Readwise in plain English

• Readwise is a simple way to keep the best parts of what you read at your fingertips. It pulls in your highlights, helps you review them with gentle reminders, and syncs everything to the note tools you already use. (readwise.io)

What it actually does

• It imports your highlights from places like Kindle, Pocket, Instapaper, Apple Books, and more, so your notes live in one tidy library instead of scattered across apps. (docs.readwise.io)

• It resurfaces your highlights through a Daily Review using spaced repetition, so ideas stick and resurface when you’re likely to forget them. You can get this in the app or via email. (readwise.io)

• It lets you organize, tag, and annotate your highlights, and then sync or export them to Notion, Obsidian, Roam, Evernote, Logseq, Markdown, or CSV with flexible templates. (docs.readwise.io)

• It includes Readwise Reader, a modern read‑it‑later app where you can save articles, PDFs, EPUBs, newsletters, RSS, YouTube transcripts, and more; you can highlight as you go and everything flows back to your Readwise library. (readwise.io)

• It adds helpful extras in Reader like Ghostreader (an AI copilot for definitions and summaries), text‑to‑speech, powerful search, and fast triage so your queue stays sane. (readwise.io)

Why this matters for a solid Back Office

• You create a single source of truth for research, policies, and reference material. Staff can capture highlights once and trust they’ll show up where work actually happens.

• You turn reading into actionable knowledge. The Daily Review nudges people to remember decisions, policies, and insights instead of letting them fade.

• You reduce duplication. Highlights sync straight into Notion or Obsidian, so knowledge ops can standardize templates and keep content structured without manual copying.

• You improve onboarding. Curated reading lists in Reader plus spaced‑repetition reviews help new hires ramp up faster and retain what matters.

• You strengthen auditability. Source‑linked highlights give clear provenance for SOPs, compliance notes, and team decisions.

• You save time. One place for web articles, PDFs, and newsletters means fewer apps and fewer lost tabs, which is great for lean back‑office teams.

Where it fits in your stack

• It works best alongside your knowledge base (Notion/Confluence/Obsidian) and your read‑it‑later or research workflow (Reader replaces Pocket/Instapaper for many people).

• It complements your documentation and SOPs: highlight the important passages once, then automatically populate the right pages in your note system with consistent formatting. (docs.readwise.io)

Pricing and trial (United States, as of September 26, 2025)

• There’s a 30‑day free trial. After that, the Readwise subscription (which includes Reader) is typically $9.99/month when billed annually or $12.99/month when billed monthly. (readwise.io)

Quick setup checklist

• Create your account and start the free trial. Then connect your existing sources (Kindle, Instapaper, Pocket, Apple Books, and others) to import highlights. (docs.readwise.io)

• Turn on the Daily Review and set a time you’ll actually read it. Even 5 minutes a day compounds fast. (readwise.io)

• Connect your note app of choice (Notion, Obsidian, Roam, Evernote, Logseq) and pick or customize the export template so pages land exactly where you want them. (docs.readwise.io)

• Install Reader’s browser extension and mobile apps. Start saving articles, PDFs, and newsletters; highlight as you go and let everything sync back automatically. (readwise.io)

• For the back office, decide on a few tagging conventions (e.g., “policy”, “SOP”, “onboarding”) so exports stay organized across teams.

Sensible caveats to know

• Kindle sync is smooth for books purchased from Amazon; for personal documents or sideloaded files, you may need a different import method. That’s normal and supported. (docs.readwise.io)

• Reader and Readwise are separate apps under one account; highlights from Reader auto‑sync to Readwise, but full book content from places like Kindle can’t be pulled into Reader for copyright reasons. (docs.readwise.io)

Bottom line

• If your back office handles lots of reading, research, or documentation, Readwise helps you capture once, surface often, and sync everywhere, turning scattered content into a durable, searchable knowledge asset with very little overhead.