This is one of the largest free study libraries on the internet. More than thirty translations sit alongside the great public-domain commentaries — Matthew Henry on the whole Bible, John Gill’s Exposition, Wesley’s Notes, the Geneva Study Bible — plus Strong’s concordance, Bible dictionaries, Hebrew and Greek lexicons and an interlinear. All of that is free to read.
One thing is different here from most of the ministries in this directory, and it is worth saying plainly: this is a business, not a charity. It is run by Salem Web Network and it pays for itself with advertising, a subscription and email newsletters. That is not a mark against it — it is simply a different arrangement, and it explains what you will see on the page.
There is also a change in the ownership worth knowing. Salem was a publicly traded company for years. On 20 August 2026 it was bought outright by WaterStone, an American Christian foundation, and is now privately held. What that means for the site day to day is not yet known; nothing about it has been announced.
- Run by
Salem Web Network, the internet arm of Salem Media
- Who owns it
Since 20 August 2026, WaterStone — The Christian Community Foundation, Inc., a Christian foundation in Colorado. Salem is no longer a publicly traded company
- Founded
Not published. Salem Web Network dates itself to 1999; the site’s own start year is nowhere given
- Editors
Shawn McEvoy, editorial director; Liz Auld, senior managing editor; Bethany Costic, site editor
- Based in
Salem Web Network is in Richmond, Virginia. The parent company is in Camarillo, California
- Cost
Free to read, with advertising. The optional PLUS subscription runs $4.99 to $9.99 a month, or $29.99 to $74.99 a year, with a 30-day money-back guarantee
- What the free side gives you
Over 30 translations; Matthew Henry, John Gill, Wesley’s Notes and the Geneva Study Bible; Strong’s and Nave’s concordances; Bible dictionaries; Hebrew and Greek lexicons; an interlinear and a parallel Bible; reading plans, devotionals and a verse of the day
- What the subscription adds
No advertising; the modern licensed commentaries such as the ESV and CSB Study Bibles and Warren Wiersbe; note-taking and highlighting on the text; printable guides. The top tier covers the sister sites too
- How it pays for itself
Display advertising, sponsored posts, email newsletters and the subscription. The privacy policy states that personal data, including sensitive data, may be sold, with an opt-out link in the footer
- Languages
English throughout. The Bible library also holds Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese and Latin texts. For a fully Spanish site they point to BibliaVida.com. There is no Polish version
- What they believe
A statement of faith is published on the About page — trinitarian, evangelical Protestant, with Scripture inerrant in the original manuscripts. An editorial policy is published alongside it
- Mobile app
Yes, on iPhone, published by Salem. No official Android app was found — several similarly named apps on Google Play are not theirs
- Sister sites
Crosswalk.com, Christianity.com, ChristianHeadlines.com, iBelieve.com, GodTube.com, BibliaVida.com
- Contact
A web form at biblestudytools.com/contact-us. No postal address is published; Salem asks that you request it by email
- What we checked
The statement of faith, the editorial policy and the named editors are all published, which is more than most sites of this kind offer. We found no report of harm or deceptive practice. Reader complaints we found were ordinary ones: material that used to be free moved behind the subscription
Worth knowingThe classic commentaries here are centuries old and out of copyright, which is why they can be given away. Matthew Henry finished his through the New Testament before his death in 1714; friends completed the rest from his notes.
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