Uoink vs Readwise Reader

Both tools now connect to AI assistants over MCP, so that is no longer the dividing line. The real difference is what each is built for and where the library lives. Reader is a reading app, and your library syncs through your Readwise account. Uoink is a research library for video and audio, kept on your own disk.

Pick Readwise Reader if

• You read on your phone or an e-reader. Reader has iOS and Android apps, Mac and Windows desktop apps, a web app, browser extensions and an e-ink mode. [1]
• You want one library on every device, kept in sync and readable offline. [1]
• Most of what you save is articles, PDFs, EPUBs, newsletters and RSS. [1][2]
• You highlight as you read and want those highlights sent to Obsidian, Notion and other apps (Full Readwise plan). [2][7]
• You want text-to-speech and an AI reading assistant built in. [2][6]
• You want a finished, polished product and are happy to pay a subscription for it. [2]

Pick Uoink if

• You study YouTube videos and want more than the transcript: timestamps, screenshots, top comments, channel context and metadata.
• You want podcast RSS feeds watched, with new episodes transcribed on your own computer once you turn on auto-ingest.
• You want your library as plain Markdown and JSON files on your disk, with no account.
• You want your AI to search the library and cite timestamps through a local MCP server.
• You want it free and open source (MIT).
• You use Windows 10 or 11, or an Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 15 or later (preview).

Feature comparison

Privacy and where your data lives

Uoink. Captures and indexes stay on your disk. There is no account and no Uoink-hosted copy of your library. Capturing a source contacts that source's site, and X text capture can use FxTwitter. Optional AI features, and connected agents you allow to use them, can send relevant library text to Anthropic with your own key. Anonymous usage counts are off by default; if you turn them on, Uoink sends daily counts and never content, URLs, titles or search text. Some things still reach the network: model downloads from Hugging Face, release checks with GitHub, and telemetry from one model dependency (pyannote-audio), which you can turn off with an environment variable. Exports and synced mirror folders make extra copies that sync software can upload. The full list is in Uoink's disclosures. [U1][U2]

Readwise Reader. Your library syncs across your devices, and Reader works offline. [1] AI assistants reach it through Readwise's hosted MCP server at mcp2.readwise.io after you sign in with your Readwise account. [3] Readwise's privacy policy says its "business model has never been to sell data and it never will," that it collects "the content you save," and that you can export your data at any time. It also says data may go to service providers for hosting, analytics and similar work, in "the United States and other jurisdictions." [8]

Price

• Uoink: free and MIT-licensed. Optional AI features use your own Anthropic key, and optional paid discovery uses your own ScrapeCreators key, so those costs bill to your own accounts. [U1][U2]
• Readwise Reader: 30-day free trial with no credit card. After that, Reader only costs $7.99 a month billed yearly ($8.99 billed monthly). Full Readwise, which adds Daily Review and highlight export to Notion, Obsidian and more, costs $9.99 a month billed yearly ($12.99 billed monthly). There is a 50% discount for students, educators and some others. [1][2]

Uoink's honest limits

• Windows 10 and 11, plus a Mac preview for Apple Silicon (macOS 15 or later). Intel Macs are not supported, and there are no phone apps.
• No sync. There is no Uoink cloud, so there is no built-in sync between devices. Reader keeps every device in step.
• Rougher install. The Windows installer is unsigned and about 519 MB, so Windows SmartScreen may warn you (choose More info, then Run anyway). The browser button is sideloaded through Chrome's Developer mode because the Chrome Web Store listing is pending. Chrome is the tested browser.
• Not a reading app. Highlighting, text-to-speech, an e-ink mode and spaced review are not among its features. If reading is the main job, Reader is the better tool.
• Fewer formats. PDFs and EPUBs are not among Uoink's listed sources.
• No self-organizing library. The library does not file or re-shelve itself. The Librarian only proposes changes, and applying them is off by default because its quality gate has not passed.
• Agents must run on the same computer. An agent has to be able to run Uoink on the computer that holds the library. The ChatGPT app does not connect over MCP; use copy and paste.
• A side project. Uoink is a personal side project by one maker, Ryan Biddy.

Sources

Competitor pages were opened and read on 2026-10-24.

1. Readwise Reader product page and FAQ: https://readwise.io/read (seen Oct 24, 2026)
2. Readwise pricing: https://readwise.io/pricing (seen Oct 24, 2026)
3. Readwise MCP server docs: https://docs.readwise.io/tools/mcp (seen Oct 24, 2026)
4. Reader docs, Videos FAQ: https://docs.readwise.io/reader/docs/faqs/videos (seen Oct 24, 2026)
5. Reader docs, Adding new content FAQ: https://docs.readwise.io/reader/docs/faqs/adding-new-content (seen Oct 24, 2026)
6. Reader docs, Ghostreader overview: https://docs.readwise.io/reader/guides/ghostreader/overview (seen Oct 24, 2026)
7. Reader docs, Exporting FAQ: https://docs.readwise.io/reader/docs/faqs/exporting (seen Oct 24, 2026)
8. Readwise privacy policy, last revised December 20, 2024: https://readwise.io/privacy (seen Oct 24, 2026)

Uoink facts:

• U1. Uoink 3.12.0 summary (updated 2026-10-30): https://uoink.app/llms.txt
• U2. Uoink 3.12.0 full disclosures (updated 2026-10-30): https://uoink.app/llms-full.txt