Where to get free e-books: Load up your e-reader without spending a dime
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A universal truth: everyone loves free stuff. For us, this is especially true when it comes to books. Avid readers who run through books at lightning speed are always on the hunt for the next book. But reading doesn't have to be an expensive hobby — it can be accessible and affordable. And that's true even if you're using an e-reader.
Free e-books are surprisingly plentiful. Thanks to the internet, there are so many exceptional resources for free e-books that we've already covered, including Libby and Stuff Your Kindle Day. But there are other sites offering free e-books that we've vetted and trust, which is important when you're downloading files from the internet.
But before we get into the details of accessing free e-books, keep in mind the type of free digital books that are available online. The majority of free e-books online are free because they're in the public domain. These will be classic works like Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby. If you're looking to read big-name new releases and best sellers, the best way to read them is with Libby. But for classic and indie authors, here's how to get free e-books for your e-reader or Kindle.
Where to get free e-books
There are four main platforms for finding ebooks that we've used and trust, including Project Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks, Smashwords, and BookBub. Here's what you need to know about each platform.
Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks
Both Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks are volunteer-run operations that turn books in the public domain into easily accessible e-book files. Each site offers thousands of ebooks in compatible file formats for different e-readers, including Kindles and Kobos.
Expect to find titles such as Moby Dick, Frankenstein, Pride and Prejudice, and Dracula. Since all of these files download to a computer, you'll need to get them on your e-reader, and we have a step-by-step guide on how to download EPUB files on your Kindle if you need some help.
Smashwords
While browsing through the ereader subreddit, a common website recommended by users is Smashwords. The site is a self-publishing platform where authors can sell their books. The website has a free section with thousands of books available to download for free. All of the books on Smashwords are DRM-free, meaning they can be read across different devices.
BookBub
Unlike Project Gutenberg or Smashwords, which are sites that host downloadable files, BookBub instead aggregates free book listings. BookBub specializes in listing book deals, and among those deals are free e-books, too. Many of the listings are collected from Amazon through the Kindle Store; however, if books are available on other platforms, those will be listed, too.
Where to get free Kindle e-books
Kindle users have another spot to find free e-books: the Kindle Store. There are plenty of free e-books available from the Kindle Store, which you can download to your Kindle library. And Prime members can get a free book each month from Amazon First Reads.
That doesn't mean you need to own a Kindle (although we are big fans of Amazon's e-readers) because you can access the Kindle library on your smartphones, tablets, and computers.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you're looking to download your free ebooks to a Kindle there are two main ways of doing so. The first being the Send to Kindle feature, where you can drag and drop files that then deliver to your Kindle e-reader. Other free platforms like Calibre allow you to upload e-reader books. For more in-depth directions on how to download EPUB files, check out our guide.
An EPUB is the type of file that e-books are typically formatted in. It's the most popular format for an e-book to appear in over PDFs. It's uniquely able to store the specific formatting and fonts of a book, no matter what type of device it is read on. Any of the books you download for free will likely be in the EPUB format.
DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. These files are becoming extremely popular among e-reader companies, so if you're buying directly from the Kindle or Kobo store, those files will be DRM. What this means is that you can only read those files on that brand's devices. Most free e-books will be DRM-free files, but if you're looking to buy DRM-free books, we recommend eBooks.com.
Boston-based Shopping Reporter, Samantha Mangino, covers all things tech at Mashable, rounding up the best products and deals. She’s covered commerce for three years, spending extensive time testing and reviewing all things home, including couches, steam irons, and washing machines. She thoroughly vets products and internet trends, finding out if those cozy gamer chairs are really as comfortable as TikTok claims.
