Last Updated on August 10, 2022
Many students find it hard to own textbooks mainly due to cost and availability; however, there are several websites from which these textbooks can be downloaded for free.
These websites are reliable, feature the most user-friendly interfaces, and offer free textbooks that have been thoughtfully organized to improve the user’s search experience.
Curious to know where you can download college textbooks for free? Don’t worry! Here, we’ve put together a list of websites to download college textbooks for free. Find more details below;
Table of Contents
Websites To Download College Textbooks For Free
Below are some of the best websites to download college textbooks for free.
- Bookboon
- OpenStax
- Open Textbook Library
- Saylrangeor Academy
- IntechOpen
- Online Mathematics Textbooks
- Project Gutenberg
- Wikibooks
- The Assayer
- Internet Archive Open Library
- Freeditorial
- ManyBooks.net
- ScholarWorks
- OpenEd
1. Bookboon
For college students, Bookboon offers a huge range of free textbooks in a variety of areas. It is a fantastic resource in particular for college students interested in business and STEM disciplines. The fact that this organization also provides a wide selection of textbooks on professional development, such as those on how to manage stress at work, internship advice, writing skills, and interview techniques, really sets it apart from its competitors. They also offer company success-oriented entrepreneurship materials.
Users only need to complete a brief form in order to download any textbook, making it simple to use. This is just one of the many reasons why Bookboon has been successful since its launch in 2005.
2. OpenStax
If you’ve heard of OpenStax before, it’s likely because it serves as the platform for Bill Gates’ textbook donations and is the go-to resource for college students who are just beginning their academic careers. The organization was established by Rice University in 2011 and is funded by collaborations with a variety of charitable organizations, including the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation. Since OpenStax’s textbooks are peer-reviewed by real educators, they are relevant and adhere to the majority of general course curricula.
The textbook collection is available in a variety of formats and covers topics including physics, biology, sociology, pre-calculus, history, and more (including PDF and EPUB).
3. Open Textbook Library
The Open Textbook Library is well aware of the financial burden that purchasing textbooks can entail, even going so far as to say that it may be a factor in why some students decide to drop out of school or fail their courses. Fortunately, its extensive and continually expanding library of peer-reviewed, free textbooks may be able to assist.
The Open Textbook Library, which is based in Minnesota, US, covers all major disciplines and even has a section of self-help and study success materials created especially for students. You can choose the textbook that is best for you by using the helpful rating systems that have been supplied for each of the books by other users.
4. Saylrangeor Academy
Saylor Academy, which started its open education adventure formally in 2008, has a fantastic library of cost-free textbooks that are simple to find. There are other sections for less conventional professions like online marketing, social media, and public speaking, and it covers a wide of subjects so you are sure to find something to help you with your studies.
Saylor Academy encourages users to spread the word about its library of textbooks and share them with others. If you’d like to provide feedback on the textbooks available, you can complete a brief survey and make suggestions. In contrast, the majority of textbooks are accessible in Microsoft Word, EPUB, and PDF formats.
5. IntechOpen
IntechOpen, which was founded in 2004 and is not to be confused with the failed Initech business of Office Space fame, is one of the biggest producers of free textbooks in the world. With a library of over 2,000 published textbooks, as the name implies, there are a ton of textbook alternatives and articles available for computer science, robotics, and other STEM courses. Even a variety of peer-reviewed journals are available for selection.
According to the website, IntechOpen has given users from all around the world more than 60 million downloads, demonstrating that it is one of the most reputable and widely utilized providers on the market.
6. Lyryx
Lyryx provides open textbooks and other accessible educational resources in accordance with UNSECO’s framework for global educational progress and social responsibility. They mostly concentrate on topics like business, economics, arithmetic, and statistics.
Along with their open textbooks, Lyryx has also developed educational software that provides summative exams and formative online homework so that you can hone your abilities and understanding in each topic.
7. Online Mathematics Textbooks
As the site’s name implies, students majoring in history may find little use for it, but those studying mathematics—or, in fact, any STEM discipline, such as engineering, chemistry, or computer science—might find Online Mathematics Textbooks to be of great use.
It might not seem like much with a very simple HTML design, but the results speak for themselves. The website lists 77 publications, ranging from basic pre-calculus texts to abstract and difficult works. Online mathematics textbooks should be able to help you if your course incorporates numbers or if you want to study certain ideas on your own time.
8. Project Gutenberg
Fans of the Police Academy may be disappointed to learn that Project Gutenberg isn’t, as the name may imply, a shrine to Hollywood actor Steve Gutenberg, but rather a vast and in-depth collection of free, easily accessible instructional materials.
Additionally, the website does not merely list textbooks. It is the ideal resource for students studying the humanities and the arts because it has a large number of original publications that, in some cases, date back thousands of years. Along with audiobooks, data compilations, and even sheet music, texts are also offered in a variety of languages. Although the design may not be the most user-friendly, Project Gutenberg is one of the best sources for textbooks available.
9. Wikibooks
Wikibooks, like its sister website Wikipedia, is a very helpful program that collects knowledge and experience from all around the world and organizes it into a single, digestible resource. However, this open source strategy has the same academic weakness as Wikipedia because anyone may modify the material, negating its scholarly authority.
However, Wikibooks is a terrific place to start for understanding specific ideas or subjects, especially in the social sciences and STEM sectors, and the language learning tools are quite helpful. Overall, this is a fantastic resource for deepening your awareness of specific academic disciplines, though if you’re planning to cite anything, you may want to visit your school library first.
10. The Assayer
The Assayer, which was founded in 2000, contains a sizable library of free books that were made available by their writers. This database may not contain the most recent topic matter, but you will have access to a wide range of pertinent books.
Additionally, you have the choice to sign up as a member of this website, which will enable you to publish your own evaluations of the content that is already there and participate in conversations with other users of the platform.
11. Freeditorial
In an effort to promote literature and make texts available to all readers, Freeditorial, an internet publishing business, offers free book downloads. Everything from classical literature to history and biography to scholarly essays can be found here.
Additionally, Freeditorial enables authors to submit and self-publish their works, which other community members can view for free.
12. ManyBooks.net
ManyBooks.net features a sizable library of free textbooks available for PDF and eBook download in a variety of languages. You may easily download texts by searching the available content by author, genre, or keywords. It’s also important to note that the ManyBooks Discuss portion of the website allows you to communicate with both writers and other readers.
13. OpenEd
By providing a selection of openly licensed textbooks, the OpenEd project, run by BC Campus, strives to increase student access to higher education. Since then, OpenEd has compiled resources for the top 40 subjects in British Columbia with the largest enrollment, including accounting, biology, business, sociology, the visual arts, and media. Additionally, the platform has amassed resources for trades, technology, and skill development. You can use the site’s search bar to look through the open textbook collection or choose a topic that interests you.