The best Readwise alternatives

1. PrismoBest overall: tests you on the ideas, not the highlights
2. Recall: Read & RememberBest for being quizzed on highlights you already have
3. ScreviBest like-for-like highlight review, for less
4. RemNoteBest for turning highlights into flashcards
5. GlaspBest free Kindle highlight review
6. RecallBest for articles, videos and podcasts
7. InstapaperBest simple read-later app instead of Reader
8. Obsidian + Kindle pluginBest free do-it-yourself setup

Why people look for a Readwise alternative

Readwise is good at what it does, so the right alternative depends on what's bothering you. Five reasons come up again and again:

• You see your highlights but don't remember the books. Rereading a passage makes it feel familiar, which isn't the same as being able to recall it. You want an app that tests you: Prismo, or Recall: Read & Remember if you want to keep your highlights.
• The price. There's no free plan: Lite is $5.59 a month and the full plan $9.99 a month, billed yearly. Screvi is a little cheaper for the same idea, Glasp and Obsidian are free.
• You want quizzes, not flashcards you write yourself. Readwise's Mastery feature can quiz you, but you make every card by hand. Prismo and Recall: Read & Remember write the questions; RemNote can draft cards with AI.
• Your reading isn't on a Kindle. Readwise is built around highlights. If you read paper books, listen to audiobooks or learn from podcasts, there may be nothing to sync. Prismo works from what you write about anything you read or hear.
• You mostly used Reader. If the read-later app was the point, a dedicated one like Instapaper costs less, and Recall adds quizzes on what you save.

How we judged them

"Readwise alternatives" lists usually mix read-later apps and highlight managers and never ask whether you'll remember anything. I kept apps a Readwise user would realistically switch to, and judged them on four questions:

1. Does it test you, or show you things again? Memory research points to recalling an idea, not rereading it, as what keeps it.
2. Does it bring each idea back on a schedule set by your answers? That's spaced repetition: what you miss returns sooner, what you know waits longer.
3. What happens to your highlights? Kindle sync, a Readwise import, or a fresh start.
4. What does it cost compared with Readwise? Including free plans and what they leave out.

Facts about each app come from its own website, help pages and app store listings, checked on October 14, 2026, with links below. I use Prismo every day, since I build it; for the other apps I relied on their documentation and listings, not long-term use, and I say where something couldn't be confirmed. For the head-to-head version of this page, see Prismo vs Readwise.

The comparison table

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Prices change; follow each app's link below for the current numbers. If something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.

1. Prismo: the best Readwise alternative for remembering what you read

Best for Readwise users who see their highlights every day and still can't explain the book a month later.

Prismo is the app I make, and it comes first on this list because it fixes the gap most people leave Readwise over: seeing a highlight again isn't the same as remembering it. Prismo doesn't show you passages. After a chapter, an episode or a course, you write or dictate a few lines in your own words. That's the only work you do. Prismo does the rest:

1. It keeps the ideas worth keeping. It pulls them out of your note and files them under topics, adding to what you already know, so ideas from different books end up in one connected library.
2. It writes the questions. Five kinds: multiple choice, true or false, fill in the blank, short answer, and questions that connect two ideas. Unlike Mastery cards in Readwise, you never make one.
3. It brings each idea back at the right time. Right answers wait longer, misses come back sooner, from about a day up to several months. The daily review takes a few minutes.

Why that makes it the best alternative for most Readwise users: the two things memory research says keep ideas are recalling them and spacing that recall out. Readwise's Daily Review gives you spacing, but mostly with rereading. Prismo gives you both, for everything you read or hear, including paper books, audiobooks and podcasts that never produce a highlight. And since every note starts with you putting a chapter into your own words, each one is already a round of recall.

How Prismo works · Prismo vs Readwise, in detail · Best apps to remember what you read

2. Recall: Read & Remember: best for being quizzed on highlights you already have

Best for people with years of Kindle or Readwise highlights who want to be tested on them.

Recall: Read & Remember is a small iPhone and Android app by Bumpkin Labs (not the recall.it web app further down this list). It imports highlights from Kindle, Readwise, Kobo and PDFs, or text you paste, pulls out the core ideas, and runs a short session where you explain each idea in your own words. An AI grades the answer, says what you got and missed, and asks follow-ups. Reviews are scheduled with SM-2 by how well you answered.

Choose it if you want to keep your highlight library and finally be tested on it. Watch out for: it's new, with too few ratings for the App Store or Google Play to show a score. It's free to start with a limited library; Premium, listed at $5.99 on the App Store with a 14-day trial, unlocks an unlimited library. App Store listing

Compared with Prismo: Recall: Read & Remember starts from the author's words you highlighted; Prismo starts from your own summary, so it works for books and podcasts you never highlighted.

3. Screvi: best like-for-like highlight review, for less

Best for people who like Readwise's Daily Review and just want to pay less for it.

Screvi works much like Readwise: it syncs highlights from Kindle (seven Amazon stores), Kobo and Apple Books, plus PDFs, scanned paper pages, articles, YouTube and podcasts, and brings them back in a daily review in the app, by email or in a widget. You tell it to show a highlight more often, less often or never, and it spaces them out from there. It imports your Readwise highlights directly, so switching takes minutes.

Choose it if you're happy with highlight review and want a cheaper bill, or a one-time lifetime price. Watch out for: it shows you highlights rather than testing you, the same limit as Readwise, and there's no free plan. It's $6.99 a month, $59.99 a year or $299 for life, after a 14-day trial (Readwise Lite is $67.08 a year). Screvi pricing

Compared with Prismo: Screvi is a cheaper way to keep seeing your highlights; Prismo is for when seeing them isn't making you remember the books.

4. RemNote: best for turning highlights into flashcards

Best for students and note-takers who want their highlights inside a full flashcard system.

RemNote is a note-taking app with flashcards and real spaced repetition (SM-2 or FSRS) built in. Readwise has an official RemNote export that drops your highlights into a "Readwise Books" folder about every 30 minutes, where you can turn any line into a card, or have AI draft cards, which spends AI credits. It also reads PDFs and web pages directly.

Choose it if you want answer-graded flashcards from your highlights and like organizing notes yourself. Watch out for: it doesn't replace Readwise for Kindle, it works alongside it: the highlight sync comes through Readwise's export, a full-plan feature. It's also a whole note system to learn. The free plan includes 3 PDFs and 250 AI credits a month; Pro is $96 a year and Pro with AI $216 a year. RemNote pricing · Readwise to RemNote

Compared with Prismo: RemNote gives you a powerful card system you build and maintain; Prismo asks for a few lines and writes and schedules the questions itself.

5. Glasp: best free Kindle highlight review

Best for Kindle readers who want a daily highlight email and won't pay for it.

Glasp is a social web highlighter: you highlight articles, PDFs and YouTube transcripts in the browser, with AI summaries. It also imports Kindle highlights through its browser extension in Kindle Cloud Reader and sends a free daily email of randomly selected highlights. Exports to Markdown, CSV, JSON and HTML are free too.

Choose it if you mainly want your Kindle highlights in your inbox each morning, for free. Watch out for: highlights on the free plan are public (private highlights are a paid feature), the email picks highlights at random rather than on a schedule, and there are no quizzes. Pro is $15 a month or $150 a year. Glasp pricing · Kindle highlight review

Compared with Prismo: Glasp is a free way to see highlights again; Prismo asks you to recall the ideas, and brings back the ones you miss sooner.

6. Recall: best for articles, videos and podcasts

Best for people who learn mostly from the web and want quizzes on what they save.

Recall (recall.it, formerly getrecall.ai) saves articles, YouTube videos, podcasts and PDFs, summarizes them, and links related items into a knowledge base you can chat with. On the Plus plan you can ask it to generate questions about any saved item, and it schedules them with spaced repetition by your answers.

Choose it if you used Readwise Reader for articles and videos and want to be quizzed on them. Watch out for: there's no Kindle or Readwise import (Readwise sync is an open request on its feedback board), quizzes are made item by item when you ask, and they're not on the free plan. Plus is $10 a month billed yearly. Recall pricing

Compared with Prismo: Recall shines with web content you save; Prismo works for anything you can put into words, including books, and quizzes you without being asked.

7. Instapaper: best simple read-later app instead of Reader

Best for people who mainly used Readwise for Reader and want a cheaper read-later app.

Instapaper is one of the original read-later apps: save articles from anywhere and read them later in a clean view on the web, iPhone, iPad or Android. Saving is free and unlimited. Premium adds full-text search, a permanent archive, a PDF reader, unlimited notes, text-to-speech and Kindle integration. Readwise can still import your Instapaper highlights if you keep both.

Choose it if reading articles later is what you actually used. Watch out for: there's no highlight review or quizzing; it's for reading, not remembering, and the free plan limits notes to 5 a month. Premium is $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year. Instapaper Premium

Compared with Prismo: Instapaper is where you read; Prismo is where you keep what you read. They work well together.

8. Obsidian + Kindle plugin: best free do-it-yourself setup

Best for tinkerers who want their highlights as plain files and don't mind some setup.

Obsidian is a free note app that stores everything as Markdown files on your device. The community Kindle Highlights plugin imports highlights from Amazon's notebook page or from your Kindle's My Clippings file, and the Spaced Repetition plugin lets you write flashcards in your notes and review them with SM-2 or FSRS. Both are free, open source and were updated in 2026.

Choose it if you want to own your files, pay nothing and like building your own system. Watch out for: you write every flashcard, and the Kindle cloud sync only covers books bought from Amazon (use My Clippings for the rest). Obsidian is free; Sync across devices is $4 a month billed yearly. Obsidian pricing

Compared with Prismo: Obsidian gives you full control and a lot of setup; Prismo has none, and writes the questions for you.

When to stay with Readwise

Readwise is still the best tool for collecting highlights, and switching isn't always the answer. Stay if:

• You highlight heavily across many sources. It syncs from 24 sources, including Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, Instapaper and podcasts through Snipd. No alternative here matches that.
• You need the author's exact words for writing, teaching or research, searchable in one place.
• You use Reader every day and want reading and highlights in the same app.
• You export to Notion, Obsidian or another note app and rely on that pipeline.

And if your problem is remembering, you don't have to choose. Keep Readwise for your highlights and add Prismo for the ideas: after each chapter, write three lines without looking at your highlights. The Prismo vs Readwise page walks through that routine.

Also worth knowing

• Readwise Mastery: before you switch, try Readwise's own flashcards. You write each card from a highlight, and it comes back on a spaced schedule you pick.
• Matter: a well-known read-later app with highlights and text-to-speech. I couldn't confirm its current price, so check in the app.
• Kern, RememBook and Loxie: quizzes on books without your highlights. See our main comparison.

Which one should you choose?

• You see your highlights every day but don't remember the books: Prismo. This is the right choice for most people leaving Readwise.
• You want to keep your highlights and be tested on them: Recall: Read & Remember.
• You like Daily Review and just want to pay less: Screvi, or Glasp for free if public highlights don't bother you.
• You're a student who wants highlights as flashcards: RemNote, alongside Readwise.
• You mostly used Reader: Instapaper, or Recall if you want quizzes on articles and videos.
• You want free and fully in your control: Obsidian with the Kindle and Spaced Repetition plugins.

Whichever app you pick, the habit matters more than the tool: after you read, close the book and try to say what it said. Our guide on how to remember what you read walks through the method, spaced repetition explains why the timing matters, and the review schedule calculator gives you dates if you'd rather do it on paper.

Changes to this page

• October 14, 2026: first version. All prices and features checked on the apps' own sites and store listings that day.