Try Readwise Reader with one article

A saved article is more useful when you can find the passage you wanted and remember why you kept it. Readwise Reader brings saved articles, highlights and notes together. Before moving a reading list into it, try the whole route with one article: save it, annotate it, find it again and open an exported copy of your notes.

Affiliate disclosure: this guide includes a Readwise referral link. Everyday App Guide may earn a commission if you subscribe through it.

This walkthrough uses Reader in a web browser. The hands-on checks were performed by an AI assistant in our test account on October 18, 2026. Below, we separate what worked in that test from the checks you should make with your own material.

Before you start: the trial and the cost

Reader is included in Readwise Full. On October 21, the official pricing page listed US$12.99 per month, or US$119.88 billed annually—the equivalent of US$9.99 per month. The standard trial is 30 days; new users signing up through our referral link below receive 60 days free of Readwise and Reader, with no credit card required. Check the current price, currency and any taxes before subscribing.

When rechecked on October 21, our account settings explicitly said the trial would end without an automatic charge. Paid subscriptions renew monthly or annually unless cancelled. Check your account’s subscription screen before starting, and keep a note of the renewal date if you later choose a paid plan.

Choose a short public article with headings and at least one link. You can use our save, find and export checklist, which was the sample for this test. Keep your existing reading list where it is while you try the steps.

1. Save the article and compare it with the source

In Reader Web, choose Add, then URL, and paste the article’s address. Give Reader time to finish importing it. Open the saved article and compare its beginning, section headings, a passage you care about and the ending with the original. Check any links you expect to use.

Our sample retained its complete main text, all five section headings and both links within the article. Reader also included some introductory and editorial text, so its word count differed from the count of the source’s main body.

A different page tested on October 14 had missing sections. One successful import does not settle how another site will behave. Keep the source URL, and check the original if something seems incomplete. Readwise’s parsing help suggests saving through its browser extension or a mobile share sheet for more complete imports in some cases. We have not tested those methods here.

2. Keep one passage and a reason to return

Highlight one useful passage. Add a note to that highlight explaining what you want to do with the idea, then save it. In Reader Web, pressing Enter saves a highlight note. Reopen the article once to check that the passage and note are still there.

Reader also has a document note in the Notebook panel. It belongs to the article as a whole, while a highlight note belongs to a particular passage. Use the document note for the reason you saved the article and a few words you expect to search for later.

Example document note: Choosing a notes app—check whether I can take my writing with me.
Example highlight note: Before moving my notes, export three samples and open the files.

For a little more structure, use one idea, why it matters and a next step. In our test, both kinds of note remained after leaving and reopening the article in the same browser.

3. Check which words search can find

Go to Library search and try a distinctive word from the article’s body. Then try a phrase that appears only in your document note. Finally, try one that appears only in your highlight note. Those are three different places for text to live; finding one does not establish that search covers the others.

We used different test words in each place and compared the original search mode with Better Search. The word from the article’s body found the correct article in both modes. The document-note word found it only with Better Search switched on. The highlight-note word returned no results in either mode.

If you want to retrieve an article using words you added, try the document note and turn on Better Search in the search screen. Check that your chosen phrase finds the right article. Better Search uses server search, as explained in Readwise’s search guide. If Reader shows an indexing message, allow it to finish and repeat the query; our final comparison was made after that message disappeared.

These results apply to Library search in our web test. For this workflow, keep your main retrieval cue in the document note and verify it. A note that exports correctly may still be outside the search scope you are using.

4. Export the notes and open the file

With the article open, go to Notebook, choose Export and select Download annotations. Open the downloaded Markdown file in a text editor. Markdown is readable text with simple formatting marks; you do not need another paid app to inspect it.

Our downloaded file contained the article title, the source URL, the document note, the highlighted passage and its attached note. Compare those parts with Reader so you know what you have kept.

This download did not contain the full article body. It is an export of annotations, not a complete article or library backup. Readwise documents other export options in its exporting guide. Those options and restoring an entire library were outside this test.

Is this enough to keep using Reader?

Reader is worth a closer look if you regularly read web articles, want notes beside specific passages and expect to reuse those passages elsewhere. In this small test, that route worked: the sample saved correctly, its annotations survived reopening, and the notes were readable outside Reader.

If you mainly need a link to revisit occasionally, a bookmark and your existing notes app may already do the job. If finding every highlight note is essential, test that requirement before committing. The same applies to mobile use, offline access, cross-device sync and long-term storage, which were not covered here.

Keep a short record of your result before adding more articles:

Saved article: are the parts I need present?
Notes: can I reopen the passage and my explanation?
Search: which of my own words find the article?
Export: can I read the notes and source link outside Reader?
Decision: does this solve a reading problem I actually have?

If the answers fit your needs, repeat the test with the kinds of articles you usually read. That gives you a concrete reason to continue using the trial—or to keep the tools you already have.

Try the workflow with a 60-day trial

If Reader fits the way you read, our referral link gives new users 60 days free of Readwise and Reader, with no credit card required. Everyday App Guide may earn a commission if you later subscribe.

Try Readwise Reader free for 60 days. Start with one article and use the checks above before deciding on a paid plan.