# Excerpt vs Readwise Reader

The clearest difference is update cadence: Readwise Reader at weekly against Excerpt's every 4 months. Readwise Reader also leads on ratings volume (585 vs 36). Excerpt's advantage is review sentiment (95% vs 72%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Excerpt sells 3 one-off in-app purchases 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.

Excerpt holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Readwise Reader has 585 ratings behind it against 36, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Excerpt's written reviews are positive against 72% of Readwise Reader's.

Excerpt ships an update every 4 months, Readwise Reader weekly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Excerpt | Readwise Reader |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (36 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/excerpt-the-book-highlighter/id1447907126/reviews)** | [4.6 (585 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/readwise-reader/id1567599761/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 36 | **585** |
| Positive reviews | **95.2% of reviews** | 72.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 46 MB | 193 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 16.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Ryan Maksymic](https://appshunter.io/developer/1416136388) | [Readwise, Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1476885527) |

## What reviewers say

### Excerpt

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/excerpt-the-book-highlighter/id1447907126)

Capture and organize quotes and images from physical books using your device's camera. Add notes, customize highlighter colors, and share your findings. Export your compiled excerpts into a PDF for easy reference.

**Highlights:** Scan book pages with camera, Capture quotes and images, Add notes to excerpts, Organize by page and chapter, Share excerpts, Export to PDF, Customizable highlighter colors

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Unlock Colors 1 | $0.99 | one-time |
| Unlock Colors 2 | $2.99 | one-time |
| Unlock Colors 3 | $9.99 | one-time |


### Readwise Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/readwise-reader/id1567599761)

This app consolidates all your reading content, including web articles, newsletters, and PDFs, into a single, organized platform. It offers advanced highlighting, text-to-speech, and AI-powered assistance to enhance your reading workflow and knowledge retention.

**Highlights:** Consolidate web articles, newsletters, RSS, Twitter threads, PDFs, EPUBs, Import from Pocket, Instapaper, and Feedly, Advanced highlighting and annotation tools, Text-to-speech narration, AI-powered reading assistant (Ghostreader), Full-text search, Syncs across all devices, offline access

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reader Monthly Plan | $8.99 | per month |
| Reader Monthly | $12.99 | per month |
| Reader Annual Plan | $95.90 | per year |
| Reader Yearly | $119.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fantastic reading experience
- 👍 Seamless integration with Readwise
- 🎨 Beautiful and intuitive UI
- 📚 All-in-one reading solution
- 🔍 Powerful search and organization

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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)

**Reported bugs**

- Inconsistent sync between devices
- Unreliable RSS feed updates
- Frequent crashes on iPad
- Issues with resuming reading position

**Requested features**

- 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


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Excerpt free?

Excerpt is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Readwise Reader free?

Readwise Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Excerpt or Readwise Reader?

Excerpt is rated higher. Excerpt averages 4.8 out of 5 from 36 ratings, while Readwise Reader averages 4.6 from 585 ratings.

### Do Excerpt or Readwise Reader have ads?

Neither Excerpt nor Readwise Reader shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Excerpt or Readwise Reader?

Excerpt ships an update every 4 months, and Readwise Reader weekly. Most recently, Excerpt was updated on October 24, 2026 and Readwise Reader on October 24, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*