A private Readwise Reader alternative for your PDFs and EPUBs
Want to read and highlight your own books without sending them to someone else's server? ReadHere keeps your PDFs, EPUBs and highlights on your device. It's free, and there's no account.
Readwise Reader is a smart app. It pulls in articles, newsletters, PDFs and ebooks, and its highlight review helps you remember what you read. A lot of people love it.
It works by keeping your documents and highlights in its cloud, so they can sync between devices. It's also a monthly subscription. If what you actually want is to read your own books in private, without a subscription, that's a different job.
What "private, on-device reading" means here
When you add a book to ReadHere, the file is saved inside your browser on your device. Your highlights, notes and reading position are saved there too. We don't have a copy. We can't read your notes, because they never reach us.
If you want your books on more than one device, Pro ($10/yr) backs them up to your own Google Drive. ReadHere can only see the one folder it creates there. Cancel, and the folder is still yours.
What you get
- PDF and EPUB in one library, with the same tools for both.
- Four highlight colors and notes on any passage.
- A highlights sidebar for every book. Click a highlight to jump back to it.
- A journal for each book, for longer notes and summaries.
- Offline reading once a book has been opened.
- Comfortable reading with Light, Sepia and OLED themes and good fonts.
Readwise Reader vs ReadHere, side by side
| Readwise Reader | ReadHere | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your files live | Readwise's cloud | Your device, or your own Google Drive |
| Account needed | Yes | No |
| Price | Monthly subscription | Free · Pro $10/yr |
| PDF and EPUB | Yes | Yes |
| Web articles, newsletters, RSS | Yes | No |
| Daily highlight review | Yes | No |
Who should stay with Readwise Reader
If most of your reading is web articles, newsletters and feeds, stay where you are. ReadHere doesn't save web pages. The same goes if the daily highlight review is the part you can't live without. We don't do that either.
ReadHere suits someone with a folder full of PDFs and EPUBs who wants to read them well, mark them up, and keep all of it to themselves.
How to try it
- Open ReadHere in your browser. There's no sign-up.
- Drag in a PDF or EPUB you own.
- Highlight, add notes, and come back any time. It's all saved on your device.
Related: read PDFs privately without uploading them and read ebooks offline in your browser.
Common questions
Is there a Readwise Reader alternative for fully private, on-device reading?
Yes. ReadHere opens your PDFs and EPUBs on your own device and saves your highlights in your browser. Nothing is stored on our servers.
Can ReadHere save web articles or newsletters like Readwise Reader?
No. ReadHere is for PDF and EPUB files you already have. If you want a read-it-later inbox for the web, Readwise Reader is built for that.
Does ReadHere resurface my highlights like Readwise does?
No. There are no daily review emails. Your highlights and notes sit in a sidebar for each book, where you can browse them and jump back to the page.
How much does it cost?
Reading and highlighting are free with no account. Pro is $10 a year and syncs your library to your own Google Drive.
Keep your reading to yourself
Drag in a book and start highlighting. Free, private, no account.