Brain.fm vs Readwise Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Brain.fm
This app uses science-backed music to improve focus, relaxation, meditation, and sleep. It employs brainwave entrainment technology to help users achieve flow states, fall asleep faster, and reduce stress. Features include personalized music, adjustable stimulation levels, and an ADHD mode.
- Science-backed music for focus and sleep
- Brainwave entrainment technology
- Personalized music for brain types
- Adjustable stimulation levels
- ADHD mode with boost option
- Offline music downloads
- Pomodoro productivity mode
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Focus, Relax, Meditate and Sleep, with Music Made for Your Brain. Brain.fm is science-backed music that enhances focus, improves sleep, and more. We use sound to change your brainwave patterns, so you can drop into deep focus or fall asleep faster, every time. Now with ADHD mode! IMPROVE FOCUS, RELAX, MEDITATION, SLEEP Do you struggle to focus at work or studying? Do you have trouble winding down or falling asleep at night? Brain.fm will help you: • Focus faster and get into flow. • Beat procrastination. • Stay in flow longer. • Fall asleep and stay asleep. • Meditate more effectively. • Reduce stress and anxiety. 10X YOUR FOCUS • Boost activity in brain regions controlling attention • Increase focus by up to 10x • Reduce tension/anxiety by 2x compared to other relaxing music. • Improve brain signatures of deep sleep Funded by the National Science Foundation (USA) Brain.fm affects your brain differently than any other music! Our patented tech works via brainwave entrainment, and has been tested extensively with funding from the US government. Our music process includes both humans and AI, for the best-sounding AI music around. BRAIN.FM FEATURES • Personalized music for your brain type. • Tons of genres from LoFi beats to Classical. We even have Nature soundscapes! • Stimulation level is adjustable, with a boost option for ADHD brains. • Download music for offline use / airplane mode. • Pomodoro mode for productivity sprints. IDEAL BACKGROUND MUSIC • Focus modes optimized for deep work, learning, creativity, and more! • Relax modes made to help you recharge during the day or unwind in the evening. • Meditation modes including both guided and unguided meditations. • Sleep modes including guided sleep and energizing wakeup. ADHD MODE FOR ADHD BRAINS Some brains need extra stimulation to focus best. That’s why people with ADHD fidget when they’re trying to pay attention. Brain.fm provides this kind of stimulation through music. There’s even a boost option specifically for ADHD. Think of brain.fm as a fidget spinner for your brain! BETTER THAN BINAURAL BEATS Binaural beats and isochronic tones also use brainwave entrainment, but brain.fm does it better. We use patented A.I. on top of human-composed music to help you find your flow faster than binaural beats or other brainwave entrainment audio. REVIEWS "It’s an instant ability to focus in a way I’ve never experienced before." - Brit Morin, Founder of Brit + Co, featured on Entrepreneur "I started using brain.fm while working and was shocked by how much it improved my focus" - VICE FREE TRIAL WITH FULL ACCESS for 14 days, followed by a subscription (see in-app purchases for pricing information). Prices listed are for U.S. customers. Pricing in other countries may vary, and charges may be converted to your local currency depending on your country of residence. Terms of use - https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Readwise Reader
Consolidate all your reading materials, from web articles and newsletters to PDFs and ebooks, into a single, streamlined platform. Enhance comprehension with powerful highlighting, text-to-speech narration, and AI-powered insights. Seamlessly integrate your annotations with popular writing tools.
- Consolidates web articles, newsletters, RSS, Twitter threads, PDFs, EPUBs
- Powerful highlighting and annotation tools
- Text-to-speech narration
- AI-powered 'Ghostreader' for questions and simplification
- Full-text search
- Integration with Readwise for export to Obsidian, Notion, etc.
- Offline access
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Readwise Reader is the first read-it-later app built specifically for power readers. If you’ve ever used Instapaper or Pocket, Reader is like those except it’s built for 2024 and brings all your reading into one place including: web articles, email newsletters, RSS feeds, Twitter threads, PDFs, EPUBs and more. ______________________ “Reader has completely redesigned the read-it-later app. It’s gorgeous and blazingly fast. In many ways, it’s the Superhuman of reading — you won’t want to read anywhere else.” Rahul Vohra (Founder of Superhuman) “I spend my entire day reading, researching, & writing and Readwise is the reading tool I’ve been waiting for. The perfect complement to my writing workflow. Absolute game changer.” Packy Mccormick (Author of Not Boring) “The Readwise reading app is the first read-it-later app that enables a true workflow for serious readers. As an ex-Pocket /Instapaper power user, it's hard to imagine ever going back.” Fitz Maro (Creative Technology Lead at Pinterest) ______________________ ALL YOUR READING IN ONE PLACE Stop juggling half a dozen reading apps. Reader brings all your content into one place including: • Web articles • Email newsletters • RSS feeds • Twitter threads • PDFs • EPUBs You can even import your existing library from Pocket and Instapaper and RSS feeds from Feedly, Inoreader, Feedbin, etc. POWERFUL HIGHLIGHTING FOR POWER READERS We believe that annotations are the key to getting more out of what you read. So we’ve developed highlighting as a first-class feature inside Reader. Highlight images, links, rich text, and more. On any device. READER WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU READ We’ve reinvented the digital reading experience to apply the power of software to the printed word. This includes TEXT-TO-SPEECH (listen to any document narrated with the lifelike voice of a real human), GHOSTREADER (your integrated copilot of reading enabling you to ask questions, define terms, simplify complex language, and more), and FULL-TEXT SEARCH (find whatever you’re looking for, even if you only remember a single word). FLEXIBLE SOFTWARE TO FIT YOUR UNIQUE NEEDS Your personal interests, your professional projects, your way of doing things — they’re unique. Reader is your home base for the varied documents in your life, customizable to match the way your brain works. PDFs for work, articles for your newsletter, and ebooks for pleasure all live comfortably side-by-side. No more juggling dozens of apps. INTEGRATED WITH YOUR FAVORITE TOOLS Your annotations should flow effortlessly from your reading app into your writing tool of choice. Instead you waste hours reformatting, reorganizing, and repeating. Reader eliminates this hassle. Reader seamlessly connects to Readwise which exports to Obsidian, Notion, Roam Research, Evernote, Logseq, and more READ ANYWHERE, ANYTIME Access all of your content from any of your devices with everything in sync. Even offline. Reader syncs across all platforms, including a powerful, local-first web app and iOS. You can even highlight the open web with the Reader browser extensions. ______________________ If you’re not already a Readwise subscriber, you can get a free 30-day trial with no credit card upfront. At the end of the trial, you will not be charged unless you choose to subscribe. Support: Check out readwise.io/faq or email us at hello@readwise.io Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://readwise.io/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Readwise Reader at weekly against Brain.fm's every 4 weeks. Brain.fm's advantage is ratings volume (5.6K vs 591) and chart position (#131 vs unranked). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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
Both are free to download. Brain.fm sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Readwise Reader sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Brain.fm against 4.6 for Readwise Reader. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brain.fm has 5.6K ratings behind it against 591, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of Brain.fm's written reviews are positive against 72% of Readwise Reader's.
Brain.fm ships an update every 4 weeks, Readwise Reader weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Brain.fm | Readwise Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (5.6K ratings) | 4.6 (591 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.5% of reviews | 72.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5.6K — better | 591 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #131 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 168 MB | 196 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Brain.fm | Readwise, Inc |
Customer experience
Brain.fm
Readwise Reader
User reviews
Brain.fm
From 5.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Helps with focus and productivity
- 🧘♀️ Effective for meditation and relaxation
- 💤 Improves sleep quality
- 🎶 High-quality audio and music
- 🤖 Scientifically-backed technology
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy app with connectivity issues
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🤖 Lack of customization options
- 🔇 Offline mode limitations
- 📱 Subpar user interface and navigation
Readwise Reader
From 591 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fantastic reading experience
- 👍 Seamless integration with Readwise
- 🎨 Beautiful and intuitive UI
- 📚 All-in-one reading solution
- 🔍 Powerful search and organization
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and performance issues
- 🔍 Cluttered interface for some users
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🖥️ Lack of iPad-specific features
- 📚 Missing basic reader features (e.g., bookmarks)
Bugs and requests
Brain.fm
Reported bugs
5 issues- App crashes and freezes frequently
- Playback issues with interruptions and disconnections
- Inconsistent behavior across platforms
- Login and subscription management problems
- Offline downloads not working as expected
Requested features
5 requests- Customizable timer and session lengths
- Offline playback with full library access
- Apple Watch and macOS app support
- More diverse music and sound selection
- Better integration with health/fitness apps
Readwise Reader
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inconsistent sync between devices
- Unreliable RSS feed updates
- Frequent crashes on iPad
- Issues with resuming reading position
Requested features
5 requests- Improved PDF and ebook support
- Customizable reading themes and layouts
- Better integration with note-taking apps
- Reading progress and statistics tracking
- Bulk management of saved items
In-app purchases
Brain.fm
- Brain.fm Pro$6.991 Month
- Brain.fm PRO7 Days trial$6.991 Month
- Brain.fm PRO7 Days trial$9.991 Month
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- Brain.fm PRO$9.991 Month
- Brain.fm PRO7 Days trial$14.991 Month
- Brain.fm Pro$15.993 Months
- Brain.fm Pro$49.991 Year
- Brain.fm PRO14 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Brain.fm PRO14 Days trial$69.991 Year
- Brain.fm PRO14 Days trial$99.991 Year
Readwise Reader
- Reader Monthly Plan$8.991 Month
- Reader Monthly$12.991 Month
- Reader Annual Plan$95.901 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Reader Yearly$119.991 Year









