Frequently asked questions

Plumerie is a personal library management tool. It helps you keep track of the books you own — where they are, what you've read, what you want to read — and share your collection with family and friends. It works on any device with a web browser.

Yes. The free plan gives you a full-featured personal library with up to 100 books, 3 locations, barcode scanning, CSV import and export, lending tracking, and more. It's free forever — no trial period, no credit card, no hidden costs.

No. Plumerie works directly in your web browser — on your phone, tablet, or laptop. Just go to app.plumerielibrary.com and sign in. You can also save it to your home screen for quick access, just like an app.

Three ways: scan a barcode with your phone camera, search by title or ISBN, or enter book details manually. You can also import an entire library from a CSV file.

Yes. You can sign in with Google for convenience, or create an account with your email address and a password.

You might be surprised. Even 30 or 40 books across a few shelves can be hard to keep track of — especially if you share books with family or lend them to friends. Plumerie is designed to be useful at any collection size, not just for people with hundreds of books.

Spreadsheets are great for many things. But they can't scan barcodes, pull book covers automatically, let your family search your collection from their own phone, or tell you who borrowed that novel three months ago. If your spreadsheet genuinely works for you, that's wonderful — but if you've ever wished it could do more, Plumerie might be worth a try.

That works until it doesn't. Plumerie keeps a record of every loan — who has the book, when they borrowed it, and when you expect it back. You can also send a borrower invite so they see the book in their own library. No more forgotten texts or awkward “do you still have my book?” conversations.

We love public libraries. Plumerie is not a replacement for them — it's a complement. Your public library is amazing for borrowing. Plumerie is for organising the books you already own, tracking the ones you lend to friends, and sharing your personal collection with your family. Many readers use both.

Goodreads is a social reading network owned by Amazon. Plumerie is a personal library management tool focused on your physical books, family sharing, and lending — features Goodreads doesn't offer. You can import your Goodreads library into Plumerie in minutes and keep using both if you like. Many readers find they serve different purposes.

Understandable. The good news: you can sign in with your existing Google account (one tap), and Plumerie works in your browser — no download needed. If you decide it's not for you, you can export your data and delete your account at any time.

One person creates a family library and invites others by sharing a link. Everyone who joins sees and searches the same book collection. Each family member can claim their own locations (like “my bedroom” or “my office”) and switch between seeing just their books and seeing the whole family library.

Yes. You can import from Goodreads or any other platform that lets you export your library as a CSV file. Plumerie maps your data, pulls cover images and book details from Google Books, Open Library, and Finna (for Finnish publications), and adds everything to your library.

Open any book in your library and mark it as “Lent.” Add the borrower's name and optionally their email address. If you enter an email, Plumerie sends them an invite to create a free account and claim the book. Both you and the borrower can see the loan, and either of you can mark the book as returned.

Plumerie supports 45 languages for book metadata. When you add a book, the language is auto-detected. You can filter your library by language, and books in different languages of the same work can be linked as editions.

Plumerie is designed for physical books — tracking locations, lending, and organising across shelves. You can add e-books or audiobooks manually if you want to keep a unified catalog, but the barcode scanning and location features are built around physical copies.

Plumerie needs an internet connection to search for books, sync with your family, and save changes. However, if you've loaded your library while online, you can browse it offline for a while. Full offline support is something we're working on improving.

Only you — unless you choose to share it. If you create a family library, only your invited family members can see it. Nobody else can see your books, your reading habits, or your data. There are no public profiles.

Yes, anytime. Go to Settings and choose “Export as CSV.” You'll get a complete backup of your entire library — titles, authors, locations, reading status, tags, notes, and everything else.

No. Never. We don't sell your data, your reading habits, or your personal information to anyone. We don't use your data for advertising. Our revenue comes entirely from readers who choose to pay for premium features.

Your data is stored securely on Google Cloud (Firebase), which meets industry-standard security and compliance requirements. Plumerie is operated by Avec Nous, a company based in Helsinki, Finland, and complies with EU data protection regulations (GDPR).

Nothing. Your books stay in your library. You just won't be able to add more beyond the free tier limit until you upgrade again or remove some books. We never delete your data because of a plan change.

We're working on premium plans for 2026. When they launch, you'll be able to upgrade directly from your account. Free plans remain free forever — nothing changes for free users.

Yes. If you're not happy with a premium plan, contact us within 30 days of purchase for a full refund. No questions asked.

It's a simple idea: before you buy a new book, check if someone you know already has it. Plumerie makes this possible by helping you see what's in your own collection (maybe you already own it) and — in the future — what's in your friends' libraries. It's about reading more and buying less.

Absolutely. Plumerie is not a bookstore and never will be. We don't sell books, we don't take affiliate commissions, and we don't redirect you to Amazon. We believe your local bookstore deserves your money and your public library deserves your visit. When you do buy a book, we hope you'll buy it from an independent bookseller.

Not at all. We're pro-reading. We just think the world has enough pressure to buy more stuff. Plumerie helps you enjoy the books you already own, share them with people you trust, and make every purchase a deliberate choice — not an impulse.