Compare Me+ Lifestyle Routine and Readwise Reader: Which App is the Best?

A polished routine and habit planner with mood logging and personality-based suggestions. Easy to get started, motivating to keep using—backed by a 4.8★ rating and over 10 million installs.
Readwise Reader is a powerful read-it-later app that consolidates web articles, newsletters, PDFs, and ebooks into one platform. With advanced highlighting, AI assistance, and seamless note-taking integrations, it's designed for serious readers who want a distraction-free, feature-rich reading experience.
Key Features
  • Routine Planner: Build morning and daily routines with clear steps and timing
  • Habit Tracking: See your streaks and completion rates at a glance
  • Smart Reminders: Helpful nudges to keep you on schedule
  • Mood & Progress: Log how you feel and spot patterns over time
  • MBTI Guidance: Take a personality test to get tailored routine suggestions
  • Self-Care Schedules: Plan exercise, nutrition, and wellness activities
  • Home Screen Widgets: Keep your routines visible and easy to access
  • Clear Visuals: Simple charts that make progress feel rewarding
  • Everything in One App: Seriously, everything. Web articles, email newsletters, RSS feeds, Twitter threads, PDFs, ebooks - it all just works together instead of being scattered across five different apps
  • Highlighting That Syncs: Highlight on your phone, see it on your laptop. Highlight images, text, whatever. It actually remembers where you left off and what you marked
  • AI Reading Assistant: Ask questions about what you're reading, get definitions, simplify complex stuff. It's like having someone smart sitting next to you while you read
  • Text-to-Speech That Doesn't Suck: Finally, robotic voices are dead. This sounds like a real person reading to you, perfect for commutes or when your eyes are tired
  • Sends Notes Anywhere: Your highlights automatically show up in Obsidian, Notion, wherever you take notes. No copy-pasting needed
  • Works Offline: Download stuff and read without internet. Your highlights sync when you're back online
Our Rating
8.0
7.6
Total users
0
0
Total ratings
0
0
Average rating
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Entry Level PriceFreeFree
Android
Google Play Store
Downloads
Google Play Store
Downloads
iOS
Apple App Store
Apple App Store
Features
8.5

Me+ goes beyond basic habit tracking with a full routine planner, mood logging, and optional personality-based guidance. During our testing, we found it especially good at turning plans into action through clear steps and timely reminders.

Here's what we liked most:

  • Detailed routines: You can customize steps, timing, and priorities
  • Progress feedback: Streaks and completion rates that actually motivate you
  • Self-care plans: Build exercise, nutrition, and wellness blocks
  • Smart reminders: Nudges that arrive when you need them most
  • Widgets: See today's routine at a glance on your home screen

Areas for improvement: some advanced content sits behind a paywall, and reordering items via drag-and-drop could be smoother. While HabitNow offers more comprehensive scheduling and timer features, Me+ focuses on routine structure and personalization. Overall, it's a thoughtful feature set that earns an 8.5.

8.5

This is where Readwise Reader really shines. The features are genuinely impressive - not just marketing fluff, but stuff that actually makes reading online better.

What we love:

  • Everything Actually Works Together: Throw in web articles, newsletters, PDFs, ebooks, even Twitter threads - it all just works in one app
  • Highlighting That Doesn't Disappear: Highlight on your phone, it's there on your laptop. Highlight images, text, whatever. It remembers everything
  • AI That's Actually Helpful: Ask questions about what you're reading, get definitions, simplify confusing passages. It's like having a smart friend reading with you
  • Text-to-Speech That Doesn't Sound Like a Robot: Seriously, this is good enough that you'll actually use it during commutes
  • Notes Go Where They Should: Your highlights automatically show up in Obsidian, Notion, wherever you keep notes. No more copy-pasting
  • Sync That Just Works: Start reading on your phone, continue on your laptop. It knows where you left off

The rough spots? Search is surprisingly bad for such a polished app. Some stuff doesn't work great on e-readers. We hit bugs that shouldn't exist in a paid app. But the core features solve real problems and do it well.

Performance
8.3

Me+ felt stable and responsive throughout our tests. Navigation is smooth, widgets update reliably, and notifications fire on time.

We noticed occasional sluggishness when reordering many items in long routines, especially on older devices, but it didn't affect daily use. While Loop Habit Tracker offers superior performance with its lightweight design and 9.8 performance rating, Me+ provides solid performance that earns an 8.3.

7.0

Performance presents a tale of two experiences - the core reading functionality works smoothly and reliably, but recent updates have introduced stability issues that affect the overall user experience.

The strong points are evident during daily use. Reading feels responsive with smooth scrolling and quick page navigation. Content synchronization across devices works consistently, and importing articles, PDFs, and RSS feeds processes efficiently. The basic reading, highlighting, and annotation functions that form the app's foundation operate reliably.

Recent developments tell a different story though. The significant drop from a 4.3 overall rating to 3.78 for recent reviews signals genuine stability problems with newer versions. Android users report more issues than their iOS counterparts, including navigation problems and functionality regressions. Some users have experienced critical issues like being unable to add new content after updates, while others consistently note that search performance remains poor.

Device compatibility also varies, with particular issues reported on e-ink devices and certain Android configurations. While active development appears to be addressing these concerns, the reliability issues prevent the app from achieving the stability users expect from a paid service.

Design
8.8

The interface is clean and purposeful, with typography and color used to guide your attention without getting in the way. We always knew what was next, and progress felt tangible.

What stood out to us:

  • Clear structure: Navigation never feels cluttered or confusing
  • Color cues: Helpful for reading status at a glance
  • Consistent visuals: A cohesive look across all screens and widgets

A dark mode would be nice for early mornings, and the drag-and-drop could be more obvious visually. Still, the design supports the main goal: helping you do the next right thing. While HabitKit offers more elegant GitHub-style visualization, Me+ provides a practical, motivating interface. We rate design at 8.8.

7.5

The design philosophy centers on creating a distraction-free reading environment, and it largely succeeds. Users consistently describe the app as "gorgeous," and the overall aesthetic genuinely supports focused reading with clean typography and thoughtful spacing.

Design strengths that impressed us:

  • Clean Reading Interface: Minimal distractions with focus on content consumption
  • Consistent Visual Language: Cohesive design across different content types (articles, PDFs, ebooks)
  • Customizable Reading Experience: Good control over fonts, spacing, and display preferences
  • Intuitive Navigation: Logical information architecture for managing large content libraries

The cross-platform execution reveals some inconsistencies though. The app clearly prioritizes iOS, and this shows in the Android experience. Navigation elements don't always follow Android design conventions, and gesture interactions occasionally feel foreign to the platform. While the core reading experience remains visually appealing, the iOS-first approach creates noticeable polish differences that affect the overall experience on Android devices.

Value for Money
7.2

The free tier covers the essentials and is enough for many users. If you want advanced content and more customization options, upgrades are available through in-app purchases (€8.99–€74.99 on Google Play).

It's good value if you'll use the extra guidance and content regularly; otherwise, the free experience is already quite strong. For users who want completely free unlimited habits, Habitive offers better value. However, Me+'s MBTI guidance and structured approach may justify the cost for users who need more than basic tracking. We rate value for money at 7.2.

7.5

The value proposition is complex and heavily depends on your reading habits and tolerance for subscription models. The subscription approach generates polarized reactions - some users find it completely worthwhile while others strongly prefer one-time purchases.

For power users, the comprehensive feature set justifies the cost. AI assistance, advanced highlighting, deep integrations, and reliable infrastructure create genuine productivity benefits. The 30-day trial period (with no credit card required) provides ample time to evaluate whether the app fits your workflow, and active development means you're paying for ongoing improvements.

The subscription model does create barriers though. Unlike competitors, there's no permanently free tier with basic features, and the recurring cost adds up over time. Some users feel the subscription requirement should be more prominently displayed upfront, and occasional bugs or missing features (like robust search) can impact the perceived value when you're paying monthly.

For serious readers who can utilize the full feature set and don't mind subscription costs, the value proposition is solid. Casual users or those preferring one-time purchases will likely find better alternatives elsewhere.

Ease of Use
7.8

Getting started is straightforward and guided. The basics are easy: add a routine, set reminders, start checking things off. As routines get more complex, arranging steps takes more effort, and the drag-and-drop interaction can feel a bit fiddly.

Here's what we liked:

  • Guided onboarding: You're not left guessing what to do next
  • Simple task actions: Add, edit, complete—no fuss or confusion
  • Helpful widgets: Quick access without having to open the app

There's a reasonable learning curve and strong guidance makes it approachable. While Habitive offers the simplest 3-click setup, Me+ provides more structure for complex routine building. We rate ease of use at 7.8.

7.0

The usability picture is mixed - while the core reading experience feels intuitive once you're up and running, several barriers can frustrate new users during the initial setup and exploration phases.

Where the app excels in usability:

  • Intuitive Reading Controls: Highlighting, bookmarking, and annotation tools are discoverable and easy to use
  • Smooth Content Import: Adding articles, PDFs, and connecting RSS feeds works reliably
  • Logical Organization: Content management and library organization follow expected patterns
  • Responsive Interface: Most interactions feel immediate and predictable

The friction points become apparent early on though. The mandatory account creation before even testing the app frustrates many potential users, and Android users face additional hurdles with gesture navigation that doesn't behave as expected. The wealth of features also means there's a genuine learning curve - power users eventually find everything intuitive, but newcomers need time to discover and understand all capabilities. These initial barriers prevent the app from being truly accessible to everyone, despite its strong foundation once you're familiar with it.

Security & Privacy
7.5

The app requests sensible permissions and we didn't see any obvious overreach. Your routine data appears to be stored locally with account-based sync features available if you want them. We'd like to see clearer, more prominent documentation on how your data is handled.

Bottom line: nothing concerning in our testing, but more transparency would help users feel confident. While HabitKit offers superior privacy with fully local storage and no accounts required, Me+ provides a reasonable balance of convenience and security. We rate security & privacy at 7.5.

8.0

Readwise Reader handles security and privacy reasonably well for a cloud-based reading service, though the nature of the product requires some data collection and account management that privacy-conscious users should be aware of.

Privacy and security strengths:

  • Transparent Data Usage: Clear about what data is collected and how it's used for the reading experience
  • Secure Sync Infrastructure: Reliable cross-device synchronization without apparent data loss or corruption
  • Professional Service: Established company with clear business model (subscription-based, not ad-supported)
  • Data Portability: Users can export their highlights and annotations

Areas of privacy consideration:

  • Required Account: Mandatory sign-up means your reading habits and content are associated with your identity
  • Cloud Storage: All content and annotations are stored on Readwise servers rather than locally
  • Content Analysis: AI features like GhostReader require processing your reading content
  • Email Marketing: Some users mentioned receiving marketing emails, though unsubscribe options are available

For a service that fundamentally requires cloud sync and AI processing, Readwise Reader handles privacy appropriately. However, users seeking maximum privacy might prefer local-only solutions. We rate security and privacy at 8.0 out of 10.

Conclusion

After testing Me+ Lifestyle Routine ourselves, we'd definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a structured, motivating way to build better daily habits. It keeps the important stuff front and center—simple planning, timely reminders, and visible progress.

The free version handles the basics well, and if you want deeper guidance and more content, the premium options are there when you're ready. For building sustainable routines that actually stick, Me+ is a solid choice.

If you prefer a completely free experience, Habitive offers unlimited habits without any cost. For those who want elegant design and privacy focus, HabitKit provides beautiful GitHub-style visualization. And if you need comprehensive scheduling with timer features, HabitNow offers more advanced functionality. However, Me+'s unique combination of MBTI guidance, mood tracking, and structured routine planning makes it stand out for users who want a more guided approach to habit building.

After weeks of actually using Readwise Reader, we're impressed. It's not perfect, but it genuinely solves the "reading stuff scattered everywhere" problem that drives us crazy. The highlighting works great, the AI assistant is actually useful (shocking!), and having everything sync to your notes automatically is pretty amazing.

The downsides are real though. The subscription model will annoy people, you can't try it without making an account first, and if you're on Android, it's going to feel a bit clunky. Plus, for a paid app, it crashes more than we'd like.

But here's the thing - if you read a lot online and you're tired of managing content across multiple apps, this might change how you work. The 30-day trial is long enough to really test it out. Just don't expect perfection, expect a really good tool that keeps getting better.

Our Recommendation