Free picks · Web
Best free online reading tools (2026)
Every pick is listed under Reading in our directory, runs in a web browser and is completely free or has a free plan. We rank them by our rating and popularity, then favour tools made mainly for reading and apps built for the browser.
Short answer
The best free online reading tools are Glance, FreshRSS and LibriVox, the top three of 50 matches in our directory. 8 of the 10 picks are completely free and the other 2 have a free plan; 4 are open source.
Updated
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
At a glance
Counted from the top 10 picks, except the total.
- Matching tools
- 50
- Completely free
- 8
- Open source
- 4
- Browser-only
- 7
- Also have apps
- 3
Comparison table
“Free plan” means a free tier with paid upgrades. A dash in Licence means our directory does not list the tool as open source.
| # | Name | Pricing | Platforms | Licence | Why pick it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glance | Free | Web | Open source | A self-hosted dashboard that puts all your feeds on one page. |
| 2 | FreshRSS | Free | Web | Open source | A lightweight, self-hosted RSS reader that gathers every site you follow. |
| 3 | LibriVox | Free | Web | — | Free public domain audiobooks read by volunteers. |
| 4 | The Public Domain Review | Free | Web | — | An online journal of curious public domain art, books and film. |
| 5 | arXiv | Free | Web | — | Free, open-access preprints in science, maths and computing. |
| 6 | Feedly | Free plan | Web, iOS, Android | — | Follow blogs, news sites and newsletters in one organised feed. |
| 7 | Google Scholar | Free | Web | — | Search scholarly articles, theses, books and court opinions. |
| 8 | Inoreader | Free plan | Web, iOS, Android | — | An RSS reader for following blogs, news, newsletters and podcasts in one place. |
| 9 | PDF.js | Free | Web, Firefox, Chrome | Open source | Mozilla's PDF viewer that runs in your browser. |
| 10 | Miniflux | Free | Web | Open source | A fast, minimalist RSS reader you can host yourself. |
Why each pick made the list
Every reason is taken from the tool's own listing: its categories, platforms, features, rating and pricing.
Our top web pick, rated 4.7/5. Made mainly for reading, one of 8 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is privacy-focused (3 of 10 here). It is not in the iPhone top 10 (not listed for iPhone).
Watch out for: Set-up is done by editing a YAML file
Number 2 of 10 for web, rated 4.6/5. Made mainly for reading, one of 8 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is privacy-focused (3 of 10 here). It is not in the iPhone top 10 (not listed for iPhone).
Watch out for: Needs a web server with PHP to host
Number 3 of 10 for web, rated 4.6/5. Made mainly for reading, one of 8 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is easy to pick up (5 of 10 here). It is not in the iPhone top 10 (not listed for iPhone).
Watch out for: Recording quality varies by reader
Number 4 of 10 for web, rated 4.7/5. Made mainly for reading, one of 8 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is easy to pick up (5 of 10 here). It is not in the iPhone top 10 (not listed for iPhone).
Watch out for: Rights vary by country and item
Number 5 of 10 for web, rated 4.8/5, the highest here. Made mainly for research, it is one of 2 picks here that cover reading as a second use. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. It is not in the iPhone top 10 (not listed for iPhone).
Watch out for: Papers are not always peer reviewed
Number 6 of 10 for web, rated 4.5/5. Made mainly for reading, one of 8 such picks here. Use it in the browser, or on iOS and Android. Its listing says it syncs through the cloud (2 of 10 here), has AI features (the only one here) and is easy to pick up (5 of 10 here). On our iPhone list it is number 4.
Watch out for: Free plan allows only three folders
Number 7 of 10 for web, rated 4.7/5. Made mainly for research, it is one of 2 picks here that cover reading as a second use. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is easy to pick up (5 of 10 here). It is not in the iPhone top 10 (not listed for iPhone).
Watch out for: Many results sit behind paywalls
Number 8 of 10 for web, rated 4.6/5. Made mainly for reading, one of 8 such picks here. Use it in the browser, or on iOS and Android. Its listing says it syncs through the cloud (2 of 10 here). On our iPhone list it is number 5.
Watch out for: Free plan caps feeds and shows ads
Number 9 of 10 for web, rated 4.6/5. Made mainly for reading, one of 8 such picks here. Use it in the browser, or on Firefox and Chrome. Its listing says it is easy to pick up (5 of 10 here). It is not in the iPhone top 10 (not listed for iPhone).
Watch out for: A viewer, not a full PDF editor
Number 10 of 10 for web, rated 4.6/5. Made mainly for reading, one of 8 such picks here. It runs in the browser only, so there is nothing to install. Its listing says it is privacy-focused (3 of 10 here). It is not in the iPhone top 10 (not listed for iPhone).
Watch out for: Needs a server to self-host
Running these on Web
Counted from each pick's listing type and platforms.
- By listing type, the 10 web picks are 6 web apps (Glance, FreshRSS, Feedly, Inoreader and 2 others) and 4 websites (LibriVox, The Public Domain Review, arXiv and Google Scholar).
- Browser only, nothing to install: Glance, FreshRSS, LibriVox, The Public Domain Review, arXiv and 2 others.
- 3 picks also have an app listed for another platform, and 2 of 10 have a phone app (iPhone or Android).
How this list compares
The same search on other platforms. Only the differences are named.
- Free reading apps for iPhone
2 of these 10 web picks also make the iPhone top 10. 8 are on this list only: Glance (not listed for iPhone), FreshRSS (not listed for iPhone), LibriVox (not listed for iPhone), The Public Domain Review (not listed for iPhone), arXiv (not listed for iPhone), Google Scholar (not listed for iPhone) and 2 more. In their place the iPhone list has Libby, Matter, NetNewsWire, Instapaper, Karakeep, Readest and 2 others; NetNewsWire is not listed for the web.
More matches
40 more free online reading tools in our directory; the next 20 by our ranking are below.
- Instapaper · Free plan
- Komga · Free
- Libby · Free
- Matter · Free
- Karakeep · Free plan
- ooh.directory · Free
- Calibre-Web · Free
- HowStuffWorks · Free
- Kavita · Free
- Wikiwand · Free plan
- Kagi Small Web · Free
- ManyBooks · Free
- Open Library · Free
- Project Gutenberg · Free
- Rewordify · Free
- Standard Ebooks · Free
- web.dev · Free
- Hardcover · Free plan
- Open Culture · Free
- wallabag · Free
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best free online reading tool?
- Glance is our first pick. A self-hosted dashboard that puts all your feeds on one page. Yes. Glance is free to use.
- Are these reading tools really free?
- Yes, every pick is free to start. Glance, FreshRSS, LibriVox, The Public Domain Review and 4 others are completely free. Feedly and Inoreader have free plans with paid upgrades.
- Which of these reading tools are open source?
- Glance, FreshRSS, PDF.js and Miniflux are tagged open source in our directory, so you can read the code of each and, depending on the licence, self-host or modify it.
- Which are easiest for beginners?
- LibriVox, The Public Domain Review and Feedly are rated beginner-friendly, along with 2 other picks. 5 picks take more time to learn.
- How many free online reading tools are in the directory?
- 50 match: listed under Reading, available in a web browser and free to start. This page ranks the top 10 and names up to 20 more under More matches. The Reading category page has every listing, paid ones included.
Keep exploring
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