19 Best Speed Reading Apps 2024

Best speed reading apps to learn more, read content faster, save time

Speed reading, as a practice, has its advocates and its opponents. However, for researching, studying and learning, it could be extremely useful to assimilate a lot of information in a short period of time. When your purpose for reading is enjoyment or deep learning, such reading strategies may not give you what you want. But that’s ok.

For processing digital information quickly, I’d like you to give a tour of the best speed reading apps for 2024. They will either teach you to read faster on various types of media or allow you to go through digital content (web, docs, files) super quickly using a technology called RSVP or Rapid Serial Visual Presentation. These apps are great productivity tools.

Speed Reading Apps – Overview

Before diving into various speed reading apps, let’s briefly discuss terminologies. Many effective learners use speed reading as the go-to method to assimilate more information in shorter periods of time. They break down reading into terms that were never used by your language arts teacher in school: words per minute, fixation, saccade and subvocalization.

Fixation – This word refers to what your eye does with words on a page. Briefly, your eyes stop for a split second to focus on a single word or group, process and move on to stop again. The more fixation stops you need the slower your pace. Hence, to go faster, reducing those stops is crucial. Some speed reading apps will teach you exactly that.

Saccade – This term considers the time it takes your eyes to shift from one word to the next as you read. The idea is to learn to read groups of words, so your eyes need fewer stops and less time for each stop. Kind of makes sense, right?

Subvocalization – This refers to the voice in your head when you pronounce the words silently while reading. However, humans can only speak about 300 words per minute. Thus, subvocalization will reduce your potential top speed.

Vision – Speed reading apps also cover topics such as regression, skipping back in text, or the training of your eyes’ peripheral vision which allows you to see more at each fixation. Some mobile apps flash and highlight words and show you 3-5 words per time to do that automatically, whereas other apps teach you to learn and apply faster reading methods.

In a nutshell, use RSVP eReader apps to process digital content faster. Or, choose speed reading apps if you want to learn the principles of fast reading, memorization, retention, and comprehension. Some apps even combine the best of both worlds, e.g. Spreeder.

Best Speed Reading Apps 2024 – Top Picks

Spreeder	QuickReader	Reading Trainer
Web / Mobile	for iOS	Android / iOS
RSVP, Training	RSVP Reader	RSVP Reader
from $7	$4.99	$2.99
★★★★★	★★★★☆	★★★★☆
Visit Store	View Details	View Details

Well, I hope you enjoy our tour of the best speed reading apps and RSVP reader apps for laptops, desktops and tablets as well as iPhones and Android devices.

1. Spreeder App

Spreeder (visit website) has a lot to offer if you are really serious about speed reading and want to process digital content daily and fast but also learn how to speed read non-fiction material. It’s a powerful RSVP eReader (46 types of documents allowed) that also packs the popular 7-Speed Reading course, exercises, and progress tracking features.

The app also targets bad reading habits (subvocalization, regression) and reduces fixation stops through ‘expert training’ and scientifically designed exercises. This is certainly one of the best speed reading apps available for students, learners and even entrepreneurs who do a lot of digital research.

Spreeder is accessible through a browser and an iOS app. There are MP3 downloads, exercise eBooks, and printable flashcards. Import any digital document to the app and spreed it. In addition to monitoring your progress, it tracks the time you spend reading.

Cool Feature! Remember bookmarks? You know, the ones you used to get as gifts to stick between the pages of the novel you are reading to keep your place. The folks at Spreeder built one into their speed reading app. It holds your place on every book, page or document you’ve been reading, even if you open that same file on another linked device.

Platform: Browser, Desktop, iOS
Info: from $7. View Website. Free for 7 days. 5 users.

2. QuickReader App

The QuickReader speed reading app teaches your eyes to read faster. You can set your normal reading speed, time yourself, and then set out to beat your own time.

Their Guided Reading Technology allows you to set the speed, and the pages turn for you. As a bonus, they say you will be able to access 2 million books for free, including some titles other speed reading apps don’t have.

App Store: iOS | Costs: $4.99.

3. Readwise

Readwise is a speed reading app for iOS and Android devices that lets you import, organize, and annotate highlights across various digital reading platforms, such as Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Instapaper, Twitter, etc., making it an app for every kind of speed reader, including recreational bookworms, self-developers, news enthusiasts, and academics.

By creating a space where you can access all of your highlights in one place, Readwise simplifies the process of revisiting and, thus, actually using them. In addition to searching, tagging, and annotating highlights, you’ll also benefit from Readwise’s spaced repetition feature, which pings highlights back to you at the right time via the app and daily emails.

Academics and students who read primarily on their laptops can download the Readwise Chrome Extension from the dashboard. Alternatively, if highlighting is a recent habit and you’ve already read quite a few books in the past, Readwise can sync to your Goodreads account and provide supplementary highlights for each book on your “Read” shelf.

Readwise, Inc achieves this by using API that supports the creation, fetching, and updating of highlights on behalf of the user, reserving advanced API for more complex integrations, such as carefully reading, querying, updating, or deleting a user’s highlights, with examples including JavaScript and Python.

Moreover, Readwise syncs to popular note-taking apps like Evernote, Notion, and Roam. Having a Readwise account also lets you access Reader, which is Readwise, Inc’s cross-platform app. Overall, their vision is to build one of the best speed reading apps and eventually “create a unified experience between Readwise and Reader within Reader.”

App Store: Playstore, iOS | Costs: from $4.49

4. Reading Trainer App

Users say that this speed reading trainer app has helped them improve their reading pace by “an average of 143% in 10 days”. It trains in rapid recognition of characters and words and increases eye movement flexibility, concentration, and vision span.

Users are guided through a step-by-step process with an algorithm designed to pick up on their strengths and weaknesses. It also includes reading comprehension tests to help ensure you retain the information you are reading while your speed increases.

App Store: Android, iOS | Costs: $2.99

Tip – Please read our tutorial on how to speed read to learn about essential speed reading techniques and to expand memory or minimize eye movement.

5. ReadMe!

ReadMe! is an e-Reader app that uses Spritz, a technology that minimizes eye movement during reading. They claim that saccade accounts for 80% of your reading time and that the technology can help you read up to 1,000 words per minute.

This is up from the average reader’s 220 wpm speed, achieved by “word alignment”. They also promise increased reading comprehension as a bonus. It’s certainly one of the best speed reading apps based on Spritz but receives mixed user reviews as well.

App Store: Android, iOS | Download: Gratis. in-app purchases.

6. ReadLax App – Brain Games

ReadLax is the place to go for online games and workouts for your brain. Some of the core activities are for memory training and increasing reading speed, concentration and peripheral vision 7 minutes at a time.

Tests for checking your speed, reading skills and comprehension are included to help you track progress. The speed reading app supports various languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Russian or Ukrainian.

App Store: Android, iOS | Costs: Free + in-app purchase plan

Tip: Apps are great tools to improve your learning performance. We also recommend these tutorials on how to improve productivity, to learn how to do deep work or how to learn faster or our list of the best text-to-speech apps to listen to text.

7. Speed Reading, Blinova Maryna

The developers of this speed reading app have done their best to assemble onscreen activities to train your attention and memory. As a result, they offer you Schulte table games for attention training.

The Schulte table is a grid of numbers scattered in random order. It’s used for games designed to help improve peripheral vision and visual perception. For memory training, there are number and word exercises. You can also download and read books to improve your speed reading skills.

App Store: iOS and Android | Info: With ads. In-app purchase options.

8. Outread App

The Outread app helps improve reading efficiency by focusing on reading chunks of text with each fixation stop. This maximizes the eye fixation method we talked about earlier.

You can either follow the highlighter along the page or keep it centered. Follow your own stats to track progress. Additional features are available on the Premium version, including free books and the option to achieve even higher reading speed (up to 1,500 wpm).

App Store: iOS | Costs: Free. In-app purchases

9. Reedy Reader

This so-called “Intelligent Reader” helps you “read ebooks, articles, any texts and web pages fast and comfortably”. Settings include Regular Reading, Speed Reading and Text-to-Speech. Reedy uses RSVP, which is Rapid Serial Visual Presentation.

As you scroll across lines and down the screen, the speed reading app magnifies the individual words quickly to increase the “the speed of perception of every single word”. You set your speed preference and enter your link – ebooks, articles, blogs, etc.

App Store: Android | Costs: Ads. In-app purchases.

10. Boba App

Boba is a browser extension powered by Spritz technology. It allows you to speed read web content from the website of your choice. It is one of the few speed reading apps that have been around since the beginning of eReader apps, quite a long time in this niche.

User reviews are generally positive for this free speed reading app despite its rather basic set of features. For the reading modes, users can set bookmarks as well as the words per minute to change the reading comprehension speed ratio.

Store: for iOS devices, Safari browser. | Costs: Free app

11. Speed Reading App – Brain Development

This app’s goal is to help you “expand the field of view” and increase concentration in your pursuit of more efficient reading strategies. They will also help you with simulators that get you to memorize numbers and words. Schulte tables are an additional feature, and you can download and read books to practice your new techniques right within this speed reading app.

Store: Android, Green Key Universe. | Price: Ads. In-app purchases available.

12. Focus Speed Reading App

This app uses the RSVP method to train you for faster reading. It claims to reach up to 1,000 wpm which is quite ambitious. A built-in web browser makes it possible to power through any site of your choosing.

If reading on your wrist interests you, this app works on the Apple Watch, too. Other than that, this free speed reading app is rather minimalistic in features and structure, and interface.

App Store: iOS iPhone | Costs: Free download.

13. SprintReader App – Chrome Extension

This free speed reading app allows you to paste any copied text into a text box to be spritzed back at you. They also use the red letter focal point method to not need to shift your eyes to read the text.

The speed is adjustable. You simply paste your text in and press the play button to begin. It’s one of the quickest ways to test RSVP technologies and see if they can add any benefits to your workflow.

Extension: Google Chrome Extension. | Price: Free download.

14. SwiftRead App – Chrome Extension

SwiftRead is a browser extension that employs the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) technique to help you read faster. It is designed to help you minimize sub-vocalization and regression to up your speed.

Their website has a speed test for you that also checks for reading comprehension. That’s always helpful! A great alternative option is the Beeline speed reading app.

Extension: Google Chrome and Edge. | Costs: Free

15. Speed Reading App, Android

This app starts with a speed test for people who want to make quick changes to their reading speed. After that, they help you map out a 12-day plan for bumping your wpm up.

You can follow your progress using a chart and get records of your reading speed as you go. They promise to up your speed without sacrificing comprehension. If you have more books than time to read them, this is one of the speed reading apps that may help you!

Store: Android App | Price: Free version, In-App purchases

16. SpeedRead App

Using this app, you can practice a method known as “words per minute control”, with “additional fine-tuning for word length, comma” and “period delays.” The goal is to teach you how to spritz through your books.

When you want to cut out reading altogether, you can use the app to listen to books instead. You can download or copy and paste books easily into the interface of this speed reading app to read onscreen.

Google Play Store: Android App | Price: Contains Ads, In-app purchases

17. Speed Reading, Android

Learn how to read fast in 48 languages with this speed reading app. They promise at minimum 5 fold increase in speed by way of 60 second long exercises you can do 3 times a day.

The app also offers you eye exercises, speed drills, field of vision apps and word search puzzles with the goal of an 8 fold increase. While it is not the best speed reading app of all, it is free to check out for Android users. An alternative is the Beeline reader.

Google Play Store: Android app | Costs: Free version with Ads

18. WearReader

This reader flashes text across your screen quickly word by word to help you stop subvocalizing and increase your reading speed without sacrificing comprehension.

Apparently, regression is allowed by scrubbing backward to catch something you missed. Practice speed reading your choice of interesting texts. It also has a night mode setting so you can read at night safely.

Store: Android and iOS App | Price: $1.99

19. Spritz App

Named for the fast reading method this app uses, Spritz shows you text one word at a time. They say that when you read a word, your eyes will fixate on the key red letter highlighted in the word.

This, they claim, triggers the brain to recognize and process its meaning quickly. They refer to the highlighted letter in the word as your “Optimal Recognition Point”. You can then read, comprehend, and retain the content without needing to move your eyes in the app’s default reading mode.

Interestingly, this is the worst-rated of all best speed reading apps in this list although it actually hosts the original Spritz technology. Functionality does not seem to satisfy users.

Store: iOS and Android devices | Price: Free version

How to Choose the Best Speed Reading App?

Indeed, this is just a curated list of some of the best apps to read faster. It cannot aim to be comprehensive. That said, you can imagine the dizzying array of free and premium resources out there. How do you choose the one that is best for you?  

Questions – You need to ask yourself some questions to help you decide which of the many resources you should go with. This brief list should help you narrow things down: 

1. How well do you currently read? What is your current reading speed?
2. How much do you currently read?
3. Do you want to read faster any digital content? Or just for work, college or school?  
4. Do you prefer printed reading materials or are you more into online and ebooks? 
5. Do you have experience with quick reading or are you just starting? 
6. How soon do you need to increase your wpm rate? 
7. Do you want to read fiction books or non-fiction reading material?
8. Do you need an app that offers exercises, lessons, video tutorials, etc?
9. Do you need support for txt files, browsers (Safari, Google Chrome, Brave, Firefox)?
10. Should the app accept common file formats such as txt eBook formats, ePub and PDF documents?

For vocab – Some of us are avid readers who love to build their vocabulary and want to consume more content. Such efficient readers would be well served by a speed reading app that offers training with goals and progress tracking. Also, any speed reading app that offers a test is a plus. Interestingly, none of the resources we looked at considered aptitude.

For Business – Others want to assimilate school or business reading material faster for short-term purposes. Consider RSVP eReader apps or browser extensions. If you have a deadline to meet, there’s a speed reading app that can fast-track you to higher wpm rates.

For ebook lovers, an e-reader that is designed to improve fast reading would fit the bill. The apps for speed reading that can be shared with other users make it possible to share your reading pleasure with friends.

There is something in the market for everyone who wants to read faster. However, consider most of the speed reading apps to be more suitable for non-fiction material.

Best Speed Reading Apps 2024 – Verdict

Wrapping up our guide to the best speed reading apps in 2024. As mentioned, the debate about fast reading is an ongoing one. Meanwhile, the market is flooded with apps for speed reading and RSVP eReader apps. The latter is helpful if you want to read material for work or school faster or read more in general.

Popular apps such as Spreeder (view website) can really assist you in training to be a reading Olympian as they will equip you with the mental techniques to do so. They don’t just highlight the words in a document or force your brain to process faster but actually teach you to comprehend more while being faster.

On the other hand, free speed reading apps and websites can help you bump up your wpm rate. Your training is in your own hands. If you need to speed through some reading material for a work presentation or an exam, the websites that can help RSVP read those.

What do the critics say about speed reading apps?

Some believe the whole idea of speed reading apps is bunk. They refer to the potential problem of limiting the number of words you focus on can create. If you only fixate on certain words (a common technique) to get the text’s general idea, you can miss nuances.

Also, proponents shun the practice of regression (more vocabulary!). Regression is when you shift your eyes backward to reread a sentence or phrase. Opponents defend this practice, saying that it is part of what helps a person’s comprehension. They also defend subvocalization. They argue that the inner voice is not just a parrot mimicking the words you see. The voice is actually your brain helping you discern words in context, they say. Speed reading advocates often encourage you to suppress that voice.

Whatever your position, it may be worth at least test driving some fast reading apps. You might be able to beat the 1.5 books per year the average adult is reading these days. Furthermore, there is always a chance that these apps can help people tackle dyslexia or reading disabilities.

What is the best speed reading app? No matter whether you use them on iPhone or Android devices, tablets, laptops, or computers. Let us know which apps you use day to day, how you use them, and what you have learned so far, and maybe what not.

Thanks for reading.

Resources: What is RSVP? – Wikipedia | What is peripheral vision? – Cleveland Clinic

One last thing: For the scope of this article, we could not include all of the available speed reading apps in this curated list. Accelerator or Acceleread have not been mentioned so far because they are either outdated or not available. Furthermore, the Pocket app is a different style of app that saves content for later. Some of the eReader apps mentioned above, however, allow connecting to this convenient tool.

Disclosure: This site contains affiliate links to some providers of speed reading apps. courselounge may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. It does not add any extra costs. All reviews, opinions, descriptions, and comparisons expressed here are our own.