who want a single, private system-of-record for entertainment tracking and personal activity logging. It is most useful when you already have history scattered across multiple services and want centralized stats and ownership of your data.

3kstars
106forks
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#2
Watcharr

Watcharr

Track movies and TV shows, manage watchlists, and sync activity with popular media services in a self-hosted web app.

Watcharr screenshot

Watcharr is a self-hosted web application for tracking movies and TV shows, managing watchlists, and keeping your personal “what to watch” workflow organized across devices. It focuses on a simple, centralized interface for discovering, tracking, and updating your viewing progress.

Key Features

  • Unified watchlist for movies and TV shows
  • Search and metadata lookup (title pages with details such as posters/summaries)
  • Viewing status tracking (planned/watching/completed-style workflows)
  • User-friendly web UI optimized for quick browsing and updates
  • Integrations/sync capabilities with common media-tracking ecosystems (where configured)
  • Docker-based deployment options for straightforward setup

Use Cases

  • Maintain a private household watchlist and track progress across ongoing series
  • Replace manual notes/spreadsheets for “to watch” planning and backlog management
  • Centralize movie/TV tracking alongside a self-hosted media server stack

Watcharr is a lightweight option for users who want a private, web-based watchlist manager that complements common home media setups. It’s best suited for individuals or families looking to track what they want to watch and what they have already watched from a single dashboard.

1.2kstars
54forks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running