Instapaper vs Readwise
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Instapaper
Read-later app that strips articles down to clean text
Readwise
Highlight library with a daily review and a read-later app
Where they differ
- Instapaper starts at $5.99 per month, or $59.99 per year. Readwise starts at $5.59 per month, billed annually (Readwise Lite).
- Instapaper has a free plan. Readwise does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Readwise lists a Windows app.
- Readwise also covers rSS reader.
At a glance
| Instapaper | Readwise | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $5.99 per month, or $59.99 per year | $5.59 per month, billed annually (Readwise Lite) |
| Free plan | Unlimited saves, sync across web, iOS and Android, folders and API access. Notes are capped at 5 a month, and AI summaries and speed reading at 10 a month each. | 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 | Instant Paper, Inc. | Readwise, Inc. |
| Price read from | instapaper.com | readwise.io |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Instapaper
- Saving long articles to read later without ads or page clutter
- Reading saved articles on a Kindle, Kobo or Boox eReader
- Commuters and travelers who read or listen offline
Readwise
- Kindle and ebook readers who want to see their highlights again
- People who send reading notes to Notion, Obsidian or a similar app
- Readers who want articles, RSS, newsletters and PDFs in one app
Worth knowing
Instapaper
- Full-text search, the PDF reader and the permanent archive all require Premium.
- Free accounts get 5 notes a month, and 10 summaries and 10 speed-read articles a month.
- AI summaries are not yet available on Android, according to Instapaper's docs.
- Free accounts see ads on the Instapaper website; Premium removes them.
Readwise
- There is no free plan: a paid subscription is needed once the 30-day trial ends.
- Readwise Lite leaves out tags and notes, exports to note-taking apps, and the Reader app.
- Reader is not sold on its own; it comes with 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
Instapaper
- Decluttered reading view
- Removes ads, navigation and other page clutter from a saved article and reformats it for reading, with adjustable fonts, margins, line spacing and text size.
- Offline reading and sync
- The iOS and Android apps download unread articles so they can be read without a connection, and reading lists stay in sync across devices.
- Highlights and notes
- Highlight passages and attach notes, then export them as plain text, Markdown or HTML or send them to Obsidian, Evernote or Notion.
- Kindle, Kobo and Boox delivery
- Kobo eReaders link directly to an Instapaper account, free accounts included. Scheduled and manual Kindle digests require Premium.
- Text to speech
- The iOS and Android apps read saved articles aloud at 0.5x to 2x speed. AI Voices and multi-article playlists come with Premium.
- Summaries and speed reading
- Generates an AI summary with the key sentences of an article, and can flash text one word at a time. Each is free for 10 articles a month.
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
Instapaper
Free$0
Unlimited saved articles, videos and pages, sync across web, iOS and Android, folders and API access. Notes are limited to 5 a month.
Premium$5.99
per month, or $59.99 per year
Full-text search, PDF reader, permanent archive, unlimited notes, Kindle digests, AI Voices and text-to-speech playlists, and an ad-free website.
Readwise
Readwise 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.
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
Instapaper
- Annual discount
Save over 15% with the yearly plan
Instapaper's Premium page says the yearly plan saves over 15%: $59.99 a year instead of $5.99 a month.
Readwise
- Annual discount
Save 21% to 24% with yearly billing
The pricing page shows a 21% saving on Readwise Lite ($5.59 instead of $6.99 a month) and 24% on the full plan ($9.99 instead of $12.99) when billed yearly.
- 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.
