Meco vs Readwise (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Readwise grades higher than Meco: 3.0 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Meco grades higher on value for money. Readwise grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Meco
Newsletter reader that moves subscriptions out of your inbox
Readwise
Highlight library with a daily review and a read-later app
Which one is for you
Pick Meco if
- Fits if your reading is mostly email newsletters and you want them out of your inbox
- Works for people who like audio roundups of what they subscribed to
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to follow RSS feeds, as the pages read don't describe adding them
- Tight if you want your Gmail or Outlook connected, which is PRO only, and so are highlights and offline reading
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $4.99 against $39.99 for the year, with no trial on monthly
- Watch out: the vendor says prices may vary by country and platform
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
| 2.2GPAMecoFair | 3.0GPAReadwiseVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPRO is $39.99 a year, about $3.33 a month, or $4.99 billed monthly, in the middle of what reading apps charge. The vendor says prices vary by country. | 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 | CFree gives you a Meco newsletter address, groups, bookmarks and audio roundups. Connecting an existing Gmail or Outlook inbox is PRO, and there's a 7-day trial on the yearly plan only. | 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 | CInbox connection, groups, highlights, AI summaries and podcasts. The listing shows it reads newsletters only, with no RSS feeds. | 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 rating on record. You have to point your newsletters at the Meco address or connect an inbox before there's anything to read. | 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 | BWeb, iOS and Android, plus Gmail and Outlook connections. No desktop app is listed. | 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 | reading email newsletters apart from your inbox | 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: Meco and Readwise. How we grade
Price against what you get
Meco starts at $3.33 a month when paid by the year 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 $2.26 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other read-later and bookmark apps on the chart, 13 score higher than Meco 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
- Meco also covers bookmarks.
- Readwise also covers read later and rSS reader.
At a glance
| Meco | Readwise | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $39.99 per year ($4.99 billed monthly) | $5.59 per month, billed annually (Highlights Lite) |
| Free plan | A dedicated Meco newsletter address, groups, swipe reading, bookmarks, audio news roundups and newsletter discovery. | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial of PRO on the yearly plan; no trial on monthly | 30-day free trial of Readwise and Reader, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Meco Limited | Readwise, Inc. |
| Price read from | docs.meco.app | readwise.io |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Meco
- Connecting Gmail or Outlook, highlights, offline reading and AI summaries need the paid PRO plan.
- The vendor says prices may vary by country and platform; $39.99 a year and $4.99 a month are the USD figures it states.
- It reads newsletters only; the pages read do not describe adding RSS feeds.
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
Meco
- Inbox connection
- PRO links up to three Gmail or Outlook accounts and moves chosen newsletters out of the inbox into Meco.
- Meco email address
- A dedicated address for newsletters, available on the free plan, keeps new subscriptions away from your main mailbox.
- Highlights and saved links
- Highlight passages, add tags and notes, and save links and articles to revisit later. Highlights and link saving are PRO.
- AI summaries and podcasts
- PRO adds text summaries and a personalized daily audio roundup built from your newsletters.
- Groups and unsubscribe
- Sort newsletters into topic groups, and unsubscribe from one with a single tap.
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
Meco
Free$0
Meco inbox address, groups, bookmarks, swipe reading and audio roundups of news.
PRO$39.99
per year ($4.99 billed monthly)
Links up to three Gmail or Outlook accounts, adds highlights, offline reading, AI summaries and personalized podcasts.
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
Meco
- Annual discount
Yearly PRO is cheaper than monthly
PRO is listed at $39.99 a year or $4.99 a month, so yearly works out to about $3.33 a month.
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, Meco or Readwise?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Meco is cheaper to start with: $3.33 a month when paid by the year, against $5.59 a month for Readwise. Meco starts at $39.99 per year ($4.99 billed monthly), and Readwise starts at $5.59 per month, billed annually (Highlights Lite).
Which has a free plan, Meco or Readwise?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Meco has a free plan. Readwise does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Meco and Readwise run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Readwise lists macOS and Windows apps and a browser extension. Both list a web app and iOS and Android apps. 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.