Type: Shadow library — books and academic papers
Collection: 3M+ books, 80M+ scientific articles
Account required: No
Clearnet: libgen.is (changes due to blocking)
Founded: 2008
Last verified: March 2026
Onion Address
LibGen’s clearnet domains change regularly — seized or blocked in the US, UK, Germany, France and others under publisher court orders. The .onion address remains stable regardless of domain availability.
Collection Sections
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Fiction | Novels, short stories, anthologies |
| Non-fiction | History, biography, science, philosophy, technology |
| Scientific Articles | 80M+ peer-reviewed papers across all disciplines |
| Comics | Graphic novels, manga, Western comics |
| Standards | ISO, IEEE, ASTM — technical standards often sold for $150–400 each |
| Magazines | Periodicals, journals, technical publications |
LibGen vs. Sci-Hub for Academic Papers
Both host scientific papers but work differently. Sci-Hub fetches papers live from publisher sites when not cached — better coverage of very recent publications. LibGen holds cached copies — slightly less current but also searches books, textbooks and other content Sci-Hub doesn’t cover. For papers, try Sci-Hub first; use LibGen for books and as a fallback for older papers.