Comparison

Readwise Reader vs Solarday

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

Head to head
About

Readwise Reader

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
Read full description

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

About

Solarday

This app offers a calm and intentional approach to productivity, focusing on doing less but better. It helps users set daily intentions, manage tasks without pressure, and reflect on their progress. Features include hourly weather forecasts and lunar cycle insights.

Highlights
  • Set daily intentions
  • Mindful task management
  • Focus on one task at a time
  • Daily reflection prompts
  • Hourly weather forecasts
  • Lunar cycle insights
  • Future planning notes
Features
Read full description

Solarday helps you find a little more meaning and delight in ordinary days. It's for people who want to feel calmer while still making progress in life. If your to-do list has become some mindless alternate universe not in touch with how you actually live your days, Solarday might... might just be that space you're yearning for. I built Solarday for myself, so, of course, I use it every day and love it. Naturally, I'm biased. But you should see what the users and the tiny amount of press it's gotten so far say: "Beautiful, calming design." — Dense Discovery newsletter, Issue #378 (36k+ subscribers) "Plan your days with an app so beautiful you can show it off to others." — Mac O'Clock "Stable, serene option for tracking tasks" "Pretty, simple and calming" "This app helped me think in buckets that brought more alignment than a to-do list ever could. Absolutely genius." "It's beautiful and well-thought out and I would pay twice what they aren't asking for. 5 stars." "Been looking for an app like this for a very long time" Solarday brings daily productivity, intention setting, weather forecasts, aspirations for the future, and daily journaling into one place, while still trying to do very little. If you've read till here, that's all you need to know. But, for folks who are very particular about the details, here's mostly everything that Solarday does: – Do & focus: Add things to Do. Divide the space up with a Divider (or two). Set focus timers, and check in on progress from the Dynamic Island and Live Activities on the Lock Screen. – Day's Intention: Set an Intention to start each day. A positive affirmation, or any brief sentiment that guides the day ahead for you. Write your own, pick one from the library, or let Apple Intelligence generate one privately on-device. – Skies, by the hour: Weather forecasts for the rest of us. Drag to see 24 hours ahead. Know the moon, sun, and rain. Tonight's illumination, the feel of the air, whether you'll need sunscreen or an umbrella. – Future: Everything that isn't for today goes in Future. Ideas, little notes to self, things on the horizon. Move them into Do if and when the time is right, or just let them brew. – Reflect: To close the day. What went well? What are you grateful for? What did you observe today? Make it deep, or keep it brief. Private and end-to-end encrypted, so only you can ever see your Reflections. – Themes: Basic and Sunrise-Sunset are included. Four more — London Fog, Forest, Firehorse, and Wild Blueberry — are available to buy, for different moods or seasons. Each theme has light & dark variants that adapt based on your iPhone's Appearance. – Widgets: Glance at them from the Home Screen throughout the day. Adding more widgets steadily. And: – Privacy: Everything you write is end-to-end encrypted (AES-256). Only you can ever read it. – Seamless iCloud sync – Works offline: Full functionality without internet (say, on a flight). Syncs quietly when you're back. Simple, noise-free interface. No ads. Locally made by a small business of one in Perth County, Canada.

Screenshots

Readwise Reader4 screens
Solarday4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Solarday at 5.0 against Readwise Reader's 4.6. Solarday also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 72%). Readwise Reader's advantage is ratings volume (579 vs 13) and update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Readwise Reader sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month and Solarday sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Solarday holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Readwise Reader has 579 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Readwise Reader's written reviews are positive against 100% of Solarday's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Readwise Reader ships an update weekly, Solarday every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Readwise Reader versus Solarday: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadwise ReaderSolarday
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (579 ratings)5.0 (13 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings579 — better13
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size178 MB17 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperReadwise, IncPlot Network Inc.

Customer experience

Readwise Reader

All ratings579 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral4.3%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews275 reviews
Positive72.0%
Neutral11.3%
Negative16.7%

Solarday

All ratings13 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

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

Solarday

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Readwise Reader

Subscriptions4
  • Reader Monthly Plan$8.991 Month
  • Reader Monthly$12.991 Month
  • Reader Annual Plan$95.901 Year
Show 1 more
  • Reader Yearly$119.991 Year
5 purchases

Solarday

One-time5
  • Wild Blueberry Theme$2.00
  • Forest Theme$2.00
  • London Fog Theme$2.00
Show 2 more
  • Firehorse Theme$2.00
  • Solarday Early Bird Supporter$7.00

Questions

Is Readwise Reader free?
Readwise Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Solarday free?
Solarday is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Readwise Reader or Solarday?
Solarday is rated higher. Readwise Reader averages 4.6 out of 5 from 579 ratings, while Solarday averages 5.0 from 13 ratings.
Do Readwise Reader or Solarday have ads?
Neither Readwise Reader nor Solarday shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Readwise Reader or Solarday?
Readwise Reader ships an update weekly, and Solarday every 4 weeks. Most recently, Readwise Reader was updated on September 24, 2026 and Solarday on September 10, 2026.

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