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Use cases

Your book club, with a channel for every part of the book

The next meeting, the reading list and the talk about every chapter in one private place.

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What is Groupanda for a book club?

Groupanda, a workspace for private communities, works as a book club app for readers who meet in person or talk only online. The club runs one group. The host posts meetings as events, each part of the book gets its own spoiler channel, and readers join by link or by email. Only members see the conversations. It is free.

  • Free plan with no end date
  • No cap on members
  • Web, iPhone, iPad and Android
  • App in 8 languages

What should a book club look for in an app?

A book club is a few readers or a few dozen who meet now and then and keep talking in between. An app for book club talk should keep the ending away from anyone who hasn't finished and put the meeting details where everyone can see them.

  • Room for spoilers

    In Groupanda, the owner adds a channel for each part of the book, with no cap on channels. Readers open each part's channel once they have read that far.

  • The next meeting in plain sight

    In Groupanda, the next meeting is an event, and readers answer Going or Can't go. Everyone who answered Going gets a reminder 24 hours and 1 hour before it starts.

  • Easy for readers who avoid social media

    Readers join through the club's invite link or an email invitation. To sign up, they need an email address and a phone number, but no social media account.

  • Free for a small club

    Groupanda's free plan has no member limit and no end date, and there is no fee per member.

Comparing other tools as well? Our list of group messaging apps looks at each one.

How does a book club use Groupanda?

One group for the club, with a channel for this month's book and one for each part of it. Open the channels of the example club below.

Spoilers: part one

November 12, 2026

  1. Felix Navarro10:05

    My notes on part one, with the page numbers of the scenes I want to talk about.

    Notes on part one.pdf24.0 KB

    • 👍4

  2. Hazel Quinn10:12

    Reply to Felix Navarro:My notes on part one, with the page numbers of the scenes I want to talk about.

    Thank you, Felix! The letter at the end of part one is the scene I most want to talk about.

  3. Anand Iyer10:18

    I didn't see the move to the coast coming at all.

  4. Felix Navarro10:24

    A thought about the first chapter, now that we know more.

    Voice message,0:47

    • ❤️3

  5. Dmitri Volkov10:30

    Finished part one on the train this morning. Your notes helped, Felix.

    • 😄2

The next meeting, posted as an event in Announcements

Every new Groupanda group comes with an Announcements channel where only the owner posts at first. The host adds the next meeting there as an event, with the date and place, and readers answer Going or Can't go. The host can pin it, so it's easy to find in the channel's Pinned tab. Each reader chooses, channel by channel, which messages notify them.

A channel for each part of the book

Talk about the ending goes in its own channel, away from readers who are still on chapter three. Every channel of a free group is open to every member, so a reader who hasn't got that far can save that channel for later. Readers share up to 10 photos in one message, voice messages of up to 2 minutes and replies that quote the message they answer.

Threads, quoted replies, mentions and search are covered in more detail on the group chat app page.

The reading list in the Docs tab

The host posts the reading list and the discussion questions in Announcements, as documents of up to 10 MB each. The channel's Docs tab lists every document shared there, so the list for the season is easy to find.

The host and a co-host as owner and admin

Groupanda has three roles: one owner, admins and members. The host can be the owner, and a co-host can be an admin. Admins can create events, pin messages, mute or ban members and remove messages. Everyone else posts in the channels where the owner lets everyone post.

How do readers join the book club?

The owner picks one of three ways in: open, invite-only through the group's link, or approval required. A club of friends can choose invite-only: anyone with the link joins at once, and the group stays out of Groupanda search. Only the owner sees and copies the link. It opens Groupanda in the browser, where a new reader signs up with an email address and a phone number. The owner or an admin can also invite readers by email.

What does Groupanda cost a book club?

A book club can run on the free plan at no cost, with no member limit and no end date. If your club charges a membership fee, you can add a paid plan that unlocks the channels you choose. The plan can be either a monthly subscription, with an optional yearly price, or a one-time payment. Members buy it in the browser. In a paid group, the member pays the price you set. Out of that payment, Groupanda keeps a 6% platform fee. Stripe's processing fee is deducted from your payout. Nothing is added on top of what the member pays. Stripe Connect pays out to the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Norway, Liechtenstein, Canada, and Switzerland. Groupanda charges no monthly fee and no fee per member.

See full pricingFeatures

Questions book clubs ask

Is there a free app for book clubs?

Groupanda, a workspace for private communities, has a free plan that costs a book club nothing. That plan has no member limit and no end date. Signing up takes no card, and Groupanda has no monthly fee and no fee per member.

What is a good book club app?

A good book club app keeps the club's talk private and gives each part of the book its own place. Readers then choose when to read about the ending. In Groupanda, a club gets a channel per part, meetings as events and the reading list in the Docs tab of Announcements.

Can a book club talk about a book chapter by chapter?

Yes. The owner of a Groupanda group can add a channel for each chapter or part of the book, with no cap on channels. A reader who has not reached a part yet can mute that channel. By default, a channel sends a reader a notification only when someone mentions them.

Do members need a Facebook or Goodreads account?

No. Readers join a Groupanda group through its invite link or an email invitation, and both open in a browser. They sign up with an email address and a phone number. Groupanda's apps for iOS and Android are optional.

How does a member leave a book club group?

In Groupanda, any member except the owner can leave by choosing Leave group in the group settings. In a free group, they leave at once. Their messages stay in the channels.

Last updated:

See also

Give each part of the book its own channel

Create your group, add the next meeting as an event in its Announcements channel and send your readers the invite link. No card is needed to start.

Create your community
Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play