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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Readwise Reader vs Goodreads

Readwise Reader 4.6★ · Free to download 85
Winner Readwise Reader
Goodreads 4.8★ · Free to download 70

Readwise Reader is the better choice for serious readers who want an all-in-one content hub with advanced features like text-to-speech and AI, despite its higher price and occasional bugs, while Goodreads remains a solid, free option for tracking books and connecting with a reading community, despite its dated interface and lack of advanced features.

Full reviews: Readwise Reader · Goodreads

Readwise Reader offers a powerful, feature-rich experience for organizing and consuming various digital content, including articles, PDFs, and even YouTube transcripts, with excellent text-to-speech and highlighting capabilities. Goodreads, while widely used and free, primarily serves as a book tracking and social platform, but users frequently criticize its outdated interface and missing basic features like half-star ratings.

Head to head

Features edge: Readwise ReaderR5R7R8R11
Readwise Reader Readwise Reader is praised for its extensive features, including text-to-speech for various media, highlighting across different content types (articles, PDFs, YouTube transcripts), and serving as an all-in-one hub for reading and organizing content R5R8R20R29. Users appreciate its ability to save articles, newsletters, and even podcast transcripts in one place R5R8. However, some users note missing features like RSS compact view options R7, widget support R11, proper Apple Pencil integration for PDFs , printing/PDF export , and reading statistics R22R28R31.
Goodreads Goodreads is valued for its core functionality of tracking books (read, want to read, currently reading), setting reading goals, and discovering new books through reviews and community recommendations . Users appreciate the ability to connect with friends and see what they are reading . However, a significant number of users consistently request basic features like half-star ratings R64R69R72R77, better friend management and search R69, and improved sorting options for reviews and lists . Some also desire a 'favorite books/authors' section and a buddy reading feature .
Ease of Use / Interface edge: Readwise ReaderR2R7R27R29
Readwise Reader Readwise Reader is praised for its impeccable and elegant interface, intuitive design, and focused UI R2R29. Users find it easy to use despite its many features R2. However, some users criticize the RSS experience as terrible due to lack of customization R7, the iPad OS app being inferior to the web version R27, and the overall iOS app feeling awkward and non-native .
Goodreads Goodreads is described as simple to use for its core functions . However, a significant number of reviews criticize its outdated, clunky, and basic UI, with many wishing for a modernized interface R69. Users report difficulty adding friends and navigating certain sections . The home feed is also noted for having spam .
Reliability / Performance tieR3R4R6R9
Readwise Reader Readwise Reader has significant reliability and performance issues. Users report frequent bugs R3R19, crashes , and extreme slowness or lagging, especially on the inbox/daily digest and during scrolling R3. Specific issues include TTS breaking R4, articles saving improperly R6, highlighting menus not appearing , and the app causing phones to overheat R9. While some users claim battery and performance issues have been fixed , many recent reviews still highlight these problems.
Goodreads Goodreads also suffers from reliability issues. Users report glitches when adding dates read or changing book versions , problems with notifications not clearing , and the app not showing all friends . Some users experience login issues and syncing problems with Kindle/Audible . The app is generally described as glitchy and slow .
Price / Value tieR2R19R20R21
Readwise Reader Readwise Reader is a paid subscription service, with users mentioning prices around $10-13/month or $95/year R21R30. Many users find the price to be too high or 'ludicrously high' for a reading app R21R30. Some feel it's not worth the money given the bugs R19 or that it doesn't offer enough distinct value to warrant the price . However, other users state it's 'absolutely worth it' and the 'only app I’ve found worth paying a yearly subscription for' due to its features and support R2R20.
Goodreads Goodreads is a free app, which is a major draw for users . However, recent updates have introduced ads, including large video ads, which users find distracting and frustrating R73R82R118. This has negatively impacted the perceived value for some, despite the app being free.
Support edge: Readwise ReaderR2R9R19R23
Readwise Reader Readwise Reader receives positive feedback for its responsive and human support R2. Users note that the app is actively developed, new features are consistently added, and issues are quickly acknowledged and usually resolved R23. However, some users complain about a lack of easy in-app bug reporting R19 and a perceived lack of developer attention to long-standing issues like overheating R9 or slow performance .
Goodreads Goodreads users express frustration with the lack of developer responsiveness to user requests, particularly regarding features like half-star ratings, which have been requested 'forever' R69. The app is criticized for feeling like it hasn't changed or evolved in years . There's a general sentiment that developers 'don't listen to the people they serve' R69.
Pick Readwise Reader if

you are a serious reader or researcher who wants a powerful, all-in-one hub to collect, read, highlight, and organize diverse digital content like articles, PDFs, newsletters, and even YouTube transcripts, and you value advanced features like excellent text-to-speech, a clean interface, and responsive customer support, and are willing to pay a premium subscription fee despite occasional performance issues R2R5R8R20.

Pick Goodreads if

you primarily want a free app to track your reading progress, manage your 'to-read' list, set reading goals, and connect with a community of readers for recommendations, and you are willing to overlook a dated user interface, occasional glitches, and the presence of ads .

Evidence note: Readwise Reader has a significantly smaller number of reviews compared to Goodreads, so its user sentiment, while strong in certain areas, represents a smaller user base. The free-vs-paid asymmetry is notable: Readwise Reader's negative reviews often focus on bugs and price for a paid service, while Goodreads' negative reviews frequently highlight a lack of updates and ads for a free service.

Frequently asked

Is Readwise Reader free?
Readwise Reader is not free; it operates on a paid subscription model, with users reporting prices around $10-13 per month or $95 per year, though it offers a free trial R1R2R21R30.
Can I track my reading statistics with Readwise Reader?
No, Readwise Reader currently lacks reading statistics, which is a significant point of disappointment for users who desire to track progress, streaks, or pages read per day R22R28R31.
Does Goodreads have half-star ratings?
No, Goodreads does not offer half-star ratings, which is a frequently requested feature by users who feel the full-star system is not accurate enough R64R69R72R77.
Does Goodreads have ads?
Yes, Goodreads has introduced ads, including large video ads, in recent updates, which many users find distracting and frustrating R73R82R118.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R5] Readwise Reader 5/5 · US Revolutionized how I consume media: I finally feel like I have a grasp on everything I read and a single place to read it all. Highly highly recommend
  2. [R7] Readwise Reader 1/5 · US No RSS compact view: Unlike every other rss app or similar apps such as email clients that all offer compact view vs default or vs expanded etc, Reader still has 0 options to customize the RSS screen. Can’t hide the image, can’t hide the excerpt etc so it’s a terrible rss experience and seems more aimed for the view one would want for curated saved articles not all ones rss feeds. Every years more
  3. [R8] Readwise Reader 5/5 · US Wow!: So I came from rss.app and Feedly cause I want to keep up with the playoffs.. I understand reader isn’t fast pace but it’s what I’m looking for .. use Flipboard and whatever is out there to find an article dump it in my library.. get feeds dump then then read them on my own time.. I been doing read later for now .. don’t get me started on chatting with highlights. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! Using
  4. [R11] Readwise Reader 4/5 · US Great, but no Widget support?: I’m enjoying the app and the service. But it would be great to see a widget for the news feeder.
  5. [R2] Readwise Reader 5/5 · US absolutely worth it: this is the only app I’ve found worth paying a yearly subscription for. impeccable interface. so easy to use, yet so many awesome features. when I first started using Reader, I was between jobs. when my (already generous) free trial ended, they extended it by three more months for me + were highly responsive to emails. I did not feel like a random user; the Readwise team has
  6. [R27] Readwise Reader 3/5 · US Inexplicably not the web-app on iPad OS: I love Readwise on my phone, my Palma, and my web browser. It’s the best reading app & it’s expensive enough that I almost trust it’ll stick around (unlike Omnivore…). For unknown reasons, though: the iPad OS app is the web browser’s inferior in every way. The lack of a sidebar is nuts and it’s basically a high-res version of the phone app. What’s up with t
  7. [R29] Readwise Reader 5/5 · US Elegant Interface - and a true 2nd Brain: I save everything in it - research, epubs, pdfs, feeds from twitter lists, and websites, blogs. The text to speech feature is excellent for anything from articles to books.
  8. [R3] Readwise Reader 3/5 · US Great app, disastrous quality control: The amount of bugs this app has is amongst the highest I've ever seen on any app, whether high quality or otherwise . It's too bad, because this thing is really, really, really good when it works. For at least a year or two now, my inbox on my iPhone just does not want to work properly. It takes forever to load, and I've cleared the cache and done everything
  9. [R4] Readwise Reader 1/5 · US TTS broken again: No QA testing before each update? Now when using TTS and you tap the button to jump back, it jumps ahead instead. Acceptable for a free or cheap service, not acceptable at this price.
  10. [R6] Readwise Reader 3/5 · US Unreliable: I love the idea of this app. I love the feature set. What I do t love is that a substantial portion of the articles I save get improperly saved. For example, I saved an article and the top and bottom sections (about 80% of the article) weren’t saved. I tried the same thing in GoodLinks, none. The article was as expected. Not sure what’s going on here but great features can’t make up f
  11. [R9] Readwise Reader 3/5 · US Severe overheating: I've renewed my subscription for two years in a row, and my phone always gets hot soon after I open the app, so I mostly use the web version. iOS has had many updates in between, and each time I hoped an update would fix the overheating, but the developers still haven't solved this problem. I hope the developers take this issue seriously and resolve it soon. · translated
  12. [R19] Readwise Reader 2/5 · US Good idea with lots of bugs without any fixes: The main idea is good but the app has several bugs which you encounter on a daily basis. And there isnt any way to report them easily in the app. Thats not fine with a paid app. I might cancel my subscription in the near future.
  13. [R20] Readwise Reader 5/5 · US The BEST media organization app: If you decide to use this app, prepare to expand your ideas of what is possible with a reader app. Wildly powerful and takes some time to get comfortable with, but for serious readers it’s 100% worth it. I wish there were TTS playlists but that’s not going to prevent me from happily giving 5 stars ✨
  14. [R21] Readwise Reader 3/5 · US Subscription: Can’t justify $12/m
  15. [R23] Readwise Reader 5/5 · US The best all-in-one reader around: This app has changed the way I consume almost all online, and some offline content. While it’s not perfect (yet), it is very actively developed and supported. New features are coming all the time and when things break, they’re at least quickly acknowledged and usually resolved reasonably fast as well. It’s the best app I’ve seen in this category and I’ve tried pl
  16. [R1] Readwise Reader 1/5 · US Just downloaded but my trial is expired?: This app must be connected to to original in terms of subscription. I’ve never used this one before but I’ve used the Readwise app; just downloaded this, signed up and it told me to subscribe to continue as my trial is expired. I can’t move past that page to even see what the app entails. Thats a real bummer, really wanted to try it as I get back into read
  17. [R30] Readwise Reader 3/5 · US Good App, too pricey: I enjoyed my first day using the app, but learned that it costs about $10-13 a month! I read that a year ago it was $8-9. In a perfect world I would use this app, but this cost is ludicrously high for the service offered. Subscriptions are everywhere now and I’m frankly fine with a free version that is slightly worse.
  18. [R22] Readwise Reader 1/5 · US Analytics/streaks?: As an avid reader, I optimistically switched over from my previous reader. However, I deeply miss being able to see my reading progress, streaks, goals, etc for the year at a glance
  19. [R28] Readwise Reader 1/5 · US One huge issue: This Reader at fist glance seemed perfect but it seems to be completely missing a reading statistics page. Every reader has some type of stats page. How was this overlooked? Readers just aren’t useful to me without a way to track my reading progress
  20. [R31] Readwise Reader 1/5 · US Zero statistics: The app is beautiful and revolutionary but it has no reading statistics which is the only feature that I wanted. Just a simple line plot showing pages read per day so I can see some type of trend to improve myself. The developers mentioned this was low on their priority list which was very sad since statistics is what set their original Readwise app apart from the competition and
  21. [R64] Goodreads 2/5 · US More Stars: I don’t like that you can only give a full star rating. You should be able to have more options.
  22. [R69] Goodreads 3/5 · US Still Needs Upgrades: Literally everyone who uses Goodreads has wanted the option for quarter-star ratings forever, but Goodreads never obliges. Developers who don't listen to the people they serve kinda PMO, honestly. It also would be nice if it was easier to search for people to add as friends; the entire social aspect of the app leaves a lot to be desired. Additionally, if it remembered your se
  23. [R72] Goodreads 3/5 · US All we ask: Give us the ability to add half stars
  24. [R77] Goodreads 4/5 · US Give us half-stars already!: Easy to use. Give me the ability to do a half star rating and I’ll up this to 5-stars.
  25. [R73] Goodreads 1/5 · US WACK: Imagine, ads while you’re trying to look at your Read / Want to Read list. I read to get away from being sold to 24/7. Jeez I’m good.
  26. [R82] Goodreads 1/5 · US It has ads now!: Don’t update the app, the new version has ads - big ones, videos, that are distracting and completely unrelated to books. Really frustrating
  27. [R118] Goodreads 1/5 · GB Has ads in the UK: Poorly designed and dated app. The ads were the icing on the cake.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store