Comparison

Instaread vs Quick Reads

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Instaread

Access condensed insights from thousands of bestselling nonfiction books in both audio and text formats. Learn key takeaways in 15 minutes or less, with curated content and original series on various topics. Download content for offline access and improve yourself with profound ideas.

Highlights
  • Key insights from bestselling books
  • Available in audio and text
  • Learn in 15 minutes or less
  • Professionally written titles
  • Instaread Originals series
  • Download for offline access
Features
Read full description

Quench your thirst of knowledge in record time! Instaread offers key insights from thousands of bestselling books. Available in audio & text. In 15 minutes. ● Get smarter in 15 min or less ● Thousands of professionally written titles & constantly growing ● Instaread Originals on important topics and people ● Available in text & audio ● 7-day free trial ● Beautiful and smart cover-illustrations ● Download content to read/listen offline ● Save to your library Titles include: ‘Getting Things Done’ by David Allen ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’ by Tim Ferriss ‘The Untethered Soul’ by Michael A. Singer ‘The 5 Second Rule’ by Mel Robbins ‘Good to Great’ by James C. Collins ‘Blink’ by Malcolm Gladwell ‘Unshakeable’ by Tony Robbins ‘Eat Fat Get Thin’ by Mark Hyman and thousands more! ONLY THE BEST NONFICTION BOOKS ● Only the absolute best books make it into our app. ● Highly curated content ensures useful learning and avoids waste of time. INSTAREAD ORIGINALS ● “Success Stories”: A series on leadership in business, politics, and the arts. ● “Short Cuts”: Today’s hottest topics distilled. CREATED BY PROFESSIONALS ● Subject-matter experts extract key insights from books and craft Instaread Originals. ● Multiple professionals including writers, editors, voice actors & artists carefully craft every Intaread to perfection. ● All content is fact-checked for accuracy & quality. IMPROVE YOURSELF & STAY INFORMED ● Unlock the knowledge from the world’s greatest books & get access to profound ideas. ● Apply game changing ideas to improve important aspects of your life. ● Keep up-to-date with the latest developments in business, science, health, tech, history, culture & more. AUDIO & TEXT ● All Instareads are available in text and in audio. ● On the road, at the gym or at home cooking? Use the audio feature to multi-task. ● Switch between audio & text effortlessly. ● Read & listen at the same time. ONLINE & OFFLINE ● Download any amount of Instareads to your device. ● Access content on the plane, train or any location with limited connectivity. ---------------------------------------------- In the Press “...this cool service lets you read or listen to [...] highlights versions of hundreds of bestselling books.” CNET “...a nearly instantaneous way of diving into a book, understanding its meaning and boiling down key takeaways – all in a matter of minutes.” TheNextWeb “...[through this app] you can get expanded back-cover synopses complete with thematic takeaways to help you focus your reading list” Mashable ---------------------------------------------- Instaread offers two subscription options: Monthly subscription for $8.99/month (with first week FREE) and a Yearly subscription for $89.99/year (with first week FREE). Cancel subscription anytime. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period by going to your iOS Account Settings after purchase. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period at the price of the annual or monthly subscription depending on what is chosen. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when you change from an annual to a monthly subscription or from a monthly to an annual subscription during the free trial period. The privacy policy can be viewed at instaread.co/privacy. The terms of use can be viewed at instaread.co/terms.

About

Quick Reads

Discover and enjoy a curated collection of short stories with an intuitive interface. Listen to stories with audio narration to improve reading speed and dictation. Engage with a community of readers by sharing comments and ratings.

Highlights
  • Curated short stories
  • Audio narration option
  • Story summaries and author bios
  • User profiles for comments and ratings
  • Offline story access
  • Reading time and rating information
Features
Read full description

A great story fits any moment. Quick Reads makes it easy to discover short fiction for the time you have. Find a familiar classic, stumble upon a hidden gem, or settle into a story you’ve been meaning to read. From Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe to Oscar Wilde and H. G. Wells, explore distinctive voices, surprising ideas and memorable characters. FIND YOUR NEXT STORY Explore Today’s Pick, Hidden Gems, Short but Brilliant and other collections. Search for writers, stories and themes, or browse by estimated reading time to find something that fits your break, commute or quiet evening. READ YOUR WAY Enjoy an elegant reader with adjustable fonts and text size. Choose Light, Dark or Sepia, follow your reading progress and return to where you left off. KEEP YOUR STORIES CLOSE Save stories to My Library for offline reading. Keep your saved stories, current reads and finished stories organized in one place. LISTEN, TOO Use built-in read-aloud to listen to a story when you’d rather hear it. MEET THE WRITERS Discover the people behind the stories through author biographies and other works from the same writer. Browse the collections before signing in and choose one story to read as a guest. Create a free account to read more and save stories to your library. Make a little room for a good story.

Screenshots

Instaread4 screens
Quick Reads4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Instaread at 4.6 against Quick Reads's 3.9. Instaread also leads on ratings volume (9.3K vs 8). Quick Reads's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Instaread sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Quick Reads asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Instaread holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Instaread has 9.3K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 40% of Instaread's written reviews are positive against 67% of Quick Reads's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 14, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Instaread versus Quick Reads: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInstareadQuick Reads
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (9.3K ratings) — better3.9 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews40.1% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.3K — better8
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size104 MB10 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperInstaread, Inc.Leftlane Group LLC

Customer experience

Instaread

All ratings9,329 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews364 reviews
Positive40.1%
Neutral5.5%
Negative54.4%

Quick Reads

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative16.7%

Bugs and requests

Instaread

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App freezing and crashing
  • Login and access issues
  • Subscription billing problems
  • Compatibility issues on older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline audio download option
  • Progress tracking and reading history
  • Highlight and note-taking features
  • Ability to access content on multiple devices
  • More affordable pricing options

Quick Reads

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Instaread

Subscriptions9
  • Instaread Subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Instaread Subscription7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Instaread7 Days trial$4.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Instaread7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Instaread7 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Instaread$14.991 Month
  • Instaread7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Instaread7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Instaread7 Days trial2 variants$89.991 Year
None

Quick Reads

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Instaread free?
Instaread is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Quick Reads free?
Quick Reads is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Instaread or Quick Reads?
Instaread is rated higher. Instaread averages 4.6 out of 5 from 9.3K ratings, while Quick Reads averages 3.9 from 8 ratings.
Do Instaread or Quick Reads have ads?
Instaread shows ads; Quick Reads does not.
Which is updated more often, Instaread or Quick Reads?
Instaread ships an update every 2 months, and Quick Reads every 2 months. Most recently, Instaread was updated on November 14, 2026 and Quick Reads on November 2, 2026.

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