Best Media Tracker Apps in 2026: Track Books, Movies, Games & More

Your reading list is on Goodreads. Your movie watchlist is on Letterboxd. Your game backlog lives on Backloggd. Your TV shows are scattered across three streaming apps. That is five different trackers — and you still do not have a clear picture of your total backlog.

This guide compares the best media tracker apps in 2026 across every major category: books, movies, TV shows, games, and podcasts. We cover specialized single-media trackers and all-in-one solutions, so you can find the right tool for how you actually consume media.

What Makes a Good Media Tracker?

Before comparing apps, it helps to know what separates a good tracker from a mediocre one. Not all trackers are built the same, and the features that matter depend on how many media types you follow.

The criteria that matter most:

• Multi-media support — Can it handle more than one content type, or are you locked into books only or movies only?
• Organization method — Flat lists get unwieldy fast. Kanban boards, shelves, or status columns make large backlogs manageable.
• Metadata auto-fill — You should not have to type in the author, release date, and cover image manually. Good trackers pull this from databases like TMDB, OpenLibrary, or IGDB.
• Cross-platform access — A tracker you can only use on your phone is limiting. Web access matters.
• Public profiles — Sharing what you are reading, watching, or playing is a feature many people value for discovery and social accountability.

Best Book Tracking Apps

Goodreads

Goodreads has the largest book database on the internet and the most active community. Reading challenges, annual goals, and friend activity keep millions of users engaged. It is the default choice for book tracking.

The downsides are well known. The interface has not been significantly updated since Amazon acquired it in 2013. Search is slow, the recommendation algorithm is mediocre, and the organization is limited to flat shelves. There is no visual board or priority system — just long lists.

StoryGraph

StoryGraph is the modern Goodreads alternative that many readers have switched to. Its standout feature is mood-based recommendations — it asks what kind of reading experience you want (adventurous, dark, hopeful) and suggests titles accordingly. The stats dashboard is also more detailed than Goodreads.

The trade-off is a smaller community. If social features and reading groups drive your tracking habit, Goodreads still wins on sheer network size.

Bookwyrm

Bookwyrm is open-source and federated, meaning it connects to the Fediverse (Mastodon, etc.). It appeals to users who want to own their data and avoid corporate platforms. The book database is decent but smaller than Goodreads. Best suited for users who value privacy and open-source principles over feature depth.

Best Movie and TV Tracking Apps

Letterboxd

Letterboxd is the gold standard for movie logging. The community is active, the design is beautiful, and the discovery features (popular lists, curated collections) are genuinely excellent. If you care about the social side of movie watching — reviews, ratings, discussions — nothing else comes close.

The limitation is scope. Letterboxd is movies only. There is partial TV support (miniseries), but no full series tracking. And the watchlist is a flat list with no priority columns or Kanban-style organization.

Trakt

Trakt covers both movies and TV shows, with its killer feature being automatic scrobbling. Connect it to your streaming apps (Plex, Kodi, Emby) and it logs what you watch without manual input. The tracking is detailed down to individual episodes, and the calendar view shows upcoming releases.

The interface is functional but not beautiful. Community features are weaker than Letterboxd. Trakt is best for users who want accurate, automatic tracking over social engagement.

Simkl

Simkl is similar to Trakt but with stronger anime support and auto-sync capabilities. It pulls data from multiple sources and syncs across platforms. The UI is cleaner than Trakt, and the anime/manga integration makes it a strong pick if those are part of your watchlist.

Best Game Tracking Apps

Backloggd

Backloggd is essentially Letterboxd for games. It uses IGDB data for its game database, has community reviews and ratings, and lets you log games with completion status. The design is clean and the community is growing. If you only track games and want a social component, Backloggd is the best dedicated option.

HowLongToBeat

HowLongToBeat takes a different approach: instead of social logging, it focuses on completion times. Every game has community-submitted data on how long the main story, side content, and completionist runs take. This is invaluable for planning — when you have 20 hours free and want to finish something, you can pick the right game.

The tracking features are more basic than Backloggd. You can mark games as playing, completed, or backlog, but there is no Kanban board or priority system.

GG|

GG| (GG Pipe) is a newer game tracker with a clean, modern UI. It focuses on simplicity: add games, mark their status, write short reviews. The database pulls from IGDB. It is less feature-dense than Backloggd but appeals to users who want a streamlined experience without clutter.

Best Podcast Tracking Apps

Podcast tracking is the odd one out. Most podcast apps — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast — have built-in tracking in the form of subscription management, played/unplayed markers, and queue systems.

What they lack is the backlog concept. There is no "I want to listen to this podcast eventually" shelf. No Kanban board to move shows from "Interested" to "Listening" to "Finished." If you follow dozens of podcasts and want to manage them the same way you manage your book or game backlog, the built-in tools fall short.

This is one area where an all-in-one tracker fills a gap that no dedicated podcast app addresses.

Best All-in-One Media Trackers

The apps above are all excellent at their single media type. But if you track two or more types — and most people do — you end up maintaining multiple accounts, multiple interfaces, and multiple habits. That is where all-in-one trackers come in.

BacklogBox takes the all-in-one approach with Kanban boards for every media type. You get a separate board for books, movies, TV series, games, and podcasts, each with customizable columns. The search auto-fills metadata from TMDB, OpenLibrary, IGDB, and other sources — so adding items is fast.

The advantage of consolidation is real. Instead of checking Goodreads for books, Letterboxd for movies, and Backloggd for games, you see your entire media backlog in one place. When you have a free evening, you do not need to open three apps to decide what to consume — you look at one dashboard.

Additional features that matter for an all-in-one approach:

• Custom lists — Go beyond the five standard media types. Track restaurants, travel destinations, wine, or anything else in the same Kanban format.
• Public profiles — Share your boards with friends or embed them on your personal site.
• Consistent UX — The same drag-and-drop Kanban interface everywhere. No relearning a new system for each media type.

How to Choose the Right Tracker

The right choice depends on how many media types you actively track and what you value most. Here is a simple decision framework:

If you only track one media type — a specialized tracker is likely the best fit. Letterboxd for movies, Goodreads or StoryGraph for books, Backloggd for games. The community features and depth of metadata are hard to beat.

If you track two or more media types — an all-in-one tracker saves real time. Maintaining two separate apps is manageable. Maintaining four or five is not. The context switching and habit fragmentation add up.

If organization is your priority — look for Kanban boards or column-based systems, not just flat lists. Being able to drag items between "Backlog", "In Progress", and "Completed" is a fundamentally better experience than scrolling through a long watchlist.

You can also use both. Keep Letterboxd for the movie community and reviews, but use BacklogBox for the actual backlog management across all your media. They serve different purposes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there one app that tracks books, movies, games, and TV shows?

Yes. All-in-one media trackers like BacklogBox let you track books, movies, TV series, games, and podcasts in a single app with separate Kanban boards for each type. You can also create custom lists for anything else you want to organize.

Are specialized trackers better than all-in-one apps?

Specialized trackers often have deeper community features for their specific media type — Letterboxd for movie reviews, Goodreads for reading challenges. But if your main goal is organizing your backlog across multiple media types, an all-in-one tracker is more practical and saves time.

What should I look for in a media tracker app?

The most important features are multi-media support (so you do not need five apps), automatic metadata fetching (so you do not enter details manually), a clear organization method like Kanban boards, and cross-platform access so you can update your lists from any device.

Can I switch from Goodreads or Letterboxd to an all-in-one tracker?

You do not have to choose one or the other. Many people keep a specialized app for the community (Letterboxd reviews, Goodreads reading groups) and use an all-in-one tracker like BacklogBox for the actual backlog management and organization across all their media.