Listen to Readwise Reader

Yes — but it's a paid feature on Readwise's plan. CastReader adds read-aloud independently of your Readwise tier, so free-plan users get the same one-click Listen experience, and paid users get a second option if they prefer different voices.

Yes. CastReader's extractor respects the Readwise DOM — highlighted passages keep their yellow background during playback. You can follow the audio and visually scan for your saved highlights at the same time.

Yes. When Readwise Reader renders a PDF or EPUB as an article, CastReader reads the text of that rendered view. PDFs with complex layouts (academic papers, multi-column) generally work well because Readwise has already reflowed them into readable text.

Yes. Readwise Reader's newsletter inbox treats each email as an article. CastReader reads the newsletter body — headers, footers, unsubscribe links, and tracking pixels are skipped automatically.

Yes. Readwise's highlight UI still works while CastReader plays audio. You can pause playback, highlight a passage, and resume — or keep playback going and highlight on the fly. The highlight is saved to your Readwise library as normal.

CastReader is a browser extension, so it works in the web version of Readwise Reader (read.readwise.io) in desktop or mobile browsers. The native iOS/Android Readwise apps are outside the extension's scope. For mobile listening, use Send to Phone to stream audio from your browser session.

Completely free. No API key, no usage limits, no account required. Install the Chrome extension and start listening.