Readwise vs Scanji
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Readwise
This app helps you retain more of what you read by centralizing and revisiting your highlights from various reading platforms. It uses spaced repetition and active recall techniques to improve memory and offers features like tagging, note-taking, and OCR for physical books.
- Synchronize highlights from multiple platforms
- Daily review habit via app and email
- Spaced repetition and active recall
- Tag, note, and search highlights
- OCR for paper book highlights
- Convert highlights to flashcards
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Readwise helps you get the most out of what you read by making it fun & easy to revisit your highlights from all your favorite reading platforms in one place. Quickly synchronize your highlights from Kindle, Apple Books, Instapaper, Pocket, Medium, Goodreads, and even paper books. Then start building a daily review habit using the app and daily email. By reviewing your highlights every day, you'll retain dramatically more and you'll finally stop forgetting all the details from books you just finished! --- “Readwise is my favorite new service this year. Save highlights from Kindle, Instapaper, and now tweets... one of the best long-term personal learning tools I’ve come across.” — Caleb Hicks “Besides my Kindle, Readwise has been the most influential tech for improving my reading process.” — Blake Reichmann “If you use Kindle or Instapaper or just enjoy keeping and reading highlights, please sign up to Readwise. It will become one of your cherished services.” — Christopher Galtenberg --- ACTUALLY USE YOUR HIGHLIGHTS Highlighting is great, but why bother if you're never going to see any of your highlights again? Readwise makes it easy to quickly liberate all your highlights into one place, ensuring that you'll actually see and use them, including highlights from: • Amazon Kindle • Apple iBooks • Instapaper • Pocket • Medium • Goodreads • Twitter • Physical Books (using OCR) • Manual Input • CSV Upload STOP FORGETTING WHAT YOU READ How often do you finish a book, only to forget the key ideas two weeks later? We don't remember things by just reading them once. Readwise solves this problem using scientifically proven learning techniques called Spaced Repetition and Active Recall. Readwise resurfaces the right highlights at the right times using a daily email and an app. Readwise even makes it possible to convert your best highlights into flashcards for added retention. TAG, NOTE, SEARCH, AND ORGANIZE With your highlights all in one place, Readwise enables you to organize and connect these ideas in new ways. Use search to find a highlight instantly; use tag to organize highlights within your library; use notes to add your own annotations. HIGHLIGHT PAPER BOOKS Readwise also makes it possible to take highlights from your physical books and papers using your phone’s camera. Just snap a pic, highlight with your finger, and have your favorite highlights saved forever. --- If you are not already a Readwise subscriber, you can get started immediately with a 30-day free trial with no credit card upfront. At the end of the trial, you will not be charged unless you choose to subscribe to Readwise Full or Readwise Lite. Price may vary by location. Manage your subscription from your dashboard. --- Support: Check out readwise.io/faq or email us at hello@readwise.io Privacy Policy: https://readwise.io/tos Terms of Service: https://readwise.io/privacy
Scanji
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Read the Japanese in front of you - and actually remember it. Scanji turns a photo of Japanese text into readings, dictionary definitions, and real study material, entirely on your device. Point your camera at a sign, a menu, a manga panel, or a textbook page, and Scanji reads it - including vertical text, which most tools miss. SCAN & READ • Snap a photo (or pick one from your library) - no live camera gimmicks, just accurate results from one still image. • Handles both horizontal and vertical Japanese text. • Tap any word for its furigana reading and dictionary definition, pulled from a full offline Japanese-English dictionary. • Optical zoom on the capture screen for small print. • Quiet capture mode - no shutter sound, ideal for libraries, trains, and other quiet spaces. • Works completely offline. No internet required to scan or look anything up. SAVE WHAT YOU LEARN • Every scan and every word you look up is saved automatically. • Star favorites to keep them handy. STUDY - TURN READING INTO VOCABULARY Most translation apps hand you an English sentence and move on. Scanji is built for learners: • Spaced-repetition study (SRS) - review right before you'd forget. • Quiz mode (fast, multiple-choice) or Review mode (Anki-style: reveal, then rate yourself). • Study your own scans, shown right over the photo you took. • JLPT kanji decks, N5 through N1. • Built-in vocabulary decks - common verbs, adjectives, nouns, and adverbs, ranked by real-world frequency. • Progress tracking - a study-activity heatmap, retention stats, and JLPT mastery tracking. • Export your saved words as a spreadsheet or an Anki-importable file. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything runs on your device. No account, no sign-up, no cloud sync of your scans, no ads, no tracking. Your reading stays on your phone. Free to scan, read, and build your word history - forever. Scanji Pro unlocks the full study suite (SRS, quizzes, review, JLPT & vocab decks, stats, export). Try Pro free for 14 days. Scan. Understand. Remember. That's Scanji. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Readwise at every 2 weeks against Scanji's every 5 weeks. Readwise also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. Readwise sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Scanji sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Readwise ships an update every 2 weeks, Scanji every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Readwise | Scanji |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.5K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 69.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 110 MB | 63 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Readwise, Inc | SPRUCE PROJECT, Y.K. |
Bugs and requests
Readwise
Reported bugs
3 issues- Frequent app crashes
- Sync failures with certain accounts
- Unreliable highlight capture
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for more reading apps
- Improve sync and import capabilities
- Introduce more customization options
- Enhance search and organization tools
- Develop a more intuitive mobile interface
Scanji
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Readwise
- Readwise Lite Monthly$4.991 Month
- Readwise Lite Monthly$6.991 Month
- Readwise Full Monthly Plan$8.991 Month
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- Readwise Full Monthly$12.991 Month
- Readwise Lite Yearly$52.991 Year
- Readwise Lite Yearly$66.991 Year
- Readwise Full Yearly$94.991 Year
- Readwise Full Yearly$119.991 Year
Scanji
- Monthly14 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Lifetime$19.99









