Guten for Education

Read, highlight, and take notes in thousands of classic books at no cost.

Guten makes public-domain literature from Project Gutenberg easy to discover, download, read offline, highlight, and annotate on Android. Schools and libraries can simply recommend it. There is no institutional license or deployment process.

Android now. iPhone support is in development.

Guten Library screen
Guten Reader showing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
No account required
×No advertising
Offline reading
Notes & highlights free
No school license required

Free for reading and study

The core student experience is free.

Students do not need Premium to read books, highlight passages, take notes, use bookmarks, share quote cards, or read offline. The free version is a full reading and annotation tool, not a trial.

01

Find, download, and read books

Browse Project Gutenberg by title or author, download complete books, save progress, and keep reading offline.

02

Highlight, annotate, and bookmark

Mark passages, attach notes, save bookmarks, and review or search annotations within each book.

03

Search and look things up

Search within the current leaf or across a whole book, then use Define when a word needs a quick lookup.

04

Make the page comfortable

Adjust fonts, text size, spacing, margins, justification, themes, and navigation. Atkinson Hyperlegible is included.

05

Build a reading habit

Set daily reading goals, follow streaks, and see reading statistics without creating an account.

06

Share what is worth reading

Basic Share Studio turns highlights into quote cards students can share, helping books and passages travel between readers.

See the complete free feature list ↓

Why institutions might choose Guten

A reading resource that does not require an EdTech rollout.

A school, library, ministry, or literacy program can simply link to Guten on Google Play. Students install the app and begin reading. There are no student rosters, institutional accounts, school licenses, or administrative dashboards to configure.

I

Uses devices students already have

Guten is designed for Android phones and tablets rather than specialized reading hardware.

II

Download once, read later

Students can download books when connectivity is available and continue reading offline.

III

Study tools stay free

Highlighting, notes, bookmarks, search, reading goals, and basic Share Studio do not require Premium.

IV

No deployment required

No institutional license, student account provisioning, or integration is needed to recommend the app.

What students can read

Books for a wide range of ages and interests.

Project Gutenberg ranges from children's classics and adventure stories to major works of literature, history, philosophy, and more. Here are a few starting points.

The catalog also includes biography, history, poetry, philosophy, science, and thousands of other works.

Studying Homer? Ulix also makes Breaker of Horses, a focused Iliad and Odyssey reader with Homeric Greek and three classic English translations.

See Breaker of Horses →
Guten Browse screen

Low-connectivity friendly

Download once. Read anywhere.

Once a book is downloaded, students can continue reading without a continuous internet connection. Guten also offers a Wi-Fi-only download option for readers on limited data plans.

Offlineafter download
< 1 MBmost Project Gutenberg EPUBs
No loginto start reading

Privacy and simplicity

Reading data stays with the reader.

Guten does not require an account and does not contain advertising. Downloaded books and reading data such as bookmarks, highlights, notes, and reading progress are stored locally on the device.

Local-first reading data

Guten does not automatically sync a student's reading history to a cloud account. Students can export and restore a backup when they want to move their data.

Read the Guten Privacy Policy →

Minimal network use

Guten connects to Project Gutenberg and related catalog services for book listings and downloads, Google Play for optional Premium billing, and Sentry for crash and reliability diagnostics.

See exactly what Guten sends and stores →

Free vs. optional Premium

The long list is the free list.

Premium is a one-time purchase for readers who want additional organization and convenience. It is not required to access books or use the core study experience.

Free

Core reading + study
  • Browse and search Project Gutenberg
  • Download complete books
  • Read complete books offline
  • Automatic reading progress
  • Bookmarks
  • Highlight passages
  • Add notes to passages
  • Review and search annotations within each book
  • Search within a book
  • Definition lookup
  • Customizable typography: fonts, size, spacing, margins, and justification
  • Reader themes: light, dark, sepia, and system
  • Accessibility support: Atkinson Hyperlegible, TalkBack, and Android font scaling
  • Swipe and chapter/leaf navigation
  • Daily reading goals
  • Reading streaks and statistics
  • Library search and sorting
  • Wi-Fi-only download option
  • Full backup export and restore
  • Basic Share Studio with save/share quote cards
  • Plain-text quote sharing

Optional Premium

One-time purchase
  • Read Aloud / text-to-speech
  • Cross-library Notes Manager
  • Dedicated note & highlight export
  • Collections / shelves
  • Pomodoro reading timer
  • Advanced Share Studio themes, formats, and layouts

Premium adds power-user tools. Reading, highlighting, note-taking, bookmarks, offline access, and Basic Share Studio remain free.

A focused reading experience

From finding a book to finding a passage.

Guten keeps discovery, reading, annotation, and search close together so students can spend more time with the text.

Guten library screen
LibraryDownloaded books stay ready for offline reading.
Guten Reader showing Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas in dark mode
ReaderComfortable typography, themes, highlights, notes, and bookmarks.
Guten search-within-book screen
SearchFind a phrase in the current leaf or across the book.

FAQ

Questions schools and libraries might have.

Is Guten free?

Core reading and study features are free. Students can browse, download, read, bookmark, highlight, take notes, search, set reading goals, use Basic Share Studio, back up their data, and read offline without buying Premium.

Can students highlight and take notes for free?

Yes. Highlighting and note-taking are free, as is reviewing notes and highlights within an individual book. Premium adds the cross-library Notes Manager and dedicated annotation-export formats.

Do students need an account?

No account is required to use Guten. Downloading the app through Google Play uses the student's normal Google Play environment.

Does Guten contain advertising?

No. Guten has no advertising network and does not use reading behavior for advertising or behavioral marketing. Read the Privacy Policy.

Does Guten work offline?

Yes. After a book has been downloaded, it can be read without a continuous internet connection.

Does a school need a license or institutional account?

No. A school, library, university, ministry, or literacy program can simply recommend Guten's Google Play listing to students. There is no institutional setup required for the free reading experience.

What does Premium add?

Premium adds Read Aloud, the cross-library Notes Manager, dedicated note and highlight export, Collections, a Pomodoro reading timer, and advanced Share Studio options. Premium is a one-time purchase.

Where do the books come from?

Guten helps readers discover and read public-domain books available through Project Gutenberg and related catalog services. Guten is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to Project Gutenberg or the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

Is Guten available on iPhone?

Not yet. Guten is currently available on Android, and iPhone support is in development.

Put a library of classics in a student's pocket.

No form, sales call, license agreement, or institutional setup is required. Share the Google Play link and students can start reading.

Get Guten on Google Play

Currently for Android. iPhone support is in development.