Guides
Short, practical guides on reading and annotating PDFs and EPUBs in your browser - free, offline, and on any device. Plus honest comparisons with the readers you might be leaving behind.
How-to guides
How to read EPUB files in your browser
Open an .epub in a tab and read it free, offline, with themes, fonts, highlights, and notes - no app to install.
Read the guide →How to highlight and annotate PDFs online - free
Mark up a PDF without uploading it anywhere: four highlight colors, notes, and a per-book journal, all saved on your device.
Read the guide →Annotate an EPUB online - free, no upload
Highlight, note, and journal your way through an EPUB without an account, a watermark, or handing the file to a server.
Read the guide →How to highlight an EPUB without a Kindle
Skip the email-to-Amazon conversion dance. Mark up the EPUB you own in a browser tab, with highlights that survive a font change.
Read the guide →A Google Drive ebook reader
Drive keeps your books but can’t really read them. Read and annotate them here, backed up to that same Drive.
Read the guide →How to read ebooks offline in your browser
Load your books while you’re online, then read them on a plane or subway with the connection off. Here’s how it works.
Read the guide →Read an EPUB on Android without an app
Open a DRM-free EPUB in your phone browser, read offline, and add it to your home screen when you want quicker access.
Read the guide →Open PDFs from Google Drive
Use Drive for storage and a browser reader for the part Drive lacks: reading, highlights, notes, and offline access.
Read the guide →A private PDF reader that doesn’t upload your files
Read and highlight PDFs in your browser while the file and your notes stay on your own device.
Read the guide →How it compares
A lightweight Calibre alternative
Love Calibre for managing your library but want something simpler to actually read and annotate in? Here’s the lighter option.
Read the guide →An Apple Books alternative for every device
Stuck inside Apple’s ecosystem? Read the same PDFs and EPUBs on Windows, Android, and Chromebooks too.
Read the guide →A Kindle alternative for your own PDFs
Kindle mangles your own PDFs and won’t sync your highlights on them. Read the files you own, with notes that follow you.
Read the guide →A Kindle alternative for your EPUBs
Read your own EPUBs as they are. No Send to Kindle, no converting, and highlights that stay on the right words.
Read the guide →A free Adobe Acrobat alternative
Only need to read and highlight PDFs? Do it free in your browser, without a subscription or uploading the file.
Read the guide →A private Readwise Reader alternative
Read and highlight your PDFs and EPUBs on your own device, with nothing stored in someone else’s cloud.
Read the guide →