Readwise Launches Innovative App to Compete with Amazon Kindle and Goodreads for Avid Readers
Readwise, known for its read-it-later application and digital reading companion that tracks highlights across numerous platforms, is now challenging Amazon’s dominance in the e-book market with its newly launched Readwise Books app. This app serves as an e-book store while also helping users monitor their reading activities, similar in concept to Goodreads.
The startup, which has been self-funded, describes the app as a blend of Kindle and Goodreads, providing a centralized location for purchasing, reading, and managing books. Unlike standard reading trackers, Readwise Books aims to enhance the user experience by providing comprehensive reading statistics, capturing metrics like total words read, reading pace, immersion levels, and session duration.
The app’s store currently offers millions of e-books from major publishers, initially available in the U.S. with plans for international expansion. Users can also purchase print books through a distributor and access select audiobooks.
The app launch coincides with a surge in new reading applications and tracking tools aimed at providing alternatives to Goodreads by incorporating features like book clubs, improved discovery options, goal-setting, and organizational tools. However, few independent developers have ventured into building a direct competitor to Amazon’s Kindle e-book platform, which holds a staggering 83% market share, inclusive of Kindle Unlimited.
One of the key strengths of Kindle lies in its comprehensive ecosystem that encompasses both e-readers and comprehensive reading logs. While Readwise will not produce its e-reading devices, the company strives to build a community focused on reading, incorporating features like tracking purchased and uploaded ebooks, sharing progress with friends, and more.
The platform also provides options for tracking reads outside its environment, including utilizing Kindle’s Cloud Reader and a feature for photographing physical books to monitor reading progress. Users can also upload DRM-free EPUB files, a popular e-book format without digital rights management, and the app can read e-books aloud with text-to-speech technology.
Readwise believes that its advanced metrics will appeal to many users, drawing a comparison to Strava, the app known for its thorough running metrics.
The founders of Readwise, Daniel Doyon and Tristan Homsi, explained that the motivation to read can often be accompanied by guilt. They write that many individuals think they should read more yet find that guilt does not lead to improvement. By tracking sessions, the app makes reading habits more visible, suggesting that measurable activities improve over time.
User feedback indicates that the application has positively influenced reading frequency without relying on guilt-oriented tactics like stringent goal-setting or schedules.
With the backing of publishers, the app will also introduce AI-driven features, including session summaries, definitions, term lookups, translations, and a contextual ability to ask questions about the material being read, although so far, only Harper Collins has signed on board.
In contrast to Goodreads’ closed ecosystem, Readwise is opting for open technology by offering a public API and supporting an MCP server. This structure allows for the integration of AI capabilities to enhance book recommendations, create personalized book pages on user websites, or even connect e-readers for automatic session logging, depending on the user’s tech-savvy approach.
Currently, Readwise Books will be free to use, though some AI features may transition to paid services in the future. Other Readwise applications for reading tracking can be accessed for $7.99 per month for each or $9.99 monthly for both.
The Readwise Books app is still in its beta phase and requires an invitation to access, initially extended to existing Readwise subscribers.
