Frequently asked questions

Hikara is a reading tracker that shows how your books connect. You keep your library, track your reading and save highlights, and Hikara's AI finds the connections between your books: which echo each other, which challenge each other, and which bridge different fields.

See also: What is a reading knowledge graph?

It depends on what you want from one. If you want to understand your reading (how books relate, where your blind spots are), Hikara is built for that. If you mainly want a big community and native phone apps, Goodreads or StoryGraph may suit you better; our comparisons say so plainly.

See also: Hikara compared with other apps · The best Goodreads alternatives

Sign up with email or Google, then import your Goodreads library or add books by search or from a screenshot of a shelf. Hikara starts finding connections as your books arrive, and the Reading tab gives you a short daily routine: a connection card, your streak and what to read next.

Yes. The free Goodreads analyzer reads your Goodreads export in your browser and shows your reading by year, rating habits, blind spots and to-read pile, with nothing uploaded. You can also browse books and their connections, and a demo of the library visualizations.

See also: Free Goodreads analyzer · Discover books

Hikara is a web app that works in any phone browser and can be installed to your home screen, with notifications for your daily card and streak. There isn't an App Store or Google Play app.

Yes. Export your library from Goodreads as a CSV (on a computer: My Books, then Import and export, then Export Library), then upload it on Hikara's Import page. Your statuses, ratings, reviews, private notes and dates come across, and books already in your library are skipped.

See also: Step-by-step import guide

Not directly. Hikara's importer reads Goodreads' export format, and StoryGraph's export uses different columns. You can add books by search or from a screenshot of a shelf, or import a Goodreads export if you still have one.

See also: Hikara vs StoryGraph

Yes. Goodreads is owned by Amazon; Hikara isn't connected to either. Your export is a file you download and upload, and Hikara never signs in to your Goodreads or Amazon account.

Three: an echo (two books that reinforce the same idea), a challenge (two books that disagree or pull against each other) and a bridge (books from different fields that share an idea). Each connection has a strength from 0 to 100 and an explanation of why the books relate.

See also: Glossary: echo, challenge and bridge

For each pair of books it considers their titles, authors and subjects along with your ratings and notes, then writes an explanation of the link it finds. Results are saved, so a connection between two books is worked out once.

Not directly; connections come from the AI. Your notes on a book are part of what it reads, though, so what you write shapes what it finds.

Statuses (want to read, reading, read, did not finish), ratings, notes and takeaways, progress by page or by percentage, a reading-session log, streaks with automatic freeze credits, annual and per-book goals, custom and smart shelves, and an Up Next queue.

A way to find books by describing a mood in your own words, like "melancholic morning reads", instead of picking genres. Hikara's AI suggests books that fit. Free includes one a month, Basic eight, and Premium is unlimited.

Select two to five books in your library and Hikara suggests a book that would bring them together: useful when you're deciding what to read next around a theme.

See also: How to find connections between your books

Dialogues let you talk to your books. Pick one or more books and ask a question; the answers draw on the passages you've highlighted in them.

Hikara has a free plan with an unlimited library, Goodreads import, reading tracking, highlights and the daily connection card. Basic costs $3.49 a month and Premium $6.99 a month, each with a 7-day free trial; prices are lower in some regions.

See also: Plans and prices

More AI: higher monthly allowances on Basic and unlimited use on Premium for vibe search, the gap finder, Dialogues, library-wide connection analysis and reading-personality reports, plus unlimited custom shelves (Free includes three).

Only you. Your library, notes and highlights are private to your account. Something becomes public only when you choose to share it, such as a shelf, a reading-personality page or your year in review, and a published year in review can be unpublished.

To find connections, Hikara sends a book's details along with your rating and notes for that book to the AI service that analyses them. The privacy policy describes the services that process data on Hikara's behalf.

See also: Privacy policy

Yes. From Account settings you can download your library as a CSV with titles, authors, ISBNs, ratings, dates, shelves and notes, laid out like a Goodreads export.

Yes, from Account settings. You have 30 days to change your mind and restore it; after that, your account and all its data are permanently deleted.