Instapaper vs Readwise Reader: read-later apps compared
Quick answer
Both save articles to read later and let you highlight. Instapaper is the long-running, simple one. Readwise Reader is built for heavy readers who want everything in one place.
What 125x is: 125x is a web app at 125x.app. You connect your YouTube subscriptions, and it gives you a feed of the latest videos from the channels you follow, each with a summary: a verdict, the 5 key takeaways, and the spoiler, plus Actionable and Lessons tabs with more tips. You read that and decide what's actually worth opening.
Open 125xQuick comparison
| Instapaper | Readwise Reader | |
|---|---|---|
| Best at | Clean, simple reading of saved articles | Articles, newsletters, RSS, PDFs and more in one inbox |
| Highlights and notes | Yes, synced across devices | Yes, synced to Readwise |
| Export | Plain text, Markdown, HTML, or Obsidian, Evernote, Notion | Readwise exports to Notion, Obsidian, Logseq and others |
| Listening | Text-to-speech on iOS and Android | Text-to-speech |
| Video | Focused on articles | Reads YouTube transcripts alongside the video |
Pick Instapaper if
- You mostly save articles and want a calm reader with folders and tags (Instapaper docs).
- You want to export highlights as Markdown or send them to Obsidian or Notion (Instapaper docs).
- You listen to articles on the go (Instapaper docs).
Pick Readwise Reader if
- You read newsletters, RSS feeds and PDFs as well as articles (Readwise Reader).
- You already use Readwise for book highlights (Readwise docs).
- You want to highlight YouTube transcripts. See Readwise Reader for YouTube.
How 125x fits
Both are great for reading. For the videos from channels you follow, 125x gives each one a summary, so you know which are worth sending to your reader or watching.
FAQ: questions people ask
Is Readwise Reader better than Instapaper?
Reader handles more content types and ties into Readwise. Instapaper is simpler and focused on articles.
Can Instapaper export highlights to Obsidian?
Yes. Instapaper's docs list export to Obsidian, Evernote and Notion, plus Markdown, plain text and HTML.
Do both read articles aloud?
Both offer text-to-speech. Instapaper's works in its iOS and Android apps.
Related guides
- Readwise Reader for YouTube: Highlight the Transcript
- Readwise vs Kindle Notebook: Where Should Highlights Live?
- Saving Posts You Never Read? Fix the Backlog
- Best Note-Taking Apps for YouTube Notes, Compared
- Every 125x guide
125x is a web app at 125x.app that turns your YouTube subscriptions into a feed with a summary on every video, plus Actionable and Lessons tabs with more tips, so you can see what's worth opening before you spend the time.
125x is made by Blake Labs Inc. 125x is not made by YouTube or Google.