What is Perlego?
If you‘re a student, academic, or simply a knowledge-hungry individual, you know that textbooks and scholarly resources can cost a pretty penny. Enter Perlego – an innovative online library that‘s been called the "Spotify of textbooks."
Perlego offers subscribers unlimited access to over 900,000 textbooks, books, and academic resources for one affordable monthly or yearly fee. No more shelling out hundreds on hardcovers you‘ll barely crack open or wasting time trying to hunt down that niche publication. With Perlego, you get all you can read, online and offline, for an easy flat rate.
In addition to the expansive selection, Perlego‘s slick platform has convenient built-in features like highlighting, note-taking, referencing, and search to enhance your research and learning. Plus, you can access Perlego on your phone, tablet, or computer for flexibility.
This brilliant solution to the problem of pricey textbooks has garnered a lot of well-deserved buzz. Perlego‘s been featured in major press like the BBC, Forbes, and The Guardian and has quickly grown a solid fanbase, with over 20K followers on Facebook and 25K on Instagram.
But Perlego is more than just a business – it‘s a noble mission. Founded by Belgian entrepreneurs Matthew Davis and Gauthier Van Malderen in 2016, Perlego aims to break down the financial barriers to education and make learning accessible to all. As recent university grads themselves, Davis and Malderen understood the frustration of spending exorbitant sums on textbooks you barely use.
By partnering with thousands of the world‘s top academic publishers like Oxford, Cambridge, Wiley, and McGraw Hill, Perlego can offer a robust library covering hundreds of topics while keeping costs down for subscribers. It‘s a win-win.
Whether you‘re working on a dissertation, trying to skill up for your career, or simply an ardent lifelong learner, Perlego is here to fuel your curiosity without draining your wallet. In this comprehensive review, we‘ll take a deep dive into how Perlego works, what real users think, and whether it‘s right for you.
Let‘s get into it!
Perlego Subscription Plans & Pricing
One of the best things about Perlego is the simplicity of its subscription model. Unlike some other services that confuse you with tiered plans and different access levels, Perlego gives every single subscriber unlimited access to its entire library.
Perlego offers two straightforward subscription options:
- Monthly plan for $18 per month
- Annual plan for $144 per year (equivalent to $12 per month)
That‘s it! Whether you go month-to-month or commit to a year, you‘ll unlock Perlego‘s full suite of 900,000+ titles across a vast range of topics like computer science, economics, history, biology, and beyond. Perlego actually lists 24 main topic categories on the site, with tens of thousands of titles available for each subject.
Impressively, Perlego goes beyond strictly academic content. You‘ll also find reads on personal development, fiction classics, theology, the arts, and more. So while students and scholars will certainly get the most mileage, Perlego has something for hobbyists too.
Both subscription plans come with all of Perlego‘s perks and features, including:
- Unlimited reading access
- Downloading for offline access
- Highlighting and note-taking
- One-click quote referencing
- Adjustable page lighting and font size
- Keyword and passage search
So really, the only difference between the two plans is how you pay and how much of a discount you get for going annual. Monthly is great if you only need Perlego for a limited time (like a semester), while annual offers the best value if you‘ll be using it regularly.
Whichever route you choose, you can cancel anytime without penalty. Perlego makes it easy to end your subscription in a few clicks (no need to call and argue with someone). If you pre-paid for a year, you‘ll keep your access until the end of that year, but Perlego doesn‘t give refunds for unused time. Monthly subscribers can duck out anytime and just pay for the month of access.
Affordability and flexibility – music to any student‘s ears.
Getting Started with Perlego
Using Perlego is a breeze. Once you create an account and choose a plan, you can instantly start exploring the library through Perlego‘s website or mobile apps (available for both iOS and Android).
The interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. You can browse titles by category, sub-topic, or curated reading lists. Or if you know what you‘re looking for, just search by title, author, ISBN, or keyword.
Clicking on a title brings up its overview page, with details like the author, description, page length, and publication date. From there, simply hit "Start Reading" to dive in.
The reading experience itself is smooth, with crisp page rendering and swift loading times. As you read, you can take advantage of several handy tools including:
- Highlighting: Select and highlight key passages in a range of colors
- Note-taking: Jot down thoughts, questions, and quick reference points
- Search: Quickly find specific quotes or terms within the text
- Referencing: Generate an accurate reference for the quote with a single click (perfect when writing papers)
- Jump to page: Enter a page number to skip around the text
- Contents overview: Get a birds-eye-view of the structure of the book
You can also tailor your reading settings, like bumping up the font size, adjusting the brightness, and shifting between scroll and page flip modes.
If you need to read offline, Perlego lets you download texts for anytime access. Just look for the download icon on any title. You can store as many downloads as your device allows.
The Perlego app syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up right where you left off, whether you‘re on your laptop, tablet, or phone. Your highlights and notes will carry over too.
It‘s clear a lot of thought and care went into crafting an experience perfectly suited for the students and academics who will get the most out of Perlego‘s service. With the reading essentials and none of the fluff, Perlego keeps you focused on what matters – learning.
Is Perlego Legit?
Whenever something seems too good to be true, it‘s smart to wonder about legitimacy. With an offer as sweet as unlimited access to 900K+ texts for a low monthly fee, is Perlego on the up-and-up?
The short answer is: absolutely. Perlego is 100% legit.
While Perlego itself is a relatively new company, it‘s not some fly-by-night operation. The founders bring industry experience from consulting and investing backgrounds and have secured over $15 million in funding to build out their vision.
Most importantly, Perlego‘s library comes straight from the source. The company has direct partnerships with thousands of the world‘s most prestigious academic publishers, like Bloomsbury, Elsevier, Routledge, Oxford, and Wiley. These publishers license their content to Perlego to offer in its library.
So the books you read on Perlego are the full, official versions, not bootleg PDFs or poorly scanned copies. You‘re getting the same texts you‘d find in the campus bookstore or academic databases, just at a much sweeter price and with a better digital experience.
Of course, there may be some limitations. Not every single book from every single publisher will be on Perlego. The selection can also vary a bit by country due to differing licensing agreements.
To see what‘s available to you, just search Perlego‘s library right on the website. Even without an account, you can browse the full selection and preview excerpts from titles. This transparency means you‘ll know exactly what you‘re getting access to before you commit to subscribing.
All in all, Perlego is the real deal – a legitimate service offering an innovative model for academic content. While it may not have literally every book under the sun, what it does have will more than satisfy the vast majority of learning needs.
What Real Perlego Users Think
You‘ve heard the hype, but what do actual Perlego subscribers have to say about their experience? The consensus is clear: students, academics, and knowledge-seekers are loving this service.
On the brand‘s website, Facebook, and TrustPilot, you‘ll find hundreds of glowing reviews from users thrilled about the access, affordability, and features Perlego provides.
Users rave about the robust selection, which spans a comprehensive range of academic subjects. As one user put it, "I‘m astounded by the collection of books in the library and there‘s something for literally every subject that you can think of."
Students are also quick to call out the cost savings. As any university student knows, textbooks are one of the biggest (and sneakiest) expenses. Being able to score all your course texts for a low flat fee is a game-changer. "Having Perlego has saved me literally thousands on my reading materials this year. Best decision ever," one happy student writes.
For professors and academics, Perlego streamlines their work and lightens their load – while boosting their street cred with students. "My students absolutely love being assigned readings through Perlego. It‘s intuitive, accessible, and so affordable for them," shares one instructor.
Professionals and lifelong learners also get a lot of mileage out of Perlego. The diverse library makes it easy to explore new subjects or dig deeper into areas of interest. "I‘m constantly finding fascinating reads on Perlego, from philosophy to science to self-help. It‘s become my go-to for expanding my knowledge," says one subscriber.
Reviewers also frequently shout out Perlego‘s user-friendly platform and tools. From the seamless UI to the highlighting and note-taking functions, users appreciate how Perlego enhances their learning. "The app is so well designed and a joy to use. It‘s got all the features I need to really engage with the text," explains one user.
The handful of complaints tend to focus on occasionally spotty offline access (which Perlego actively troubleshoots) or wishing for an even wider selection (which the company is always growing).
And Perlego‘s support team gets high marks for being responsive and helpful when users do have questions or run into any snags. The comments are full of appreciation for their quick replies and resourceful solutions.
All in all, the vast majority of Perlego users are big fans. Whether for school, work, or personal enrichment, subscribers feel Perlego delivers incredible value for both learning and their wallets.
The Final Verdict: Is Perlego Worth It?
For students, academics, and ardent learners, Perlego is a resounding yes. This service solves a real, pressing problem in education – the often prohibitively high cost of quality resources. By making learning more affordable and accessible, Perlego levels the playing field.
Think about it this way. One brand new hardcover textbook can easily cost $100 or more. For the price of just one book, you could get several months of Perlego and unlock access to hundreds of thousands of texts. The value is pretty unbeatable.
But Perlego delivers more than just cheap books. The company has put real thought and care into creating a user experience perfectly suited for academic learning and research. From the clean, intuitive interface to the useful tools like highlighting and quick reference generation, everything is designed to help you get the most out of your reading.
The extensive content selection is also a significant draw. With titles spanning topics from architecture to zoology and everything in between, Perlego has you covered for assignments and intellectual curiosity alike. Plus, partnerships with leading publishers mean you‘re getting the best quality, most up-to-date resources.
For students, Perlego is an absolute no-brainer. If the books you need for class are available in the Perlego library, subscribing is a much savvier choice than shelling out for hardcovers. You‘ll get the same content for a small fraction of the price.
Academics and professionals in fields that require a lot of reading and research will also find a ton of value in Perlego. Having an entire reference library at your fingertips anytime, anywhere is a powerful thing. You can look up sources, fact check on the fly, and even do some serendipitous discovery of new information relevant to your work.
Even if you‘re not in academics, Perlego could still be worth it if you‘re an avid non-fiction reader. With thousands of titles in categories like personal development, science, business, philosophy, and more, there‘s enough to keep even the most voracious bibliophiles satisfied for months on end.
Of course, Perlego won‘t have literally every book in existence. If there are very specific texts you need that aren‘t in the Perlego library, it may not be right for you. But for the vast majority, the selection more than satisfies.
Perhaps the best endorsement is this: many university professors and departments are now actively encouraging students to check out Perlego as an affordable alternative to traditional textbook buying. If the experts are vouching for it, you know it‘s legit.
In conclusion, for anyone pursuing education – whether working toward a degree, building your knowledge for a career, or just feeding your curiosity – Perlego is 100% worth a look. With a free trial period and low monthly fee, there‘s little risk and a whole lot of potential reward.
Give Perlego a try and see just how pleasant learning can be with an entire library in your hands and extra cash in your pocket.
