Reading is a way to gain valuable knowledge and enjoy unbeatable entertainment but this habit can be expensive to maintain. All thanks to the best free PDF book download sites, book readers can get free access to several books online.
Technology has introduced a lot of things that make life easier, which includes the introduction of digital libraries. With digital libraries, you can read anywhere at any time on your mobile phones, laptops, Kindle e.t.c.
There are several free book download sites that provide books in different digital formats (PDF, EPUB, MOBI, HTML e.t.c) but in this article, we will be focusing on the free PDF book download sites.
In case you don’t know the meaning of PDF books, we have provided the meaning below.
Table of Contents
What are PDF Books?
PDF Books are books saved in a digital format called PDF, so they can be easily shared and printed.
A PDF (Portable Document Format) is a versatile file format created by Adobe that gives people an easy, reliable way to present and exchange documents – regardless of the software, hardware, or operating systems being used by anyone who views the document.
30 Best Free PDF Book Download Sites
Here, we have compiled a list of the 30 best free PDF book download sites. Most of these free book download sites provide most of their books in Portable Document Format (PDF).
Below is a list of the 30 best free PDF book download sites:
- Project Gutenberg
- Library Genesis
- Many Books
- Internet Archive
- Free-Ebooks.net
- Bookboon.com
- Z-Library
- PDF Books World
- Free Computer Books
- Bookyards
- PDF Drive
- Obooko
- PDF Search Engine
- DigiLibraries
- Snewd
- Open Textbook LibraryÂ
- Textbooksfree.org
- Free Kids Books
- OpenStax
- Planet eBook
- FreeBookCenter.net
- Loyal Books
- eBooks.com
- Girlebooks
- PDF Grab
- Free Book Spot
- Freeditorial
- Booktree
- EbooksGo
- Ebooks Duck.
Apart from PDF books, these free book download sites also provide books online in other file formats: EPUB, MOBI, AZW, FB2, HTML e.t.c.
Also, some of these websites allow users to read online. So if you don’t want to download a particular book, you can easily read it online.
Another good thing about these free PDF book download sites is that you can easily download books without registration.
However, some of the websites may require registration but most of them don’t.
10 Best Places to Find the Best Free BooksÂ
The websites listed below provide a variety of free books online, from textbooks to novels, magazines, academic articles e.t.c.
- Project Gutenberg
- Library Genesis
- Internet Archive
- ManyBooks
- BookYards
- PDF Drive
- Obooko
- Free-eBooks.net
- DigiLibraries
- PDF Books World.
1. Project Gutenberg
Pros:
- Registration is not needed
- No special apps are needed – you can read books downloaded from this website with regular web browsers (Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox e.t.c)
- Advanced search feature – you can search by author, title, subject, language, type, popularity e.t.c.
- You can read books online without downloading
Project Gutenberg is a digital library with more than 60, 000 free eBooks, available in PDF and other formats.
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart, Project Gutenberg is the oldest digital library.
Project Gutenberg provides ebooks in any category you want. You can either download books online or read them online.
Authors can also share their works with readers via self.gutenberg.org.
2. Library Genesis
Pros:
- You can download books without registration
- Advanced search feature – you can search by title, authors, year, publishers, ISBN e.t.c
Books are available in different languages.
Library Genesis, also known as LibGen is a provider of scientific articles, books, comics, images, audiobooks, and magazines.
This digital shadow library gives users free access to millions of eBooks in PDF, EPUB, MOBI, and many other formats. You can also upload your work if you have an account.
Library Genesis was created in 2008 by Russian scientists.
3. Internet Archive
Pros:
- You can read books online via openlibrary.org
- Registration is not required
- Books are available in different languages.
Cons:
- There is no advanced search button – users can only search by URL or keywords
Internet Archive is a non-profit library that provides free access to millions of free books, movies, software, music, images, websites e.t.c.
Archive.org provides books in different categories and formats. Some books can be freely read and downloaded. Others can be borrowed and read via Open Library.
4. ManyBooks
Pros:
- You can read books online
- Books are available in more than 45 different languages
- You can search by title, author, or keyword
- A variety of formats e.g PDF, EPUB, MOBI, FB2, HTML e.t.c.
Cons:
- Registration is required to download books
ManyBooks was established in 2004 with the vision to provide an extensive library of books in digital format for free on the internet.
This website has more than 50,000 free ebooks in different categories: Fiction, Non-fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Biographies & History e.t.c.
Also, self-publishing authors can upload their work on ManyBooks, provided they follow quality standards.
5. BookYards
Pros:
- You can download without registration
- There is a “convert to Kobo” button that will explain how to convert PDF books into any other format
- You can search for books.
Bookyards have been providing free PDF books for more than 12 years. It claims to be one of the world’s first online libraries to offer ebooks to be downloaded for free.
Bookyards provide more than 24,000 ebooks in more than 35 categories, which include: art, biography, business, education, entertainment, health, history, literature, religion & spirituality, science & technology, sports e.t.c.
Self-publishing authors can also upload their books on Bookyards.
6. PDF Drive
Pros:
- You can download without registration and there is no limit
- No annoying ads
- You can preview books
- There is a convert button that allows users to easily convert from PDF to either EPUB or MOBI
PDF Drive is a free search engine that allows you to search, preview, and download millions of PDF files. This site has over 78,000,000 ebooks for you to download for free.
PDF Drive provides ebooks in different categories: academic & education, biography, children & youth, fiction & literature, lifestyle, politics/law, science, business, health & fitness, religion, technology e.t.c
7. Obooko
Pros:
- No pirated books
- There is no download limit.
Cons:
- You will have to register to download books after downloading three books.
Established in 2010, Obooko is one of the best places to find the best free books online. It is a legally licensed website – this means there are no pirated books.
Obooko provides free books in different categories: business, arts, entertainment, religion and beliefs, politics, history, novels, poetry e.t.c.
8. Free-eBooks.net
Pros:
- You can read books online without downloading
- There is a search feature (search by author or title.
Cons:
- You must register before you can download books.
Free-Ebooks.net provides users with free ebooks available in different categories: academic, fiction, non-fiction, magazines, classics, audiobooks e.t.c
Self-publishing authors can publish or promote their books on the website.
9. DigiLibraries
Pros:
- There is a search button. You can either search by title, author, or subject.
- Registration is not required to download
- A variety of formats e.g epub, pdf, mobi e.t.c.
DigiLibraries offers a digital source of eBooks in a range of categories in digital format.
This site aims to give quality, fast and required services for downloading and reading ebooks.
DigiLibraries offers ebooks in different categories: arts, engineering, business, cooking, education, family & relationships, health & fitness, religion, science, social science, literary collections, humor e.t.c
10. PDF Books World
Pros:
- You can read online
- PDF books have legible font sizes
- You can search by title, author, or subject.
Cons:
- Registration is required to download books.
PDF Books World is a high-quality resource for free PDF books, which are the digitized version of books that have attained public domain status.
This site publishes PDF books in different categories: fiction, novels, non-fiction, academic, juvenile fiction, juvenile non-fiction e.t.c.
15 Best Free Apps to Read PDF Books
Most of the books available online are in PDF or other digital formats. Some of these books may not open on your mobile phone if you didn’t install PDF readers.
Here, we have compiled a list of the best apps to read PDF books. These apps can also open other file formats like EPUB, MOBI, AZW e.t.c
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Foxit PDF Reader
- PDF Viewer Pro
- All PDF
- MuPDF
- Soda PDF
- Moon+ Reader
- Xodo PDF Reader
- DocuSign
- Librera
- Nitro Reader
- WPS Office
- ReadEra
- Google Play Books
- CamScanner
Most of these apps are free to use, you don’t need to subscribe.
However, some of these apps may have subscription plans. You will need to subscribe if you want to use some features.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are free pdf books safe to download?
You should only download books from legitimate websites, because some ebooks may contain viruses that can harm your computer or phone. Free pdf books from legitimate websites are safe to download.
Can I publish my books on the free book download sites?
Some of the free book download sites allow self-publishing authors to upload their works. For example, ManyBooks
Why do free book download sites accept monetary donations?
Some free book download sites accept monetary donations to manage the website, pay their workers, and improve their services. This is a way for you to support your favorite free book download sites.
Is it illegal to download free PDF books?
It is illegal to download free PDF books from websites providing pirated books. You should only download from websites that are authorized and licensed.
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- 40 Bible Quiz Questions and Answers PDF.
ConclusionÂ
With the help of the 30 best free PDF book download sites, books are now more accessible than ever. PDF books can be read on phones, tablets, laptops, Kindle e.t.c.
We have now come to the end of this article. From the 30 best free PDF book download sites, which of the sites do you like the most? Let us know in the Comment Section.