Best Game Backlog Trackers in 2026: NXTO vs Backloggd vs Grouvee
Your gaming library is spread across Steam, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Game Pass and a handful of physical copies. You bought dozens of games during sales you haven't touched yet. You finish something great and have no idea what to play next. Sound familiar?
A good backlog tracker solves all of this — but not every tool handles multi-platform gaming well, and most don't offer recommendations at all. This guide compares the main options as of October 2026 so you can pick the right one for your setup. Features and prices change, so check each site before you commit.
What makes a great backlog tracker?
Before comparing tools, here's what actually matters:
- Import — can it pull in your Steam library, or do you type hundreds of games by hand?
- Platform coverage — can you add games from any platform, not just Steam?
- Statuses — at minimum: playing, completed, dropped, wishlist
- Game database quality — search should find everything, including older or niche titles
- Recommendations — does it help you decide what to play next?
- Actively maintained — the graveyard of abandoned gaming apps is long
The trackers compared
NXTO — nxto.app
NXTO is a free web app built around one question: what should I play next? Sign in with Steam and your library (with playtime) is imported in one click, or add games by hand from a catalog of 150,000+ titles for PS5, Switch, Xbox and PC. Every game gets a status (Backlog, Playing, Done, Dropped), a priority, and playtime estimates (average hours players report), so you can see roughly how many hours your backlog adds up to.
The key differentiator: it picks for you. NXTO suggests a game from your own backlog and recommends new ones based on what you finished and rated, across every platform you track, not just one. There is also a free Steam backlog calculator that works without an account.
- One-click Steam import
- "Next to play" pick from your own backlog
- Recommendations from games you finished
- Playtime estimates and priorities built in
- Free, no ads
- New, so a much smaller community
- No reviews or social lists
- Web only, no native app
- AI picks beyond the first one are paid (optional)
Backloggd
Backloggd is the most popular "Letterboxd for games": a large community, reviews, lists, a play journal and a clean interface, with game data from IGDB. It is free with ads, with an optional ad-free tier (about $3 a month).
The trade-offs: as of 2026 reviews, it has no Steam or console import, so games are added one at a time, and no native mobile app (the mobile site is the offering). Its discovery leans on ratings, lists and community picks rather than answering "what should I play tonight".
- Large, active community
- Reviews, lists and journal
- IGDB database covers nearly everything
- Free
- No Steam import (manual entry)
- No native mobile app
- Discovery is community-driven, not personal
Grouvee
Grouvee is a long-running, Goodreads-style collection tracker with custom shelves, play logs and CSV export. It does import your Steam library (the importer was reworked in July 2026), and the Gold tier (about $10 a year) removes ads and adds automatic Steam sync. Development is active but slow, and the design shows its age.
- Steam import
- Flexible custom shelves
- CSV export
- Free with an inexpensive ad-free tier
- Dated interface, slow development
- Limited discovery and recommendations
- iOS app still in beta
HowLongToBeat
HowLongToBeat is the crowd-sourced source of "how many hours to finish" data (Main Story, Main + Extras, Completionist). It also lets you keep lists and import from Steam. It is a time database first, so it does little to tell you what to play next. NXTO shows playtime estimates from player averages, which are rougher than HowLongToBeat's Main Story numbers but save you looking every game up.
Steam built-in tracking
Steam's library tools let you mark games, build collections and filter, and Steam's store recommendations learn from your playtime. But it only knows about your Steam library. If you also play on console or other PC stores, it is missing part of your gaming life, and it will not recommend games on other platforms.
- Automatic playtime tracking
- Integrated with your library
- Achievement tracking
- Steam games only
- No cross-platform awareness
- Limited backlog management
Which tracker should you use?
You want to stop wondering what to play next: use NXTO. Import Steam in one click, track the rest by hand, and let it pick from your backlog.
You mainly want to journal, review and connect with other gamers: Backloggd has the better social experience.
You want detailed custom shelves and a collection archive: Grouvee fits, and it imports Steam too.
You only care how long games take: HowLongToBeat, or use NXTO for rougher, player-average estimates across your whole backlog.
Bottom line
Most backlog trackers solve the "where did I put that game" problem but leave you on your own when deciding what to actually play next. If that decision is your real problem, NXTO is built for it. If you want a social journal or a collection archive, Backloggd and Grouvee are better fits. Many people use more than one.
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