Omnivore vs Readwise Reader

Compare Omnivore and Readwise Reader side by side on features, pricing, and the workflows each one is designed for.

Omnivore

Shut down

Open-source read-later app with strong newsletter and markdown workflows.

Free

  • Completely free and open source
  • Strong newsletter-to-library workflow with per-user email
  • Synced with Logseq, Obsidian, and Notion for PKM workflows

Readwise Reader

A read-later app for articles, PDFs, emails, tweets, and YouTube, with deep highlights and AI features.

Free, paid from $9.99/mo

  • Fastest, most polished app in the read-later category
  • Rich highlighting with Readwise sync to note apps
  • Handles articles, PDFs, newsletters, tweets, YouTube in one inbox

Feature comparison

Here's how Omnivore and Readwise Reader compare across the features people actually look for. They share 18 core capabilities; the differences show up in what each tool focuses on.

FeatureOmnivoreReadwise Reader
Capture and save
Browser extension
Mobile apps
Save from email
Save tweets
Save YouTube videos
Save GitHub stars
Save PDFs
Save files (docs, spreadsheets)
Save audio files
Save via API
Auto-sync sources
RSS auto-sync
YouTube channel sync
X bookmarks sync
GitHub stars sync
Newsletter inbox sync
Library and reading
Reader view
Offline reading
Full-text search
Semantic / AI search
Highlights
Notes
Tags
Collections
Public sharing
Full-text RSS extraction
AI and agents
Markdown export for AI agents
Bulk markdown export
MCP server
CLI tool
Claude Code skill
AI summaries
Public API
Import and export
OPML import / export
Pocket import
Instapaper import
CSV / JSON export
Send to Kindle

Pricing

Omnivore has shut down, so pricing below is for reference only. Readwise Reader is free, paid from $9.99/mo.

Omnivore

  • Free

    All features free; open source.

    Free

Readwise Reader

  • Free

    30-day trial of Readwise Full (includes Reader). No card required.

    Free
  • Readwise (Full)

    $9.99/mo billed annually or $12.99/mo monthly. Includes Reader, highlights sync, and export to Notion/Obsidian.

    $9.99/mo

Strengths and weaknesses

Both tools do their category well, but the specifics differ. Here's what each one is good at and where it tends to fall short.

What Omnivore did well

  • Completely free and open source
  • Strong newsletter-to-library workflow with per-user email
  • Synced with Logseq, Obsidian, and Notion for PKM workflows
  • GraphQL API returned markdown, friendly to integrations
  • Active community and regular updates prior to shutdown

Where it fell short

  • Shut down in 2024 after acquisition by ElevenLabs
  • No path to import back into a hosted version
  • Self-hosting requires non-trivial infrastructure

What Readwise Reader does well

  • Fastest, most polished app in the read-later category
  • Rich highlighting with Readwise sync to note apps
  • Handles articles, PDFs, newsletters, tweets, YouTube in one inbox
  • Ghostreader AI summarises and explains highlights

Where it falls short

  • Expensive compared to simpler read-later apps
  • Dense UI can overwhelm casual readers
  • API returns HTML, not markdown (no AI-agent-ready export)
  • No MCP server or Claude Code skill

Which one should you pick?

Omnivore is no longer an option

Omnivore has shut down and is no longer available. Any of the active alternatives is a safer bet.

About Omnivore

Omnivore was a free, open-source read-later app that did everything right on paper: RSS feeds, newsletter inbox, PDFs, highlights, labels, filters, rules, full-text search, a GraphQL API that returned markdown, and sync with Logseq, Obsidian, and Notion. It ran on iOS, macOS, Android, web, and extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. It shut down on November 15, 2024 after ElevenLabs acquired the team for their ElevenReader TTS product. The cloud service deleted all user data; the open-source codebase still lives on GitHub for anyone who wants to self-host.

About Readwise Reader

Readwise Reader is the reading companion to Readwise's highlight sync service. It handles articles, PDFs, EPUBs, emails, tweets, and YouTube transcripts in one inbox, with a Ghostreader AI copilot for summaries, definitions, and Q&A. Highlights sync to Notion, Obsidian, Logseq, Roam, Evernote, and Airtable. It ships as web, iOS, Android, and browser extensions, with a public REST API for scripting. Pricing is $9.99/mo billed annually (or $12.99/mo monthly) as part of the Readwise Full plan, which includes the highlight sync service. A 30-day free trial is available.

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