Google Play Books (personal upload library)
- Free allowance
- Up to 1,000 uploaded files per Google account (2 GB max per file per the Partner Center spec; the consumer uploader historically enforced 100 MB).
- Verdict
- fails: quotathe free allowance is too small to matter
- Cost
- free tier
- Identity
- institutionno card, no phone
- Binding limit
- per-object-cap2 GB/file
- Evidence
- reported4 sources; a third party said so
- Freshness
- stale on 2026-11-05checked 2026-10-21 (inherited); stale on 2026-11-05
| Free tier | Up to 1,000 uploaded files per Google account (2 GB max per file per the Partner Center spec; the consumer uploader historically enforced 100 MB). 1,000 x 2 GB ≈ 2 TB theoretical per Google account. unit MB; metered on stored-bytes |
|---|---|
| Price | none stated |
| Limits |
1,000-file cap per account; 2 GB/file (Partner Center) vs 100 MB in the consumer uploader; EPUB/PDF only; uploads are re-processed into Google's internal format, so the stored artifact is not byte-identical to what you sent. |
| Binding | per-object-cap the per-object cap sets the shard size and therefore the object count; it bounds the total more tightly than any headline quota |
| Identity | institution not published |
| Egress | No egress metering for reading, but there is no public direct-download URL: files are served through the authenticated Play Books reader. Not CDN-cacheable, not shareable as a link. |
| Per-object cap | 2 GB max per file (2000000000 bytes) |
| Retention | not stated |
| Interface | unknown wrapper-only |
| Tooling | Web upload only (play.google.com/books -> Upload files). No public API; third-party tools are downloaders for purchased books, not uploaders. |
| Composes with | 1,000 files x 2 GB = ~2 TB per free Google account, x unlimited free Google accounts. This is the Drive-service-account pattern applied to Play Books; it is only blocked by the absence of an upload API. |
| Reliability | Files are converted on ingest and served only inside the reader; no bulk export, no public URLs, and there is no supported automation path. |
| Parsed numbers |
|
Evidence 4
| date | source | what it proved |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-21 | support.google.com/books/partner/answer/9261355?hl=en | 'Maximum file size 2 GB per file' |
| 2026-10-21 | support.google.com/books/partner/answer/3424254?hl=en | 'Each file must be less than 2 GB'; EPUB/PDF only |
| 2026-10-21 | support.google.com/googleplay/answer/11012086?hl=en | consumer upload flow is web-only ('go to your Play Books library ... Upload files') |
| 2026-10-21 | webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/92325/seeing-the-count-o | 1,000-book cap report; corroborated by https://ebookfriendly.com/how-to-upload-own-ebooks-to-google-play/ ('up to 1,000 own files') |
More fields 1
{
"dead_end": {
"failure_class": "quota",
"why": "Up to 1,000 uploaded files per Google account (2 GB max per file per the Partner Center spec; the consumer uploader historically enforced 100 MB). 1,000 x 2 GB ≈ 2 TB theoretical per Google account.",
"retry_when": null,
"first_recorded": "2026-10-21"
}
}Unknown values 5
$.identity_cost.detailboilerplate$.interfacethe access interface was not established$.per_object_cap.notesthe field may be stated in a source that was not read$.retention.notesthe field may be stated in a source that was not read$.retention.statedthe field may be stated in a source that was not read