Overdrive
OverDrive is a Cleveland-based digital content distribution platform serving 92,000+ libraries and schools in 115 countries with ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and streaming video via its Libby, Sora, Kanopy, and OverDrive Marketplace products.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1986
- HeadquartersCleveland, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Overdrive does
OverDrive, Inc. is a privately held digital content distribution platform that delivers ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and streaming video to public libraries, K-12 schools, academic institutions, and professional/corporate libraries worldwide. Founded in 1986 in Cleveland, Ohio by Steve Potash, the company originally digitized law books and distributed content on floppy diskettes before evolving into the operator of one of the world's largest institutional digital content catalogs, with over 2 million titles and a customer base of 92,000+ libraries and schools across 115 countries.
The company's product architecture is a two-sided platform-plus-apps model. OverDrive Marketplace serves as the B2B procurement layer where institutional buyers curate and manage digital collections. Consumer-facing apps include Libby for public and academic library patrons, Sora for K-12 student reading, and Kanopy for video streaming. Supporting services include TeachingBooks.net (supplemental K-12 educational materials) and OverDrive Academic (higher education). The platform connects publishers (over 30,000 distribution partners including Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Macmillan) to institutional buyers through DRM-protected distribution workflows.
The company generates revenue from institutional subscription fees for digital content access, commissions on publisher sales through OverDrive Marketplace, and licensing fees for distribution rights. Pricing is quote-based and aligned with institution size, content selection, and lending model (metered access, one-copy-one-user, class sets), typically on multi-year contracts. OverDrive was acquired by Rakuten in 2015, briefly rebranded Rakuten OverDrive, and was returned to original management around 2025. Following a planned succession, founder Steve Potash moved to Chairman of the Board in June 2026 and Marc DeBevoise (former CEO of Brightcove, former CDO of Paramount Global) was appointed CEO. The company is B Corporation certified (since 2017), has L Squared Capital Partners involvement, and reported 860 million+ digital titles borrowed and 1.1 billion+ Kanopy streaming minutes in 2025.
Overdrive firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Overdrive
- Legal name
- OverDrive, Inc.
- Website
- https://company.overdrive.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1986
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- OverDrive is a Cleveland-based digital content distribution platform serving 92,000+ libraries and schools in 115 countries with ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and streaming video via its Libby, Sora, Kanopy, and OverDrive Marketplace products.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Overdrive industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Content Distribution Platform for Libraries and Schools
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (51313), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621), Book Publishers (513130), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Distribution (7822)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Library & Education Audiobook Distribution (Public Libraries, Schools, Academic) (MPAJAIAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Digital Reading Content & eBooks (Leveled Readers, Libraries) (EDAFACAH), Audiobook Distribution & Aggregation (To Retailers/Libraries) (MPAJAIAC), eBook & Digital Reading Platforms (BPAMAJAK), E-books, Digital Content & Licensing Distribution (CRAOALAE)
Keywords
Where Overdrive is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cleveland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices5 records
Markets served
Overdrive business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Library/School Subscriptions: OverDrive generates revenue primarily through subscription fees charged to libraries and schools for access to digital content catalogs. Institutions pay based on their size and content needs, with various lending models including metered access, one-copy-one-user, and class sets.
- Publisher Marketplace Commission: OverDrive takes a commission on digital content sales through its OverDrive Marketplace, facilitating transactions between publishers and institutional buyers.
- Content Licensing: Licensing fees from publishers for distribution rights to deliver ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and video content to library and school partners globally.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Custom institutional pricing for libraries and schools |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
Overdrive product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OverDrive distributes digital content including ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and streaming video to libraries and schools worldwide through its OverDrive Marketplace B2B platform, with consumer-facing reader apps Libby (public libraries) and Sora (K-12 schools), the Kanopy streaming service, and TeachingBooks.net educational resources. The company provides secure DRM-protected content management, catalog curation, multilingual interfaces, and analytics for institutional buyers, while serving as the global distribution channel for thousands of publishers reaching the institutional market.
Product overview
OverDrive operates as a platform-plus-apps architecture serving the digital library market. The core OverDrive platform serves as the B2B content distribution infrastructure (OverDrive Marketplace) for institutional buyers, while the consumer-facing app portfolio includes Libby (general library reading), Sora (K-12 student reading), and Kanopy (video streaming). Supporting services include TeachingBooks.net (supplemental educational materials) and OverDrive Academic (higher education division). The platform connects publishers to 92,000+ libraries and schools across 115 countries, offering over 2 million ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and films.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Libby: Library reading app for ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines
- Sora
- Kanopy
- TeachingBooks
Products and services
- Libby Consumer-facing library reading app that lets patrons of public libraries borrow and read ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines. Supports cross-device sync, automatic returns (no late fees), multilingual interface, and discovery of library digital collections.
- Sora Student-facing reading app for K-12 schools that delivers digital books, audiobooks, magazines, and class sets to support curriculum and recreational reading, with reading analytics and integration with TeachingBooks.
- Kanopy Video streaming service for public libraries and academic institutions offering documentaries, films, and educational video. Access is available at no cost with a library card via subscription or pay-per-use models.
- TeachingBooks.net Supplemental educational platform for K-12 schools providing book guides, author interviews, video resources, and curriculum-aligned content that integrates with Sora to support literacy instruction.
- OverDrive Marketplace B2B catalog and digital content distribution platform that allows libraries and schools to browse, select, curate, and manage their digital collections from millions of titles in 100+ languages, with DRM-protected fulfillment.
- OverDrive Academic OverDrive's division serving academic libraries at two- and four-year colleges and universities worldwide, providing customized digital collections of ebooks and audiobooks with 24/7 support through the Libby platform.
- OverDrive Digital Reading Platform OverDrive's core digital reading platform that delivers the industry's largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and streaming video to libraries and schools worldwide.
Quantifiable outcome
- 860 million+ digital titles borrowed in 2025
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Overdrive
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Overdrive technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature5 records
Overdrive partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- EBSCO Information ServicescoreIntegration connecting OverDrive's ebooks and audiobooks on Libby directly to EBSCO's Knowledge Base and Discovery Service for academic libraries. Allows librarians to automatically populate OverDrive collections into their catalogs while enabling students and faculty to discover digital content alongside other library resources in one unified interface. The partnership streamlines digital collection management workflows.
- Follett ContentcorePartnership between Follett Content and Sora student reading app to enhance digital and print reading resources for PreK-12 educational institutions. Collaboration aims to improve access to digital books and streamline content discovery for educators and librarians.
- TeachingBooks.netcoreOverDrive acquired TeachingBooks.net, a provider of supplemental educational materials. The acquisition enhances OverDrive's Sora app and provides extensive resources to K-12 schools worldwide, benefiting over 55,000 schools and 24 million students.
- KanopycoreOverDrive acquired Kanopy, a video streaming service for libraries, adding over 30,000 films to OverDrive's digital content offerings. Integration enhances digital content offerings for libraries and educational institutions globally.
- Penguin Random HousecoreDistribution partnership for ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive's platform to library and school markets globally
- HarperCollins PublisherscoreDistribution partnership for ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive's platform to library and school markets globally
- Simon & SchustercoreDistribution partnership for ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive's platform to library and school markets globally
- Hachette Book GroupcoreDistribution partnership for ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive's platform to library and school markets globally
- MacmillancoreDistribution partnership for ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive's platform to library and school markets globally
- ScholasticcoreDistribution partnership for ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive's platform to library and school markets globally
- John Wiley & SonscoreDistribution partnership for ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive's platform to library and school markets globally
- SourcebookscoreDistribution partnership for ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive's platform to library and school markets globally
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Overdrive competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- OCLC: OCLC operates the WorldCat catalog and library cooperative infrastructure that OverDrive integrates with, making it a critical ecosystem partner rather than a direct competitor but central to library discovery workflows that OverDrive depends on.
Direct peers
- Baker & Taylor (Collection HQ): Baker & Taylor is a long-standing library content distributor with collection development and digital services (Collection HQ, Axis 360) that directly competes with OverDrive Marketplace on physical and digital supply to public and academic libraries.
- Bibliotheca / cloudLibrary: Bibliotheca (owner of cloudLibrary) is a direct competitor in library ebook and audiobook lending, offering similar digital catalog services to public and academic libraries with comparable lending-model flexibility.
- Hoopla Digital: Hoopla Digital provides on-demand digital lending (ebooks, audiobooks, comics, music, video) to public libraries through a metered-per-patron model, directly competing with OverDrive's Libby for the same public library customers and publisher content.
- Epic! (Epic Books): Epic! is a direct competitor to OverDrive's Sora app in K-12 digital reading, offering age-banded ebook and audiobook access to elementary and middle school students via school and library subscriptions.
- ProQuest / Ex Libris (Clarivate): ProQuest and its Ex Libris division serve academic and research libraries with ebooks, dissertations, and discovery services, directly overlapping OverDrive Academic on the higher-education side of OverDrive's institutional customer base.
Broad incumbents
- Scribd: Scribd operates a consumer subscription ebook and audiobook platform with library partnerships (Scribd for Libraries), competing for end-user reading time and providing OverDrive libraries with an alternative consumer destination.
- EBSCO Information Services: EBSCO provides discovery, research databases, and ebooks to academic and school libraries - both a partner (via the 2026 Knowledge Base integration with Libby) and a broader incumbent overlapping OverDrive Academic on digital collection management.
- Gale (Cengage Learning): Gale provides databases, ebooks, and digital reference materials to public, school, and academic libraries, overlapping with OverDrive on institutional ebook distribution and library research services.
- Amazon (Kindle/Audible for Libraries): Amazon powers Kindle library lending and Audible for libraries and is both an OverDrive content partner and a structural competitive threat given its consumer brand, pricing power, and direct publisher relationships.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Overdrive social profiles
Digital presenceOverdrive compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Overdrive financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Overdrive leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Overdrive subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
Overdrive funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Overdrive M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A4 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Overdrive
What does Overdrive do?
OverDrive distributes digital content including ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and streaming video to libraries and schools worldwide through its OverDrive Marketplace B2B platform, with consumer-facing reader apps Libby (public libraries) and Sora (K-12 schools), the Kanopy streaming service, and TeachingBooks.net educational resources. The company provides secure DRM-protected content management, catalog curation, multilingual interfaces, and analytics for institutional buyers, while serving as the global distribution channel for thousands of publishers reaching the institutional market.
Is Overdrive a public or private company?
Overdrive is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Overdrive founded?
Overdrive was founded in 1986. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Overdrive based?
Overdrive is headquartered in Cleveland, United States, in the North America region.
How does Overdrive make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Library/School Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are publisher Marketplace Commission and content Licensing.
Who are Overdrive's main competitors?
OCLC is listed as an others. Direct peers are Baker & Taylor (Collection HQ), Bibliotheca / cloudLibrary, Hoopla Digital, Epic! (Epic Books) and ProQuest / Ex Libris (Clarivate). Broad incumbents are Scribd, EBSCO Information Services, Gale (Cengage Learning) and Amazon (Kindle/Audible for Libraries).
Does Overdrive have an API?
No public API is recorded for Overdrive.
What industry is Overdrive in?
Overdrive's product category is Digital Content Distribution Platform for Libraries and Schools. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAIAE, Library & Education Audiobook Distribution (Public Libraries, Schools, Academic), with a secondary code of EDAFACAH, Digital Reading Content & eBooks (Leveled Readers, Libraries). Its NAICS code is 51313 and its SIC code is 2731.