Higher education 🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom Since 2016 4.5 · 1K ratings

Perlego

Subscription digital library of academic and professional ebooks.

Visit perlego.com All companies
books on the Complete plan
1.5M+
a month for Essential in the UK
£10
revenue in the year to April 2025
£14.8M
on Trustpilot, 2,486 reviews
4.4

About Perlego

Perlego is a London company that runs a subscription library of academic and professional ebooks. Essential gives 800,000+ books, and Complete gives 1.5 million+ books plus premium Read Aloud voices and the AI Research Assistant. In the UK Essential costs £10 a month or £79 a year, and Complete £16 a month or £128 a year. In the US the same plans cost $15 and $27 a month, or $125 and $199 a year. Readers highlight, take notes, copy citations in 24 styles and download up to 30 books for offline reading in the iPhone and Android apps.

Perlego sells one subscription to a library of ebooks from publishers. A reader pays monthly, every 4 months or yearly and reads any book in the plan’s library while the subscription is active. Perlego pays 65% of every subscription fee to publishers, and publishers decide in which regions each book is available.

Gauthier Van Malderen and Matt Davis started Perlego after paying for textbooks as students. Perlego Limited was registered in London on 29 April 2016. In 2018 the library had 650 publishers, in 2019 it had 250,000 books from 2,300 publishers, and in 2022 about 800,000 titles from 5,000+ publishers.

Universities buy access for their students, among them the University of Leeds since 2024. Since August 2026 US college libraries can add Perlego in the Libby app from OverDrive. Investors have put in about $75 million, the latest round of $20 million led by Sir Terry Leahy in 2024. In the year to April 2025 revenue grew 12.8% to £14.8 million, and the group reported a loss.

History

  1. 2016 Perlego Limited is registered in London on 29 April.
  2. 2017 Raises £850,000 seed funding from angel investors, among them Alex Chesterman and Simon Franks.
  3. 2018 Raises $4.8 million led by ADV. The library has 650 publishers, and the plan costs £12 a month.
  4. 2019 Series A of £7 million led by Dedicated VC and Thomas Leysen. The library has 250,000 books from 2,300 publishers.
  5. 2022 Raises $50 million led by Mediahuis Ventures to grow in the US. The library has about 800,000 titles.
  6. 2024 The University of Leeds becomes the first Russell Group university to use Perlego.
  7. 2024 Raises $20 million led by Sir Terry Leahy and launches the AI Research Assistant.
  8. 2025 Revenue for the year to April reaches £14.8 million, up 12.8%. The net loss falls to £6.8 million.
  9. 2025 From November, new personal subscribers get the Research Assistant on the Complete plan only.
  10. 2026 Perlego moves its registered office to 1 Waterhouse Square, Holborn, in May.
  11. 2026 OverDrive adds Perlego to Libby Extras for US academic libraries from 1 August.

Perlego funding and investors

about $75 million raised in disclosed rounds
  1. January 2017
    Seed £850,000

    Alex ChestermanSimon FranksAngel investors from the UK, Belgium and France

    Source: Wikipedia
  2. September 2018
    Venture $4.8 million

    Lead: ADV Simon FranksAlex ChestermanPeter Hinssen

    Source: Pulse 2.0
  3. November 2019
    Series A £7 million

    Lead: Dedicated VC and Thomas Leysen ADVSimon FranksAlex Chesterman

    Source: EdSurge
  4. March 2022
    Series B $50 million

    Lead: Mediahuis Ventures Raine VenturesEvli Growth PartnersWe Are HumanPublishers and angel investors

    Source: Tech.eu
  5. October 2024
    Series B+ $20 million

    Lead: Sir Terry Leahy ITHAKAMediahuisRaineKPN VenturesKahoot founders

    Source: Tech.eu

Total as reported by Tech.eu in October 2024. The group accounts for the year to 30 April 2025 record a Series B+ round of £14.1 million during that year and do not name the investors. Companies House lists no person with significant control since February 2023.

Leadership

  • Gauthier Van Malderen Co-founder and CEO

Matt Davis co-founded Perlego with Van Malderen. Companies House lists five directors, among them Van Malderen since 2016.

Careers

Careers on Workable
1 open roles on 7 October 2026
  • Engineering1

How Perlego works

books on Essential
800K+
books on Complete
1.5M+
books downloaded at a time in the app
30
  • Highlights and notes
  • Notebook across books
  • Bookmarks
  • Read Aloud
  • Citations in 24 styles
  • RIS export to Zotero, EndNote and Mendeley
  • Smart Search
  • Research Assistant
  • Ask the Book
  • Offline reading in the app
  • BeeLine Reader
  • Dyslexia-friendly font
  • Shared bookshelves

Products

  • Perlego eReader Read in the browser or the app with highlights, notes, bookmarks, Read Aloud, BeeLine and a dyslexia-friendly font. The app downloads up to 30 books for offline reading. Reader features
  • References and citations One click copies a reference in 24 styles, among them APA 7, Harvard, MLA 8, Chicago, OSCOLA and Vancouver. In-text citations with page numbers work for some styles, on the website only. Citation styles
  • Research Assistant An AI assistant on the web that answers research questions with citations from academic books in the library and recommends titles. It searches English-language books only and is part of the Complete plan. How it works
  • Smart Search Type a research question in plain words. Results show key books and short excerpts from over 500,000 English-language titles. Smart Search
  • Ask the Book An AI panel inside the eReader that explains and finds passages in the book you are reading. It works on the Complete plan, in the browser, on titles where the publisher has opted in. Ask the Book
  • Perlego for Institutions Universities, colleges and companies buy access for groups. Up to 100 subscriptions can be bought online, with discounts from 50. Get a quote

How much is Perlego?

  • Essential, monthly £10/mo £10, charged every month Base monthly price
  • Essential, semester £7.50/mo £30, charged every 4 months Save 25% vs Essential, monthly
  • Lowest price Essential, yearly £6.58/mo £79, charged every 12 months Save 34% vs Essential, monthly
  • Complete, monthly £16/mo £16, charged every month Base monthly price
  • Complete, semester £12/mo £48, charged every 4 months Save 25% vs Complete, monthly
  • Most popular plan Complete, yearly £10.67/mo £128, charged every 12 months Save 33% vs Complete, monthly

Is Perlego free?

There is no free plan. Anyone can search the library without a subscription, and the Research Assistant answers a limited number of free questions.

UK prices in pounds from Perlego’s pricing data on 7 October 2026. In the US the same plans cost $15 and $27 a month, $45 and $79 every 4 months, or $125 and $199 a year. Visitors from the EU see €10 and €16 a month, or €80 and €129 a year. Perlego sets prices by the country of the account, and its pricing data also lists test prices for some visitors.

How to cancel Perlego

Terms
  • perlego.com ↗
    1. Log in on the website, click your initial and open Settings
    2. Open the Subscription tab, then Manage and Cancel subscription
    3. Choose a reason, decline the pause offer and click Yes, cancel
  • You can cancel only on the website, also in a phone browser. The app has no cancel option.
  • Access lasts until the end of the paid period. Downloaded books close when the subscription ends.
  • Notes, highlights and reading progress are kept if you come back.
  • A subscription can be paused for 1, 3 or 6 months, and the pause can be extended twice.
  • Support answers at help@perlego.com and in live chat, Sunday to Friday, 9:00 to 20:00 GMT.

Refund rules

First payment
Email help@perlego.com within 14 days of your first ever payment for a refund. The terms let Perlego keep the cost of the days already used.
Renewals
The help centre says renewals are not refunded. The terms add a 14-day right to cancel after a renewal of 12 months or more.
Unused time
No prorated refund for the rest of a billing period, also after deleting the account.
Disputes
Law of England and Wales or of your country of residence, with non-exclusive jurisdiction of English courts.

From the Perlego help centre and terms and conditions, checked on 7 October 2026.

Perlego for universities and companies

Perlego for Institutions
  • 01Up to 100 subscriptions can be bought online with an instant quote, with discounts from 50.
  • 02Groups get admin access to manage users and track their reading in the Subscription Manager.
  • 03Groups of 100+ get an account manager, onboarding webinars, integrations with existing systems and priority support.
  • 04Institution accounts expire after a year unless the institution renews them. Students pay nothing for institution access.

Prices on a quote. Content from some publishers is not part of the unlimited model for institutions.

Ratings

4.4Trustpilot · Excellent 2,486 reviews · company profile claimed in February 2018

Perlego app

Current version
6.9.2, released 27 August 2026
Requires
iOS 13 or later, Android 8 or later
Downloads
100K+ on Google Play
Devices
2 in the app and 2 on the web per account
Offline
Up to 30 books, downloads expire after 30 days unread or 180 days

Is Perlego worth it?

What readers like

What readers criticise

What users write in reviews, not our rating. In the UK Essential costs £10 a month and Complete £16, and refunds apply only within 14 days of the first payment.

Perlego reviews

  • I enjoy the reading aloud function
    “I enjoy the reading aloud function.”
    MA student · 29 September 2026 · App Store
  • The price is good, the selection not so much on the essential tier
    “The price is good, but after signing in, I found out that 95% of the books I am interested in, are not available unless I upgrade to a premium subscription.”
    mtgwing · 10 September 2026 · App Store
  • ePUB bait and switch
    “The company advertises ePUB downloads for its textbooks, which would be useful for me for study sessions on my e-reader.”
    Steve · 27 May 2026 · App Store

Latest news

  1. Libby and Perlego announce a partnership for academic institutions
  2. Perlego raises $20M to scale up its edtech with AI, Tech.eu
  3. Former Tesco chief takes stake in Perlego, HE Libtech
  4. University of Leeds selects Perlego
  5. Perlego raises $50 million, Tech.eu
  6. Perlego raises $9 million Series A, EdSurge

Contacts and company data

Legal entity
Perlego Limited, 1 Waterhouse Square, 138 Holborn, London EC1N 2ST, United Kingdom
Company number
10155026, Companies House
Registered
29 April 2016
VAT
GB 246681777
Result, year to April 2025
Revenue £14.8 million, operating loss £7.3 million
Staff
98 on average in the year to April 2025, 116 a year earlier

Alternatives to Perlego

How we built this profile

  1. Sources. Facts come from the company’s own website, press room, imprint and careers page, from Wikipedia, the App Store, Google Play and Trustpilot. Every source is listed on the page.
  2. Checks. Kinescope checked every number on 7 October 2026. Prices, ratings and job counts change, and we refresh them with each update.
  3. Our words. Descriptions are written by the Kinescope team. Quotes from reviews are marked with the author and source, and we do not rate the company ourselves.
  4. Corrections. The company can send new facts or corrections, and we update the profile.

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Perlego FAQ

On 7 October 2026 in the UK: Essential £10 a month, £30 every 4 months or £79 a year; Complete £16, £48 or £128. In the US: Essential $15, $45 or $125; Complete $27, $79 or $199. Prices depend on the country of the account.

Essential opens 800,000+ books, mostly business, personal growth and the humanities, with one Read Aloud voice. Complete opens 1.5 million+ books including academic titles, adds premium voices, the Research Assistant and Ask the Book.

The plans on the pricing page start with a payment. The terms allow free trials at Perlego’s discretion. The Research Assistant gives a few free questions, and US students can get 30 days through a library that offers Perlego in Libby.

Yes, in the iPhone and Android apps. You can download up to 30 books. A download expires after 30 days without reading or after 180 days. Perlego does not work on Kindle or Kobo.

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