GoodLinks vs Matter
We give GoodLinks a 2.8 GPA and Matter a 3.6, out of 4.0. GoodLinks grades higher on value for money. Matter grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
GoodLinks
Read-later and link-saving app for iPhone, iPad and Mac
From $9.99 one-time
Matter
Read-later app for iPhone, iPad and web with audio playback
Free plan · from $7.99/mo
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAGoodLinksGood | 3.6GPAMatterExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | A$9.99 once on the US App Store, and that one purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac. Most paid reading apps charge more than that every year. Features added after your first year need an optional $4.99 upgrade. | BOn the US App Store it's $7.99 a month or $59.99 a year, which is about typical by the year and the dear end by the month. But the App Store lists several Premium and Pro prices, up to $79.99 a year, and the website has no pricing page. Hard to know what you'll be shown. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing is free. There's no free version and no trial, so it's $9.99 up front before you've seen it handle a single link of yours. | AThe free version has an uncapped library, saving from the phone and browser extensions, unlimited tags, full-text search and custom themes and fonts. Most people could stay on that. Newsletter sync, RSS feeds, HD speech and unlimited highlights are the paid bits. |
| Features | AA clean article view, highlights with notes, Markdown export, tags, search through the article text, and summaries from Apple Intelligence or your own API key. It does one job, reading later, and does all of it. Shortcuts, AppleScript and a local API are there for tinkerers. | AArticles, PDFs and threads in a clean view you can read offline. YouTube videos and podcast episodes get transcripts that stay in sync with playback. Text to speech, highlights that sync to Notion, Obsidian, Roam and Readwise, and on paid plans newsletters, RSS, an AI Co-Reader and Send to Kindle. |
| Ease of use | A4.7 from 638 App Store ratings. There's no account to create because it syncs through iCloud, and saving a link is the share button or a browser extension. | A4.61 from about 1,200 App Store ratings. Save from the app or a browser extension and it shows up parsed and ready. Highlighting is a long press and a drag. |
| Platforms and integrations | CiPhone, iPad and Mac, plus saving extensions for Safari, Chrome and Firefox. All Apple, though. The FAQ lists no web, Windows or Android version, and sync is iCloud only. | BiPhone, iPad and the web, with saving extensions for Chrome, Safari and Firefox. No Android app is listed, and there's no desktop app. It links to Gmail, Kindle, Notion, Obsidian, Roam and Readwise, and has a REST API and a terminal client for Matter Pro subscribers. |
| Best for | read-later on Apple devices, bought once | reading and listening to saved articles on iPhone |
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: GoodLinks and Matter. How we grade
Where they differ
- GoodLinks starts at $9.99 one-time purchase on the US App Store, covering iPhone, iPad and Mac. Matter starts at $7.99 per month or $59.99 per year on the US App Store; several prices are listed.
- Matter has a free plan. GoodLinks does not.
- Only GoodLinks lists a macOS app.
- Only Matter lists a web app.
- GoodLinks can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Matter also covers rSS reader.
In commoniOSBrowser extensionWorks offlineAI featuresRead laterHighlights
At a glance
| GoodLinks | Matter | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $9.99 one-time purchase on the US App Store, covering iPhone, iPad and Mac | $7.99 per month or $59.99 per year on the US App Store; several prices are listed |
| Free plan | None | Uncapped read-later library, mobile and web extensions for saving, article parsing, unlimited tags, full-text search, and custom themes and fonts. |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial on the web sign-up paywall, after which a yearly subscription starts |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Ngoc Luu | Dig Wells, Inc. |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
GoodLinks
- iPhone, iPad and Mac users who want a read-later app bought once
- Readers who highlight articles and export the notes as Markdown
- People who prefer iCloud sync to signing up for another account
Matter
- iPhone and iPad readers who want articles and newsletters in one queue
- Listening to saved articles, newsletters and podcasts as audio
- Sending highlights to Notion, Obsidian, Roam or Readwise
Worth knowing
GoodLinks
- Apple platforms only: the FAQ lists iPhone, iPad and Mac, with no web, Windows or Android version.
- There is no free version or trial; the app costs $9.99 up front on the US App Store.
- Features released more than a year after purchase need the optional Annual Feature Upgrade, listed at $4.99.
- Sync runs through iCloud only, and the API works just on the computer where the app is running.
Matter
- No Android app is listed: Matter is offered for iPhone, iPad and the web.
- Newsletter sync, RSS feeds, HD text to speech, Send to Kindle and unlimited highlights need a paid plan.
- The website has no pricing page, and the App Store lists several different Premium and Pro prices.
- The API and CLI are limited to paying Matter Pro subscribers.
Key features
GoodLinks
- Clean article view
- GoodLinks extracts the article text and removes adverts and other distractions, with a choice of font, spacing and size and Light, Sepia, Dark and Night themes.
- Highlights, notes and Notebook
- Highlight passages in a choice of colors, attach notes to them, review an article's highlights in the Notebook and export them as Markdown in a customizable format.
- Saving from other apps and browsers
- A Share Extension saves links on iOS and macOS, and browser extensions cover Safari, Chrome and Firefox. The Chrome extension also installs in Arc, Edge, Opera and Brave.
- iCloud sync without an account
- Links, articles, highlights, tags and reading position sync through iCloud, so there is no separate web service account to create.
- Tags, search and summaries
- Tags and starred articles organize the list, search covers title, author, description and content, and articles can be summarized with Apple Intelligence or an external LLM service using your own API key.
- Shortcuts, AppleScript and local API
- Shortcuts actions, widgets, a URL scheme and AppleScript on the Mac support automation, and from version 3.2 a REST API served on localhost lets other apps on the same computer read and modify the library.
Matter
- Save articles, PDFs and threads
- Save from the iPhone and iPad apps or from the Chrome, Safari and Firefox extensions. Saved pages are parsed into a clean reading view and are available offline.
- Podcast and YouTube transcripts
- Saved YouTube videos and podcast episodes are transcribed into text that stays in sync with playback, so they can be read or listened to.
- Newsletters, writers and feeds
- Paid subscribers can pull newsletters in through Gmail or a personal Matter email address, follow individual writers and add RSS feeds.
- Text to speech
- Articles and newsletters can be played as audio, with highlighting while listening. HD text to speech for all articles is a paid feature.
- Highlights and exports
- Highlight by long-pressing and dragging, or with Apple Pencil on iPad, and sync highlights to Notion, Obsidian, Roam and Readwise.
- API and CLI
- A REST API and a terminal client give read and write access to the library, tags and annotations. Both require a Matter Pro subscription.
Plans
GoodLinks
GoodLinks$9.99
one-time purchase, universal for iPhone, iPad and Mac
Permanent access to every current feature, plus any new features released within one year of the purchase date.
Annual Feature Upgrade$4.99
in-app purchase; annual by name, no period shown on the listing
Optional GoodLinks Premium subscription that unlocks features added after the first year. Features unlocked while subscribed are kept for good.
Matter
Free$0
Uncapped read-later library, saving from mobile and browser extensions, unlimited tags, full-text search, and custom themes and fonts.
Premium$59.99 to $79.99
per year; monthly items are listed at $7.99, $12.99 and $14.99
HD text to speech, AI Co-Reader, newsletter sync, writer and RSS feeds, unlimited highlights, notes and integrations, and Send to Kindle. Also labelled Matter Pro.
