← Back to Blog
May 24, 2026
The best reading tracker for Notion combines a habit-tracking widget embedded directly in your workspace with a simple book database. Blocs offers a free embeddable habit tracker that works inside Notion without any third-party app or complex setup. It's ideal for readers who want to track daily reading streaks, hit annual book goals, and keep everything in one place. No sign-up required for the free tier.
A reading tracker for Notion is a system — either a database template, an embedded widget, or both — that helps you log books, monitor reading habits, and stay consistent with your reading goals, all without leaving Notion.
Most people start with a basic Notion database: a table of books with properties for status (To Read, Reading, Finished), ratings, and notes. That covers the cataloguing side. But it doesn't help with the habit side — actually showing up to read every day.
That's where an embedded widget comes in. A habit tracker widget added to your Notion reading dashboard gives you a visual streak tracker and daily check-in, so you can see at a glance whether you've kept up your reading habit this week.
The quickest way to get a reading habit tracker inside Notion is to embed the Blocs Habit Tracker as an iframe. Here's how:
Go to blocs.me/habit-tracker. No sign-up is needed for the free tier. Copy the embed URL.
In your Notion page, type /embed and select the Embed block. Paste the Blocs widget URL and press Enter. The widget will appear inline on your page.
Name your habit (e.g., "Read 20 minutes") and check it off each day. The widget tracks your streak automatically and shows your completion history in a visual calendar grid.
On the same Notion page (or a linked one), create a database with columns for Title, Author, Status, Rating, Pages, and Notes. Use filtered views to show your current reads at the top. Now your habit tracker and your book list live side by side.
The free Blocs habit tracker covers the core reading habit loop well. Here's a breakdown of what each tier includes:
| Feature | Free | Pro ($17 one-time) |
|---|---|---|
| Daily habit check-ins | Yes | Yes |
| Streak tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Number of habits | Limited | Unlimited |
| Custom goals (e.g., pages/day) | No | Yes |
| Weekly/monthly analytics | No | Yes |
| Theme customization | No | Yes |
| Cloud sync across devices | No | Yes |
| No Blocs branding | No | Yes |
If you're just starting out or want a simple daily reading check-in, the free tier is genuinely useful. If you're serious about building a reading habit — tracking completion rates over months, setting custom page or minute goals, or seeing trends — the $17 one-time Pro upgrade pays for itself quickly compared to any subscription-based reading app.
A well-rounded Notion reading setup has three layers:
A Notion database is the backbone. Properties to include:
Create a Gallery view filtered to "Currently Reading" and pin it to the top of your reading dashboard. This gives you a visual shelf of active books.
Embed the Blocs habit tracker directly below your current reads. Set a daily reading habit — even "Read 10 pages" is enough. The streak visualization keeps you accountable without needing a separate app.
For deeper analytics on your habit tracking in Notion, the Pro tier shows weekly and monthly completion rates so you can see if your reading consistency dips on weekends or during busy periods.
If you have an annual reading goal (e.g., 24 books in 2026), a Blocs Progress Bar widget embedded on your reading dashboard gives you a live visual of how far along you are. It updates as you log completed books. This widget is available on Pro.
You can also use a Countdown Timer to mark how many days are left until the end of the year — a subtle nudge to stay on track with your goal.
Apps like Goodreads, Storygraph, and Literal are popular for reading tracking — and they're good at social features like friend recommendations and community reviews. But if your primary workspace is Notion, maintaining a separate reading app creates friction: two places to update, two login screens, and the mental overhead of keeping them in sync.
Tracking inside Notion means your reading data lives next to your projects, notes, and goals. You can link books to related notes, reference a reading log from a project page, or build a personal knowledge base that connects what you've read to what you're working on. That's something no standalone reading app can do.
The trade-off is that Notion won't have a social feed or automated book lookups by ISBN. For most readers who care about the habit and the notes rather than the social layer, the Notion-first approach works well.
Notion doesn't have a built-in reading tracker. You build one using a database (for logging books) and an embedded widget (for tracking the daily reading habit). Blocs provides the widget layer for free.
With a Notion database, you can add a "Pages Read" number property and update it manually. For a more automated daily tracking experience, the Blocs Pro habit tracker lets you set a numeric goal (e.g., 30 pages/day) and log your progress each day with analytics over time.
No. The free tier requires no account. Just go to blocs.me/habit-tracker, copy the embed URL, and paste it into a Notion embed block. Sign-up is only needed if you want Pro features like cloud sync and analytics.
The free tier supports a limited number of habits. With Blocs Pro, you can track unlimited habits — for example, "Read fiction," "Read non-fiction," and "Review highlights" as separate daily check-ins.
No. Blocs Pro is a one-time payment of $17 for lifetime access to all widgets and features. There's no monthly or annual fee. See the pricing page for details.
Notion itself syncs across devices natively. For the Blocs widget data (streaks, check-ins), cloud sync is a Pro feature. Free tier data is stored locally per browser session.
The fastest path to a reading tracker in Notion: embed the free Blocs habit tracker for your daily reading check-in, pair it with a simple book database, and optionally add a progress bar for your annual goal. Everything stays in Notion — no app switching, no extra subscriptions.
If you want analytics, custom goals, and unlimited habits, the $17 one-time Pro upgrade covers it all for life.
Try the free Habit Tracker — add it to your Notion workspace in under two minutes.