You must enable JavaScript in order to use this site.

websites for free textbooks

  • Gradehacker
  • Meet the Team
  • Essay Writing
  • Degree Accelerator
  • Entire Class Bundle
  • Learning Center
  • Gradehacker TV

7 Best Websites to Find Free College Textbooks in 2023

Javiera vega.

  • Best Apps And Tools , Financial Tips and Scholarships

Best Websites to Download Free College Textbooks Gradehacker

Study Consultant at Gradehacker

  • Updated on September, 2023

Best Websites to Find Free Textbooks

If you want to save hundreds of dollars to get your educational resources, here are the best websites to download free college textbooks, novels, and PDFs.

  • Library Genesis: Overall best website to get free college textbooks
  • Project Gutenberg: Best for English textbooks and novels
  • Mobilism: Best for literature, biology, and make requests
  • VK.com: Best for Medicine and Nursing textbooks
  • Archive.org: Best for old and uncommon textbooks
  • Bookboon: Best for STEM textbooks
  • OpenStax: Best for finding academic sources

Savvy College Students Deserve Help With Their Essays

Submit your request and get a flawless college paper, 100% original and plagiarism-free!

New call-to-action

Free college textbooks can sound like a dream come true, especially when you’re enrolled in a new class and don’t have classmates or friends to borrow the book from.

It’s a fact that you will get a long list of required textbooks you’ll need to get through your courses, and most likely, they’ll be pretty expensive. 

Here at Gradehacker , the non-traditional student #1 resource, we have years of experience helping online students with their essays and degree programs . 

We know how important it is to save as much money as you can, so here you have our list of websites to download college textbooks for free:

You can also find our list of best websites to find free college textbooks as a video:

Is it Possible to Get Free College Textbooks?

Absolutely yes! And there is a clear reason on why you should be able to access college textbooks for free.

According to EducationData.org , 83.8% of people attending college receive some type of financial aid to help with the mounting cost of education. While most of the times scholarships can cover a student’s tuition, it does not explicitly cover the expenses of educational resources.

In other words, not all financial aid options cover textbooks , which can be worth up to $300.

Imagine how tragic it would be if you failed a class because you could not afford a book! If you can’t access the class material, you won’t know what the professor is even speaking about.

That’s why you have to change your strategy and seriously consider digital books as a wise choice to save both your pocket and your grade.

And where can you find the online textbooks that will help you get through your academic journey? Here you have a few options:

7 Top Websites to Find Free College Textbooks in 2020

Library Genesis

Overall best site to get free college textbooks.

This is one of Gradehacker’s favorite sites for college textbooks in a wide variety of subjects.

Library Genesis is a file-sharing website for educational materials and scholarly articles , academic books, peer-reviewed journals, novels, comics, and magazines.

The catalog is enormous. It’s organized in a format similar to a standard  digital library with searches according to the author, ISBN, year, etc.

The download options are easy, and you can either look for a specific title or look at what’s new.

If you want a step-by-step guide on how you can use Library Genesis to download free college textbooks, check out our YouTube video!

Library Genesis Pros and Cons

  • More academically oriented
  • Perfect for undergrad and graduate textbooks
  • Specific search engine
  • Search filters similar to the ones you find in online libraries
  • Layout is not user-friendly

Save money with other college hacks!

Learn how to manage your money better with our list of financial tips for college students!

Flor Financial CTA

Project Gutenberg

Best for english textbooks and novels.

This website is a volunteer effort to create and distribute ebooks for free . If you need a text in the public domain , you will find it here for sure, formatted and ready to download at your convenience.

Project Gutenberg primarily offers fiction works from Western culture, but it also has an extensive collection of fiction books.

Project Gutenberg 7 Top Websites to Find Free College Textbooks in 2022

You can see how easy it is to use Project Gutenberg and what other tricks you can use in our video.

Project Gutenberg Pros and Cons

  • Easy to download and search
  • Great for Humanities students
  • Tons of novels and research books
  • Limited catalog in STEM topics

Best for literature, biology, and make requests

Mobilism is a forum where users can share the media they already own with others. There are many categories, but this website truly shines in the ebook section . You can find novels, academic textbooks, comics; you name it.

Whether you’re studying literature, social sciences, or biology , Mobilism’s ebook section has got you covered with its wide range of free college textbooks. From introductory college courses to advanced studies, you can find the resources you need to excel in any of your academic pursuits.

However, what we like the most, is that if you can’t find the textbook you are looking for, you can make your request and wait for someone to share it!

  • Enormous catalog of books
  • You can post specific requests
  • Download links are periodically updated
  • You need to create an account

You can also watch our quick tutorial on how to use Mobilism:

Best for Medicine and Nursing textbooks

VK.com is a Russian social media platform similar to Facebook; however, there is something different about it. While Facebook focuses on social interaction, VK has a vast community of people sharing different media types .

Ebooks are one of VK users’ main attractions, so make an account and start joining various book clubs. We recommend the Free Medical Books page and the Magazine and E-Books community.

websites for free textbooks

VK.com Pros and Cons

  • Account isn't needed to download textbooks
  • Great for common and uncommon books
  • Top choice for medicine and nursing students
  • Has a mobile app
  • Doesn't have a centralized search engine
  • You find books by searching into each communitie's catalog

Our pro tip, is that you search on Google for the title of the textbook you want and add “VK” at the end.

Graduating Faster Has Never Been Easier!

Book a call with our team and learn how you can earn your college degree faster while focusing on what truly matters: YOUR LIFE!

New call-to-action

Archive.org

Best for old and uncommon textbooks.

As its name suggests, Archive.org is an archive for all internet things. You can find deleted YouTube videos, lost documents, and any other media you cannot find anywhere else.

However, many students use this platform to back up their digital textbooks . One thing that makes this website unique is that it offers many different formats for the documents you want to download; that way, you won’t have to convert them yourself.

Archive.org 7 Top Websites to Find Free College Textbooks in 2022

Archive.org Pros and Cons

  • You can download textbooks in different formats
  • Has old and uncommon textbooks
  • Uncertainty on how extensive the catalog is

Best for STEM textbooks

Bookboon is an online publishing company that also offers free PDF Drive textbooks for college students. It focuses primarily on all engineering subjects , so it might not be for everyone. If you’re getting a degree in this field, this website will be perfect for you.

You can find references for the most specific topics like Economics and Business, Computer, Engineering, Law, Mathematics, Medicine, Natural Sciences, and many others. 

websites for free textbooks

Bookboon Pros and Cons

  • Decent free catalog
  • Wide variety of school textbooks related to engineering
  • Search experience is clearn and straighforward
  • To access more books, you have to pay a monthly subscription of $5.99

Best for finding academic sources

OpenStax is a non-profit organization that provides free college textbooks written by experts and peer-reviewed by educators.

The material available covers the most common topics in college education, such as biology, physics, chemistry, economics, psychology, sociology, and more.

The online books are completely free to download in PDF format, and you can also purchase a printed version if you prefer.

The only thing you should consider is that you’ll only find their books on their page. Meaning, they offer books made by them that might not be the book you’re looking for . That’s why we recommend them for you to use as an academic source for an essay or any other assignment.

websites for free textbooks

OpenStax Pros and Cons

  • Cover multiple subjects
  • Reliable, widely known organization
  • Great to find scholarly sources for assignments
  • You can only download their own textbooks

Before You Download Free PDF Textbooks

No matter the age, college students like you will always try to spend their money efficiently . Here at Gradehacker, we have previously discussed other tips to improve your finances .

Still, textbooks for classes are often overlooked as an aspect of additional college costs. Before spending one more dollar on them, remember this:

College books are necessary for completing your coursework. That is a fact. However, you can look for alternative textbook resources to spend little to no money on by joining online sharing communities or archives.

Library Genesis is a powerful ebook catalog . It works like a digital college library in a way, but you don’t need to have an institutional email.

Websites like Project Gutenberg , Bookboon , and VK.com have communities that are perfect for looking for a range of college textbooks specializing in humanities, engineering, or medical topics.

Archive.org and Mobilism grow thanks to the cooperation between students who want to share their textbooks that will be useful for you. You can also post what you have to give back to the community.

Hopefully, you can now find new ways to access your reading for free without needing to dip into your budget. Search, download, and, when you can, share so others can also have a hand when they are in the same position.

And well, if this is not enough for you, remember that Gradehacker has extensive internal resources with thousands of books we have used to help other students like you.

If you still don’t feel like writing, find out how we can help you with that essay that is driving you crazy. And if you want longer-term help, check out how we can assist you with your classes and accelerate your degree experience .

College is difficult, but together we can make it easier!

If you are looking for more tips to save money and improve your college experience, visit our related blog posts:

websites for free textbooks

Best iPads For College Students

websites for free textbooks

How to Earn College Credits With Youtube

Best-AI-to-Write-Essays- cover

Best AI to Write Essays

Best Scholarly Websites

Best Sites For Scholarly Sources | Websites To Find The Best Academic Sources

websites for free textbooks

How Much Does it Cost to Get My Degree Faster? | Self-Invest

Javiera Vega is a Study Consultant and Content Creator for Gradehacker. She has a degree in Education and Literature and is currently working on getting a master’s degree in Linguistics. Even though words, languages, and books are her thing, science and psychology were her hidden passion for many years. Luckily, Gradehacker has allowed her to use all that knowledge by helping many clients with everything they need. Javiera considers herself a proud nerd who likes to learn and read about everything she can find. From movies and comics to microbiology and genetics, every topic is interesting for her. Her curiosity has no limits. Find her on LinkedIn

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

  • Best Apps and Tools
  • Writing Tips
  • Financial Tips and Scholarships
  • Career Planning
  • Non-Traditional Students
  • Student Wellness
  • Cost & Pricing

websites for free textbooks

  • 2525 Ponce de Leon Blvd Suite 300 Coral Gables, FL 33134 USA
  • Phone: (786) 991-9293
  • Gradehacker 2525 Ponce de Leon Blvd Suite 300 Coral Gables, FL 33134 USA

About Gradehacker

Business hours.

Mon - Fri: 10:00 am - 7 pm ET ​​Sat - Sun: 10 am - 3 pm ET ​

© 2024 Gradehacker LLC All Rights Reserved.

BookScouter Blog

Buy and sell your books at the best price

10 websites to find free textbooks online.

free textbooks online websites

In our earlier articles, we’ve already covered a range of resources where you can find used textbooks to buy and rent  online. However, you can only stretch your budget to a certain extent, right?

With that in mind, we suggest that you should resort to free textbooks online options and get your hands on everything you can find. Sounds good?

In this article, we’ve compiled a list of reputable online resources that offer free textbooks — 10 thoroughly selected and checked websites where you can find textbooks and study materials at no cost. Out of numerous websites, we’ve weeded out the ones that are either outdated, or irrelevant, or seemingly helpful, or are simply lacking in some important way, and now, we are ready to share the ones you can completely rely on in your studies.

These websites want to make access to education easier and more affordable by offering their materials under an open license completely free. They also provide them in a variety of formats from PDFs to eBooks, which makes the learning process more convenient, especially now, when studying from home has become our new reality. So let’s get started.

1. Saylor Academy

saylor free courses and textbooks online resource

Saylor Academy is technically not just an online textbook resource. The website provides free online courses. There are two options for students: they can take a Saylor Direct College Credit or get free Certificates of Completion if they don’t need credits. The list of the universities that accept credit transfers can be found on this website page: Saylor Direct credit courses .

saylor free textbooks online website

The courses are self-paced; there is no need to finish the assignments by a certain time. Also, the materials are available online, mostly in the Resources section. The Academy also offers the Bookshelf page with numerous learning materials, which are now available as HTML versions (each book is based on its own repository at Saylor Academy’s GitHub account ) and is also accessible as a PDF file (see in the archived section).

There are courses and materials for students of absolutely different majors. The website does help students lighten their financial burden and benefit from transferring their credits.

buy your books at the best price

2. Bookboon

bookboon free textbooks website

Bookboon is a great place to browse for free textbooks online if you are a business major student or are taking several STEM subjects. Originally founded in Denmark in 1988 and transformed into a full-scale eBook publishing company in 2005, Bookboon has become the largest source of textbooks online over the years. Students do love it—you can literally download the books for free. All books are short and concise; the content is written by professors and experts.

Where is the catch, you’d ask? Since the books are free, you can only choose the resources the website provides; you won’t be able to get just any book you need by title or author. Besides, to be able to keep this business running and provide this free option to everyone who doesn’t want a subscription, the company adds ads to the books:

bookboon solutions screenshot

This is an example from Concise Hydrology by Prof. Dawei Han. The ads appear on every third centerfold or so, but they are more or less relevant to the book’s topic and, therefore, are not that irritating. A bit of advertising is definitely something that one can tolerate to get a good book for free, right?

3. OpenStax

openstax free textbooks online platform

OpenStax offers textbooks online for students of colleges and high schools. Deeply loved by many students, this non-profit digital learning platform and publisher of free textbooks was founded in 2011 by Rice University. It offers a range of peer-reviewed texts from the top universities in the U.S.

Subjects covered include Math (e.g., Algebra, Calculus, Statistics), Science (e.g., Physics, Chemistry, Biology), Social Sciences (e.g., Sociology, American Government), Humanities (e.g., History), Business and so much more. The initiative is planning to add textbooks on data sciences, nursing, and liberal arts in the nearest future as well.

OpenStax digital textbooks are offered in PDF and ePub format; they can also be read online. You have two sign-up options: as a student and as an instructor. In the latter case, you can access additional materials (all books have references to other resources) that you can use in class. For instance, verified instructors can access answer guides and PowerPoint slides with images from the book. The platform also offers OpenStax Tutor —a homework helper for students who need extra help. It also provides an option to order print copies of their books.

OpenStax is an educational initiative; its mission is to “ improve educational access and learning for everyone ,” and they seem to be accomplishing it quite successfully so far. Thanks to the activity of OpenStax and similar initiatives that bring positive disruption to the textbook industry, the so-called “textbook bubble” seems to be deflating little by little.

4. Project Gutenberg

project gutenberg - lots of free textbooks online

Project Gutenberg is an online library of free eBooks and the first resource ever that started providing free eBooks in 1971. Exactly. At that time, no one even had heard of the Internet. Unbelievable! Founded by Michael Hart, the library thrives and helps millions of art and humanities students to succeed in their studies.

Books in the library are mostly popular classics that are offered in a variety of formats—HTML, ePub (with or without images), Kindle (with or without images), plain Text UTF-8, and others. Some books are available in foreign languages.

project gutenberg website - textbook example

To find what you need on Project Gutenberg, search the library by author, title, subject, language, or book type. Apart from the classical library, you can also browse through the Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing Press, where contemporary authors share their works with readers.

If you are studying art and humanities, this platform is what you need in terms of free textbooks online. We doubt there is another place where you can find pretty much every classic English-language book out of copyright and in the public domain. Its design may seem a bit outdated, but as they say, “Don’t judge the book by its cover!”

5. Open Textbook Library

open textbook library website

Open Textbook Library (OTL) was founded by David Ernst in 2012. The project was initially born as a part of the University of Minnesota to help all faculty members find free textbooks easily. OTL is technically a reference source that helps locate open books offered by various authors and publishers online. Nowadays, not all books in the library are published by the University of Minnesota; you can find books written and published by faculty members of different educational institutions. Users have permission to use these open textbooks under an open license.

open textbook library - free textbook sample

The library’s materials are designated for post-secondary education specifically; therefore, you won’t find any popular classics or high-school textbooks here. If you need to have a book printed, it can also be arranged for a fee. A rating system that you can see on every book’s page is helpful if you need to understand which textbook is best for you.

6. Library Genesis

library genesis free textbooks site

Library Genesis has several names and appearances, but the meaning is the same: it’s a place where you can get books, articles, magazines, and whatnot for your studies online for free. Also known as LibGen and Genesis Library, this online database of books is loved by the Reddit community as the place where you can get practically everything. It may seem somewhat complicated to use, but once you read this explanation , everything gets pretty clear.

You don’t need to create an account to use the resource. Just type in the title, the author, or the book’s ISBN in the search fields. If you know the information about the publisher or year, you can add it as well to refine your search. We recommend searching by ISBN, as it will increase your chances of finding the exact edition you need.

7. FreeBookSpot

freebookspot free online textbooks resource

FreeBookSpot is another online database with an infinite number of books. It features a bit outdated design and can make you slightly mad with all the ads popping up here and there, but it is a free textbook download website that you will definitely find exceedingly useful. If you have classes where a syllabus is mostly based on published books instead of textbooks, this source is what you need.

Books and textbooks can be searched here by title, author, ISBN, and language. Once you type in the request, you will be redirected to the table of results, where the book cover is featured, a book description is given, and a link/a few links are provided for download. If the first link doesn’t work, try another one. The download links are a bit tricky and may lure you into buying a premium subscription, but this is just a marketing trick. Just wait for a free download to start (you’ll see the countdown at some point) and get your book!

8. IntechOpen

IntechOpen - open access free textbooks

IntechOpen dates back to 2010, and according to the site, it used to be “ a multidisciplinary Open Access publisher of books and journals covering the fields of Science, Technology, and Medicine. ” Nowadays, they describe themselves as a place “ where academia and industry create content with global impact ” and are the world’s leading publisher of open access books. IntechOpen boasts of having 3.3 million visitors per month and 136,000 IntechOpen authors and academic editors. We can recommend it as a place to enrich your scientific knowledge.

9. Online Mathematics Textbooks

Online Mathematics Textbooks - free Mathematics textbooks online

This list is compiled by professor George Cain of the School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, and if you’re studying math or any STEM subject, you may find it very helpful. There are 77 math-related books on the list. All book titles are accompanied by the names of the professors who either wrote the books or contributed to their creation. There are also some popular math textbooks with free access. All materials are available in HTML format and are supposed to be read online.

10. ScholarWorks

ScholarWorks Grand Valley State University textbooks free

ScholarWorks is an open-access repository managed by the Grand Valley State University Library. It’s a place where works by GVSU scholars are maintained and showcased. The mission of the archive is to collect and preserve these works. This resource will be very useful if you’re a student of GVSU; however, any college student may access and use materials on ScholarWorks—it’s free. No account or student ID is required; you can download the materials directly from the website.

The archive offers textbooks, projects materials, master theses, dissertations, and articles. You can browse the collection by clicking on the Discipline Wheel and exploring the materials in 612 disciplines. Alternatively, you can search for a specific textbook or topic in the search field. The website even features an interactive map on the homepage where you can see how popular the resource is by the number of downloads.

We hope that this list of free textbook online resources will help you in your studies. We can’t promise that you’ll be able to cover all your textbook needs by using these websites; that’d be wishful thinking. Yet, we are positive that you’ll definitely be able to find plenty of materials for your studies. And buy the remaining materials and used textbooks cheap with BookScouter.com . Good luck!

' src=

Natalie Meyers

Natalie Meyers is a freelance writer and editor with more than 15 years of experience. As an English major and a psychology graduate, she worked as a teacher and a counselor. As a writer, she's covered a diverse range of topics from technology to publishing. She is an avid reader who believes that books help us become more authentic versions of ourselves. At BookScouter, she's a smart writer and an expert in all things books.

You may also like

websites for free textbooks

Check the Value of a Book before Swapping it For Free

websites for free textbooks

Renting versus Buying

websites for free textbooks

Selling Textbooks at Bookstore or Bookscouter?

Copy and paste this code to display the image on your site

Last Updated on September 1, 2023 by Olivia Smith

LibreTexts

  • Engineering
  • Mathematics
  • Digital Painting
  • Illustration
  • Logo Design
  • User Experience

websites for free textbooks

Open Minds, Open Resources

LibreTexts is the largest centralized open education project and platform online. Founded in 2008 at the University of California, Davis as the ChemWiki, the LibreTexts mission is to unite students, faculty and scholars in a cooperative effort to develop an easy-to-use online platform for the construction, customization, and dissemination of open educational resources (OER) to reduce the burdens of unreasonable textbook costs to our students and society.

Digital Textbooks

Collaboration tools, adaptive homework, interactive modules, browse our most popular textbooks.

websites for free textbooks

A World Perspective of Art Appreciation

websites for free textbooks

Fundamentals of Geology

websites for free textbooks

Analytical Chemistry 2.1

websites for free textbooks

Infant and Toddler Care and Development

websites for free textbooks

Big Ideas in Cosmology

websites for free textbooks

Nursing Fundamentals

websites for free textbooks

¡Naveguemos juntos! – Español 101

websites for free textbooks

Introduction to Engineering for Engineers and Scientists

Latest news & upcoming events.

websites for free textbooks

New In-Person Workshops for the ADAPT Homework Platform

websites for free textbooks

LibreOne Goes Live to Improve your Login Experience

websites for free textbooks

LibreTexts Announces New Grant to Expand ADAPT Homework System

Adapt workshop, csu humboldt, may 3, 2024, adapt workshop west los angeles college, april 27, 2024, adapt workshop csu northridge, april 25, 2024, adapt workshop college of the desert, april 26, 2024, built by educators for educators & students, paul seeburger.

Professor, Faculty of Mathematics, Monroe Community College

Dr Larry Green

Professor, Lake Tahoe Community College

Cristina Moon

Instructor, Chatbot College

Join a Global Community

Become an instructor.

Teach what you love. Edumy gives you the tools to create an online course.

Dove School For Business

Legal  |   Accessibility  |   Status  |   Donate   |  Login

websites for free textbooks

LibreTexts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to freeing the textbook from the limitations and costs of traditional textbooks. Our open and freely accessible LibreTexts provide a more engaging learning experience for students without the financial burden. 

LibreTexts is supported by the Department of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project and the California Education Learning Lab . 

websites for free textbooks

Lost Your Password?

Reset Password

Library Home

Textbooks by Subject

  • Human Resources
  • Information Systems
  • Programming Languages
  • Curriculum & Instruction
  • Distance Education
  • Early Childhood
  • Elementary Education
  • Higher Education
  • Secondary Education
  • Civil Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Linguistics
  • Literature, Rhetoric, and Poetry
  • New Media Journalism
  • Administrative Law
  • Constitutional Law
  • Contract Law
  • Criminal Law
  • Procedural Law
  • Property Law
  • Geometry and Trigonometry
  • Earth Sciences
  • Anthropology
  • Cultural & Ethnic Studies
  • Gender & Sexuality Studies
  • Library Science and Museum Studies
  • Political Science
  • Student Success
  • Great Tech Gifts for Any Occasion
  • The Best Gadgets for The Beach or Pool

16 Best Ways to Get Free Textbooks

Find free textbooks online to help cut college costs

websites for free textbooks

  • Emporia State University
  • Cloud Services
  • Error Messages
  • Family Tech
  • Home Networking
  • Around the Web

Whether you're studying at a major university, taking online college courses , or just learning on your own, there are tons of ways to find free textbooks online. Some books can be viewed in your browser while other are available for download in PDF format.

Most of these websites specialize in free textbooks. There are also other websites that offer free audiobooks and free eBooks .

First Stop for Free Books: Google

Search multiple websites at once.

Very effective at finding any free textbook.

Limited range of file types are supported.

Google should be the first place you go to find free textbooks online. Using a search engine like Google will scour the whole web for textbook PDFs. However, instead of a general search, you'll want to take advantage of Google's filetype command. Enter filetype:pdf followed by the name of the book you're looking for, making sure to use quotes around the whole title. For example:

If you don't have luck with the book's title, try the author (surrounded in quotes) with or without the title. You might also mix up the file extension and use PPT or DOC ; you never know what format the textbook might be in.

Google Scholar is another search engine from Google that you should try along with a Google search. It's a great place to find all sorts of academic-oriented content.

Biggest Selection of Textbooks: Bookboon

Over 1,000 free textbooks.

Website is extremely easy to use.

Several categories to browse through.

Access to more textbooks requires a paid membership.

There are a few advertisements.

Bookboon should definitely be your second method of finding free textbooks online. There are hundreds upon hundreds of books available for download as PDFs, or you can read them directly in your browser. When you're viewing a textbook's download page, you'll see a star rating from other users and similar textbooks you might like.

Some of the categories of free textbooks here include economics and finance, marketing and law, IT and programming, accounting, statistics and mathematics, and engineering. Some business eBooks and the option to block ads are available with a business account. There's a 30-day trial if you want to see what that's like.

Best Mobile App for Free Textbooks: OpenStax

View online or download the textbook PDF.

Read free textbooks from the OpenStax mobile app.

No search function.

OpenStax, a service offered by Rice University, provides access to high-quality textbooks in categories that include humanities, business, essentials, and math. This project was initially kicked off for college students by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. You don't need a user account to access these textbooks, so just pick a subject, find the textbook you want to use for free, and then choose how you want to get it (online, through the app, or as a PDF).

Links to Free Textbooks: Open Culture

Hundreds of free textbook download links.

Most links are to the PDF file (no further searching required).

Textbooks are categorized by subject.

All textbooks are located on external sites that might not be reliable.

Finding the exact book you need can be challenging.

Open Culture, a fascinating repository of some of the best content on the web, has assembled an ongoing database of free texts ranging in subject from biology and management to computer science and physics. All links are to external sites, so while the list itself is sometimes updated with new books, the download pages might be broken and the textbooks missing.

Search Engine for Textbooks: MERLOT

Find free textbooks on multiple sites at once.

Tons of filtering and sorting options to narrow down the results.

Sign up for alerts when new textbooks are added.

Textbooks are stored on other sites, so they might end up as redirects or dead links.

You can search for free textbooks on MERLOT by title, ISBN, or author. There are thousands of books to pick from, and they're all completely free. However, what makes MERLOT different from most of these other free textbook websites is that it's more like a textbook search engine: It indexes books from other sites and provides links to them.

To find only the free textbooks here instead of other things like tests, animations, or tutorials, be sure to select Open (Access) Textbook from the filtering menu. Some of the subjects you can filter by include social sciences, workforce deployment, education, business, arts, and science and technology. Within any category of free textbooks, you can copy the RSS feed link and use it in your RSS reader to get alerts when new books are added to MERLOT's site.

Free Books for Free Classes: MIT OpenCourseWare

Includes a page with only online textbooks.

Supports advanced search commands.

Convenient "PDF only" filter.

Includes PDF textbooks only for specific classes at MIT.

MIT has offered OpenCourseWare (OCW) for several years now, and along with these free classes come free college textbooks. Feel free to search for the textbook you're after, or you can browse the online textbooks by department or education level.

Free Textbook Finder: Open Textbook Library

Hundreds of free textbooks.

Textbooks cover common subjects.

User account not required.

Very basic search tool.

All books are hosted on external sites.

Hundreds of peer-reviewed and free textbooks are available at Open Textbook Library. This site is more of a search engine for textbooks since all the links point to other sites, but it's still very useful for finding free textbook PDFs. Some of the subjects include law, medicine, management, linguistics, biology, psychology, applied mathematics, and history.

When you land on the textbook's download page, you're given a table of contents and other details about the book. There's a PDF button you must click to reach the actual download page. There's also sometimes an option for reading the textbook online.

Easy-to-Browse eBooks: BCcampus OpenEd

More categories than most free textbook sites.

Excellent site layout.

Limited search filters.

The goal of BCcampus is to "support the post-secondary institutions of British Columbia as they adopt, adapt, and evolve their teaching and learning practices to create a better experience for students . " One way they do that is by providing free textbooks.

You'll be happy to learn that there's a remarkable number of subjects you can flip through here, including communication and writing, health and medical, math and stats, language learning, trades, and several others. Some of these free textbooks can be read online, and others are downloadable as EPUB, MOBI, and PDF textbooks. They are also available in editable document formats such as ODT .

By Students, For Students: Textbook Revolution

Ad-free website.

Some textbooks are viewable online (no download required).

Far too many dead links.

The search tool isn't very helpful.

Run by students, Textbook Revolution offers tons of free books. You can browse for textbooks by subject or license (such as public domain). There's also a barebones search tool. Some of the free textbook subjects include sociology, world history, chemistry, biology, and ESL. If you can't find the book you want for free, there's also an option to search the web for the cheapest prices on textbooks.

Free Math Books: Online Mathematics Textbooks

Every textbook is free.

Each book PDF is organized by chapter and clearly states the contents.

Lacks a search tool.

Fewer books than other websites.

Professors from the Georgia Institute of Technology have compiled an impressive list of online math textbooks covering everything from calculus to mathematical biology. There are dozens of free titles here that are all listed on a single page, making them super easy to sift through.

The Wikipedia of Textbooks: Wikibooks

Huge range of subjects.

Run by the same company as Wikipedia.

Some textbooks are PDFs.

Anyone can add annotations or edits to online books.

Books can change over time because they're open for editing.

Most textbooks must be read online.

Wikibooks offers a wide variety of over 3,000 free textbooks in subjects from computing and languages to social sciences, engineering, and miscellaneous books. This free textbook website is run by its visitors, much like Wikipedia . This means that some books are only partially finished. On each subject's page, you'll see which books are completed and which ones still require some work.

Free Books for Every Grade Level: OER Commons

Super detailed descriptions of the textbooks.

You can view all the books online.

Lots of helpful filtering options.

Might run into non-textbook materials like audio or video.

Open Educational Resources (OER) is a digital public library that offers a variety of free textbooks to anyone and everyone. There are over 10 subject areas you can look through, and each subject is divided into three grade levels (primary, secondary, post-secondary).

Choose Textbook from the side of the page to filter out all the other kinds of content you can find here, which includes lectures, guides, games, full courses, and case studies. Each download page provides a link to view the textbook online in your browser.

Free Books About Freedom: Online Library of Liberty

No user account is required to get free books.

Download textbooks in a few different file formats.

Several ways to browse the textbooks.

Some textbooks are scanned copies that aren't as easy to read.

The Online Library of Liberty has over 1,700 free textbooks pertaining to the subjects of individual liberty and free markets. You can browse for the books by title, author, time period, and idea. This website lets you download PDF textbooks, or you can choose the HTML option to read the textbooks online.

Free K-12 Textbooks: Curriki

Range of textbooks meant for K-12 students.

Extensive filtering option.

Must create a free account to download textbooks.

Some download links don't work.

Curriki offers a fantastic array of free textbooks in categories like health, language arts, world languages, technology, and math. There are books for all grade levels including K-12 and college. Curriki also has textbooks for special education and professional development. There's also a lot of other helpful educational content, so be sure to select the Textbook filter option to see only the free books.

Free Public Domain Books: Project Gutenberg

Multiple download options.

You can read the textbook online if you want.

Limited selection of school textbooks.

Most of the books are very old.

Project Gutenberg offers a wide selection of over 60,000 texts. Many are eBooks in the public domain, but there are also free textbooks. There isn't a page dedicated to just online textbooks, so the best way to find free textbooks on this site is through the search tool. If you're taking a classical literature class, there's a good chance you can find all of the required reading at Project Gutenberg.

Free Books Message Boards: Reddit User Submissions

Updates frequently with new submissions.

Request help from other students looking for free books.

Many older links no longer work.

Some links might not be legitimate (i.e., they could violate copyrights).

Reddit is a great platform for sharing content, and you can use it to find free textbooks online. It's common for users to share links to free textbooks and websites where free books can be downloaded.

Not all of the links are valid because some older ones have been taken down. If this is the case, you can reply to the thread and ask for an updated link, or start a new topic requesting help finding a book.

More Ways to Get Free and Cheap Textbooks

Here are some more websites where you can find textbooks for free or cheap:

  • Book exchange sites
  • BookFinder.com
  • Affordabook.com

Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day

  • 17 Best Sites to Download Free Books in 2024
  • 14 Best Ways to Get Free Books
  • 22 Best Places to Get Free Kindle Books in 2024
  • How to Find Public Domain Books Online
  • 18 Best Places to Download Free Audiobooks in 2024
  • 15 Best Places to Get Free Music Downloads Legally
  • The 20 Best Free Learning Websites for Kids in 2024
  • 13 Best Places to Watch Free Movies Online
  • The 17 Best Android Tablet Apps of 2024
  • 16 Best Free Kindle Book Sites for Kids
  • 11 Best Free Movie Download Sites for 2024
  • 9 Best Sites for Public Domain Images
  • Best Free Family Feud PowerPoint Templates
  • 14 Best Places to Find Free Easter E-Cards and Online Invites
  • 11 Best Sites for Book Lovers
  • The 8 Best Free Wallpaper Sites

IMAGES

  1. 15 Best Websites that Offer Free College Textbooks

    websites for free textbooks

  2. Top 10 Websites to Download Free PDF Textbooks in 2023

    websites for free textbooks

  3. 10 Websites to Find Free Textbooks Online

    websites for free textbooks

  4. 15 Best Websites that Offer Free College Textbooks

    websites for free textbooks

  5. 15 Best Websites that Offer Free College Textbooks

    websites for free textbooks

  6. 22 Best and Safe Websites to Download Free Textbooks

    websites for free textbooks

VIDEO

  1. Websites for FREE textbooks #students #studymotivation #study #studentlife 👩🏻‍🔬

  2. Financial And Managerial Accounting The Basis For Business Decisions

  3. A Survey Of Mathematics With Applications

  4. New, cheaper ways to get textbooks

  5. Auditing A Practical Approach with Data Analytics

  6. Computer Organization and Design The Hardware Software Interface