Whether you're checking if a specific title is available or just exploring what's in our library, Perlego gives you several ways to find books before you sign up.
Good to know: Smart Search and Research Assistant are only available on the Perlego website, not the mobile app. You can search and preview books without a subscription, but you'll need to subscribe to read a book in full.
Ways to search Perlego
Tool | Best for | Platform |
Title Search | Finding a specific book, author, publisher, or ISBN | Web and app |
Browse | Exploring topics and subtopics without typing a search term | Web and app |
Smart Search | Searching by research question or idea, not just keywords | Web only |
Research Assistant | Asking questions and getting book recommendations in a conversational format | Web only |
Step by step
Search by title, author, or ISBN
The Perlego homepage, showing the search bar with the placeholder text "Find all your university books, right here."
Go to the search bar at the top of any page.
Type a book title, author name, publisher, or ISBN.
Press Enter or click Search.
Switch between the Books, Topics, and Publishers tabs to see different types of results.
Use the filters that appear beneath your results — All languages, Search by, Publication date, Topic, Publisher, Author, Format, and Features available — to narrow things down.
Perlego search results page showing the Books, Topics, and Publishers tabs, the row of filters beneath them, and a grid of book results.
Browse by topic
Go to Browse (or visit perlego.com/discover).
Select a topic from the list — for example, Business, History, or Law — or use Subtopics, Publishers, or Index to browse a different way.
On a topic page, explore the books listed, or use the study resources — Knowledge Base, Study Guides, and Essay Writing Guides — for extra help with your subject.
Search by research question with Smart Search
Good to know: Smart Search is only available on the Perlego website, not the mobile app.
Go to the sparkle icon (✨, or visit www.perlego.com/smart-search) dropdown next to the search bar.
Select Smart Search (the default is Title Search).
Type a research question or short phrase, such as "what are the origins of democracy?"
Press Enter to see your results, grouped into Key books and Key excerpts.
Smart Search works in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, though key excerpts are only pulled from English-language titles.
Ask Research Assistant
Good to know: Research Assistant is only available on the Perlego website, not the mobile app. It's currently in BETA.
Open Research Assistant (or visit perlego.com/research-assistant).
Ask a research question, or ask whether a specific title or author is available on Perlego. If you're not sure where to start, select Show more examples for sample questions.
Review the answer, along with the References it's drawn from — select this section to expand it and see the full citations, each linking to the book's page on Perlego.
Let us know if the answer was useful using the feedback prompt, or start a New thread to keep exploring.
Without a subscription, you can try Research Assistant for free, with a limited number of questions shown as a running counter. Once you've used them all, you'll be prompted to subscribe to keep asking questions.
What happens when you open a book
Most book pages have a Book preview tab (alongside Book details, Table of contents, and Citations), where you can read a sample of the book without creating an account. How much you can preview depends on the publisher, so it varies from book to book. Features like highlighting, notes, and Read Aloud aren't available in preview — you'll need to subscribe to use them.
Limits
Do I need an account to search?
No. Title Search, Browse, Smart Search, and Research Assistant are all available without creating an account or subscribing.
How much of a book can I preview?
This depends on the publisher, so it varies from book to book. Not every book offers a preview.
Can I use these tools on the mobile app?
Title Search and Browse work on both web and the app. Smart Search and Research Assistant are currently web only.
How do I check if a book is available in my region?
You don't need an account for this — searching and browsing work the same whether you're signed in or not.
How do I check which plan a book is on?
Search results don't show whether a book is on Essential or Complete. This does need a free Perlego account (no payment required) — go to the book's page once you're signed in, and a pink diamond (💎) means it's Complete only.
How do I create an account without subscribing?
Sign up as normal. When onboarding asks you to pay, you can back out of that step and return to the library instead — you can still browse the catalogue and save books to read later, then subscribe whenever you're ready.
Troubleshooting
If Smart Search or Research Assistant isn't available
Check you're using Perlego on the web, not the mobile app. If you're on the web and still can't see the option, refresh the page.
If a book doesn't show a preview
Not every book has publisher approval for previews. Check the book's page for a Subscribe to read option instead, or contact us to check availability.
If you can't find a specific book
Try Title Search with different terms (title, author, or ISBN), or ask Research Assistant whether it's on Perlego. If it isn't listed, you can suggest it below.
Suggest a book
Can't find a title you're looking for? Let us know — we add new books every week based on reader requests.
Still need help? Contact support