Bookplate began as a small app I made for myself to keep track of my books. I had tried other book tracking websites before, but wanted something a little more customisable. For instance, some websites didn’t offer note taking, others didn’t offer statistics, etc.
I found this app to be quite useful, so decided to make it open source for others to host on their own hardware and use. I named it “Bookplate” because, like the definition of the word, I wanted it to represent… ownership? Your reading data and notes would all be on your own hardware, instead of sold and used for advertising.
Some days later, I got requests to build this as a hosted service, as setting it up on your own servers is, admittedly, a hassle. That would obviously go against the ownership narrative, so I decided to offer both options, using an Open Core framework. Free and open source for those who want to host it themselves, otherwise free through making an account online, for those that don’t want to host it themselves.
The website is still in its infancy, and I’m excited to introduce new features in the future. Got any feature requests, or any feedback? Get in touch.