Readest: A Modern, Open-Source Ebook Reader for All Platforms

If your ebook library resembles a poorly assembled IKEA closet, and you’re tired of Jeff Bezos knowing exactly which chapter you’re on in your guilty pleasures, then Readest will save your life!

It’s the open-source alternative that free software enthusiasts and techies have been waiting for, so they don’t have to throw away their illegally scanned mangas (I promise, I’m not judging…)!

Readest is an ebook reader that works on absolutely all your devices, whether you’re on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, or iOS. And once installed everywhere, everything is perfectly synchronized: notes, progress, bookmarks, highlights… So, when you leave your PC for your phone on the bus, you pick up exactly where you left off.

But the real killer feature is Parallel Read. Thanks to this, you can simultaneously read “The Lord of the Rings” in the original version and in French, all on the same split screen. For language students, it’s a revolution, and if your Elvish leaves something to be desired, the integrated instant DeepL translation transforms each obscure paragraph with a click. In short, it’s ideal for pretending to be bilingual at parties. You’ll thank me later.

Readest also lets you customize absolutely everything you want: day/night mode that automatically adapts according to the time, various fonts (even that horrible Comic Sans if you’re that type of person), colors, layout, margins… Suffice it to say that if you’re the type to spend an hour setting up your IDE before coding three lines, you’re going to love it!

But Readest doesn’t forget about the unapologetic lazy people you are (and that I am too, let’s be honest). The application integrates Wikipedia to search for terms without leaving your reading, a built-in dictionary for when you come across words like “antediluvian” or “apophthegm,” and even an AI audio reading to listen to your ebooks while you cook (or procrastinate on your couch, your choice).

Finally, on the technical side, it’s solid! The team behind Readest uses Next.js for the frontend and Tauri for the backend, which ensures both multi-platform compatibility and top-notch performance. The application remains lightweight and responsive even with ebooks of several hundred pages. Just a small warning though, PDF support is still experimental and sometimes capricious with some complex documents. Nothing blocking, but it’s good to know.

In terms of supported formats, it’s a party: EPUB, MOBI, AZW3 (Kindle files), TXT, CBZ (for your comics and mangas) and FB2. The only thing missing in my opinion would be the support of audiobooks, but it’s apparently planned in the roadmap. And of course, it’s totally open-source and free! You can even dig into the code on GitHub if you feel like it.

Now, to download it, it’s ultra simple. On macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, head to the App Store and search for “Readest“. For Windows, Linux, and Android, go to readest.com or directly on GitHub. And there’s even a web version accessible on web.readest.com if you want to test it before installing.

And if you’re wondering what’s planned for the future in the roadmap, the team is currently working on AI-generated chapter summaries, synchronization with Koreader (popular on e-ink readers), OPDS/Calibre support to access online libraries, and even handwritten annotations for stylus devices. Not bad, right?

In short, what does the people want?

A free, open-source, multi-platform ebook reader, packed with innovative features, and that doesn’t spy on you? Done!