Homeβ€Ί Nonprofitβ€Ί gutenberg.org
Trusted

Yes β€” gutenberg.org looks safe

90/ 100 trust score
Industry: Nonprofit Checked Jun 30, 2026 Nonprofit average: 68 35 signals
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In plain English

Project Gutenberg is absolutely trustworthy β€” it's been online for nearly three decades and is run by volunteers with support from the University of North Carolina. The site is transparent about who it is, and there are no security or reputation concerns. You can download free eBooks here with full confidence.

Cross-referenced 35 live signals from Google Safe Browsing, VirusTotal, WHOIS and more on Jun 30, 2026. How we score β†’

Where the score comes from

We look at six areas. Here's how gutenberg.org did in each.
85
Security

Solid encryption with a modern TLS setup and no malware flags. The lack of browser security headers is a minor gap for a content site but hardly a red flag.

90
Identity

This domain has been around for 29 years and is clearly tied to the University of North Carolina. The registration and ownership details are transparent and consistent with a well-known nonprofit.

85
Reputation

High traffic rank and clean blacklist status confirm a long-standing presence. The missing Wayback archive snapshot is odd given the domain's age, but the overall reputation is excellent.

90
Transparency

The site provides clear contact info, a detailed about page, and active social media links. It's open about who runs the project and how to reach them.

85
Compliance

Privacy policy and terms of service are present β€” appropriate for a US-based nonprofit library. No cookie consent notice, but that's not unusual for this kind of site.

70
Infrastructure

Hosted on university servers with Google email handling, which is reliable. DNSSEC is not enabled and browser protections are missing, but neither is essential for a free eBook library.

What we checked

The 35 signals behind this report.
Security & Transport
Certificate Issuer
Network Solutions L.L.C.
Google Web Risk
Clean
SSL Certificate
Valid
Security Headers
0 of 6
Server
Apache
TLS Version
TLS 1.3
Identity & WHOIS
About Page
Found
Branding
Complete
Business Disclosure
Not found
Contact Info
Found
Domain Age
29 years, 0 months
Domain Expiry
2033-11-30T05:00:00Z
Legal Pages
Privacy & Terms found
Registrar
Network Solutions, LLC
Infrastructure & DNS
DNS Blacklists
Clean
DNS Resolution
2 IP(s)
DNSSEC
Not enabled
DNSSEC
unsigned
Email (MX Records)
7 record(s)
Hosting Network (ASN)
AS36850 UNC-CH
Name Servers
2 server(s)
Page Load Time
1057ms
Reputation & Reach
Open Graph Type
website
Page Description
Project Gutenberg is a library of free eBooks.
Page Heading
Project Gutenberg is a library of over 75,000 free eBooks
Page Language
en-US
Page Title
Free eBooks | Project Gutenberg
Sitemap
Not found
Social Media Presence
1 platforms
Structured Data
None found
Tranco Rank
Rank #2632
Trustpilot
No Trustpilot profile
Web Archive History
No archive found
Website Status
Online
robots.txt
Present

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90
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If you're wondering whether gutenberg.org is safe to use, the answer is a clear yes. Project Gutenberg is one of the oldest digital libraries on the internet, operating since 1996. It's run by a volunteer community and hosted by the University of North Carolina, which gives it institutional backing. Unlike newer sites that might hide who runs them, gutenberg.org is upfront about its mission and contact details. There's no history of security issues or blacklisting, and the site's extensive collection of free eBooks has made it a go-to resource for readers worldwide.

For a nonprofit library, the absence of advanced security headers or DNSSEC isn't a real concern β€” you're not entering sensitive payment data. The site has a valid SSL certificate, privacy and terms pages, and a massive user base that speaks to its reputation. If you see gutenberg.org reviews elsewhere, they'll almost certainly match this assessment: it's not a scam, it's not fake, and it's one of the few places online where you can reliably download classic literature for free. The only thing to watch for is making sure you're on the real gutenberg.org and not a lookalike domain, but with 29 years of history, the real site is easy to spot.

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