Dewey vs Readwise (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Readwise grades higher than Dewey: 3.0 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Readwise grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Dewey
Saves and organizes bookmarks from X, LinkedIn, Bluesky and more
Readwise
Highlight library with a daily review and a read-later app
Which one is for you
Pick Dewey if
- Fits if you save posts from X or LinkedIn and want to find them again
- Makes sense if you will pay for automatic syncing
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on the free plan: manual sync and one connected account
- Pricey if you want folders, tags or export, which need Pro at $7.50 a month
- Watch out: export is also sold as a $50 pass valid for 48 hours
- Watch out: other browsers than Chrome are not listed on the pages read
Pick Readwise if
- Fits if you highlight in Kindle or other ebooks and want those passages sent back to you
- Works for readers who'll pay $7.99 a month to get highlights into Notion, Obsidian or Logseq
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan: after the 30-day trial it's a paid subscription or nothing
- Too light for note-takers on Highlights Lite at $5.59, which has no tags, notes, exports to note apps or Reader
- Pricey if you only want Reader: alone it is $7.99 a month billed yearly or $8.99 monthly, more than most reading apps here
- Not for you if you're on Linux, as the desktop apps are listed for Mac and Windows only
How we grade them
| 2.0GPADeweyFair | 3.0GPAReadwiseVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$7.50 a month on yearly billing, $10 monthly, is above the reading category's $7 dearer quarter, and the folders, tags and export that matter sit on it. Lifetime is $225, and a 48-hour export pass is $50. | DExports to note apps, tags and notes are on Highlights only at $7.99 a month billed yearly, Reader alone is $7.99 too, and both are $9.99. Reading apps here sit at $3.33 a month in the middle and $7.99 at the dearest tenth. Highlights Lite at $5.59 is cheaper and leaves those out. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with manual syncing, basic search and one connected account. Export, folders, tags and the AI assistant are not on it. | CThere's no free plan. You get 30 days free with no credit card required, covering both Readwise and Reader, and then it's a paid subscription or nothing. Students, academics and nonprofits can ask for 50% off by email. |
| Features | CMany networks, search, folders, tags, an AI assistant and export, with Notion and Google Sheets integrations. The free plan has a gap in the core work, since folders and tags are paid. | AIt covers the whole job and does what rivals don't: highlights from Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Instapaper and photos of paper books, a Daily Review timed with spaced repetition, exports to Notion and Obsidian, and Reader for articles, RSS, newsletters, PDFs, EPUBs and YouTube transcripts. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You connect each network account and set up syncing. | A4.8 from 1,513 App Store ratings, which clears our bar for an A on both the score and the number of people behind it. Once your reading sources are connected, new highlights sync in and the Daily Review turns up by email without you doing anything. |
| Platforms and integrations | BBrowser extension and web, with Notion and Google Sheets integrations. The pages name only a Chrome extension and no phone apps. | AThe full set: web, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, plus an API, a command-line tool and an MCP server for AI assistants. It syncs with Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and Instapaper and exports to Notion, Obsidian, Evernote and Logseq. No Linux app is mentioned. |
| Best for | saving and searching bookmarks from X and other networks | keeping and revisiting everything you highlight |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Dewey and Readwise. How we grade
Price against what you get
Dewey starts at $7.50 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Readwise starts at $5.59 a month and scores 4.0.
Readwise scores higher and starts $1.91 a month lower. Of the other read-later and bookmark apps on the chart, 25 score higher than Dewey for less, and none scores higher than Readwise for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Dewey also covers web clipper and bookmarks.
- Readwise also covers read later, rSS reader and highlights.
At a glance
| Dewey | Readwise | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $7.50 per month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly) | $5.59 per month, billed annually (Highlights Lite) |
| Free plan | Manual syncing, basic search and one connected account. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of Readwise and Reader, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Dewey Technologies, LLC | Readwise, Inc. |
| Price read from | getdewey.co | readwise.io |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Dewey
- Export, folders, tags, the AI assistant and the Notion and Google Sheets integrations are not on the free plan, according to the pricing table.
- The free plan syncs manually and connects one account.
- The site names a Chrome extension; other browsers are not listed on the pages read.
Readwise
- There is no free plan: a paid subscription is needed once the 30-day trial ends.
- Highlights Lite leaves out tags and notes, exports to note-taking apps, and the Reader app.
- Reader alone costs $7.99 per month billed annually; with Highlights it comes in the Full Readwise plan at $9.99 per month billed annually.
- Desktop apps are listed for Mac and Windows only, with no Linux app mentioned.
Key features
Dewey
- Many networks
- Syncs bookmarks from Twitter / X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Threads, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Substack and others, per the site.
- Search
- Searches every bookmark, tag, author and note, with keyboard shortcuts.
- Folders and tags
- Built-in organization tools for sorting saved posts.
- Dewey AI
- Type keywords about your interests and it proposes tags for many bookmarks at once; you review them before they are applied.
- Export
- Exports the full library as CSV, searchable PDFs or a Google Sheet, including media.
Readwise
- Daily Review
- A daily selection of past highlights, delivered by email and in the app and timed with spaced repetition so older passages come back around.
- Highlight import
- Syncs highlights from Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Instapaper and other listed sources, and captures passages from paper books by photographing the page.
- Export to note-taking apps
- Sends highlights to Notion, Obsidian, Evernote, Roam, Logseq and other listed apps, or to Markdown and CSV. Exports are part of the full plan.
- Reader
- A read-later app for web articles, RSS feeds, email newsletters, PDFs, EPUBs, YouTube transcripts and X threads, with highlighting, full-text search and text to speech.
- Ghostreader and chat with highlights
- Ghostreader answers questions about a document, defines terms and simplifies passages. Chat answers show the highlights they were drawn from.
- MCP server, CLI and API
- An MCP server connects Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or another MCP-compatible assistant to the library, alongside a command-line tool and an API.
Plans
Dewey
Free$0
Manual syncing, basic search and one connected account; folders, tags, AI assistant, exports and integrations are paid.
Pro$7.50
per month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Automatic syncing, advanced search and unlimited connected accounts. The page shows the annual saving as $30 a year.
Lifetime$225
one-time
Same listing as Pro, paid once.
Export Pass$50
one-time, valid for 48 hours
A 48-hour pass for exporting your bookmarks.
Readwise
Highlights Lite$5.59
per month, billed annually ($67.08), or $6.99 billed monthly
Daily Review by email and app, a searchable highlight library, and syncing of new highlights from all sources.
Highlights only$7.99
per month, billed annually ($95.88), or $8.99 billed monthly
Everything for highlights, including tags and notes, exports, Ghostreader chat over the library, OCR and flashcards, without the Reader app.
Reader only$7.99
per month, billed annually ($95.88), or $8.99 billed monthly
The Reader app for articles, PDFs, EPUBs, newsletters, RSS and videos, with highlighting, text-to-speech and Ghostreader, without Highlights.
Full Readwise$9.99
per month, billed annually ($119.88), or $12.99 billed monthly
The full plan: everything in Lite, plus tags and notes, exports to Notion, Obsidian and other note apps, and the Reader app.
Ways to pay less
Dewey
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves $30 a year
Pro is $7.50 a month billed annually, against $10 a month billed monthly; the page states the $30 yearly saving.
- Lifetime license
Lifetime plan
A one-time $225 payment is listed on the pricing page.
Readwise
- Annual discount
Save up to 23% with yearly billing
Billed yearly, Highlights Lite is $5.59 a month instead of $6.99, Highlights only and Reader only $7.99 instead of $8.99, and Full Readwise $9.99 instead of $12.99; the page says up to 23% off.
- Education
50% off for students and academics
Students and other members of academia get 50% off by emailing Readwise before subscribing, then subscribing through the Readwise website.
- Nonprofit
50% off for nonprofits
The Reader page lists the same 50% discount for nonprofits, educators, military and first responders, requested by email.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dewey or Readwise?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Readwise is cheaper to start with: $5.59 a month, against $7.50 a month for Dewey. Dewey starts at $7.50 per month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly), and Readwise starts at $5.59 per month, billed annually (Highlights Lite).
Which has a free plan, Dewey or Readwise?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Dewey has a free plan. Readwise does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Dewey and Readwise run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Readwise lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app and a browser extension. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.