Readwise Launches E-Book Store and Reading Tracker to Challenge Kindle and Goodreads

The bootstrapped company called the app "a cross between Kindle and the Goodreads apps." It says its store carries "millions" of e-books from the big five publishers and others. The store opens first in the US, and more countries will follow. Print books, fulfilled through Bookshop.org's distributor, and some audiobooks are also on sale.

Amazon dominates the market Readwise is entering. TechCrunch put Kindle's share of the e-book market at 83% when its Kindle+ subscription service is included. Readwise does not make its own e-reader hardware, so it cannot match Amazon's end-to-end offering. Instead it is betting on a reading community and on more detailed reading data.

Tracking and AI Features

The app tracks words read, pace, depth, immersion and individual reading sessions. The company compares it to "Strava for reading," after the fitness tracking app. Readers can log sessions in Kindle's browser-based Cloud Reader, photograph physical books to record progress, and upload DRM-free EPUB files. The app can also read books aloud using text-to-speech.

AI features include session recaps, definitions, translations of words and phrases, and questions about the passage being read. They work only where a publisher has given permission, and so far only HarperCollins has opted in, according to TechCrunch.

Readwise is also offering a public API and an MCP server, the protocol AI agents use to connect to outside tools. That would let agents research book recommendations or use a reader's data elsewhere, an open approach that contrasts with Goodreads' closed system.

Pricing and Availability

Readwise Books is free, though the company plans to put some AI features behind a paywall later. Its existing apps cost $7.99 a month each or $9.99 a month for both. The new app is in beta and needs an invite unless the user already subscribes to Readwise.

The launch shows how few publishers have so far allowed AI tools to work on their books. Opt-in agreements with publishers may decide how far such features can go in commercial e-book stores.