Why Albuc exists

I read a lot. Or at least I try to. And every time I finished a book, the same thing happened: the ideas faded. Highlights lived in three different apps. Notes were scattered between the actual pages of the book, my notebooks, Notion, and Apple Notes. Goodreads knew what I read, but not what I thought about it.

I wanted one place: a library that felt like mine. Not a social feed, not a generic note app. Something where each book had a shelf, a status, a rating, and room for my own words. Something where I could later ask “what did I think about X?” and get an answer from my notes, not the internet.

Goodreads gives you the catalog. Notion gives you the blank page. Neither gives you both, tied to the books you actually read. That gap is what Albuc fills.

Why it's free

I built this because I needed it. I'm a developer, and this is the tool I wished existed. Hosting it costs me a little, but not much, and the joy of other readers using something I made is worth more than charging for it. No paywall, no premium tier. Just sign up and use it.

The code is open on GitHub if you're curious how it works. But you don't need to run anything yourself. Just come read, take notes, and build on what you learn.

— Andrés Bolívar