4 Best Book Summary Apps – Key Book Insights in 15 Minutes

Want to jump straight to the answer? The best book summary app for most people is Blinkist and Instaread app.

In this software guide, we explain what a book summary app is, how it works, and review the top book summary apps in the market today.

Of course, there is a myriad of book summary apps available. However, not every book summary app is on par in terms of quality and services. Well, that is the reason why we are presenting the best book summary apps available.

What are the Best Book Summary Apps for 2023?

1. Blinkist
2. Instaread
3. getAbstract
4. 12min
5. ShortForm
6. Mentors

Read on for detailed reviews of each book summary software so you can start comparing features and pricing.

Each app provides book summaries a little differently. After the reviews is a short guide that will help you assess each book summary application.

1. Blinkist

✔ More than 3000 Books

✔ Read and Listen features

✔ Available as Desktop version and Mobile Apps

Blinkist is undoubtedly the most popular book summary app in the market. Recommended by experts and readers alike, Blinkist truly helps you to get a proper summary of the book that you are looking for.

Key Blinkist Features,

1. Blinkist offers summaries of more than 3,000 books. And the best part? More and more summaries of books are being added to the database of this application on a daily basis.
2. Blinkist covers almost all the categories from History, Science, Politics, Geography, popular magazines, and much more. However, if you are looking for summaries of fiction titles then Blinkist would not be of much help. 
3. Furthermore, you will get a plethora of options on how to read the summaries. Blinkist is obviously available as a desktop version. Also, you can get it as a mobile app.

Most importantly, you can also download the app to your Kindle device. Lastly, the summaries are also available in audible versions.

Thus, if you do not have time to read the summaries, you can just play the audible version to listen to the book summary.

You can certainly use the Blinkist for free and cancel it at any time you want. Thus, there is nothing to worry about when you are using Blinkist.

2. Instaread

Instaread is another great book summary application and one of the fiercest rivals of Blinkist. An excellent alternative, the Instaread application offers 15-minute summaries of several books.

Much like Blinkist, Instaread also covers different categories from history, geography, economy, and science to politics and much more.

However, if you are solely looking for summaries of works of fiction then this app will definitely not be much of a help. 

Though it is very similar to Blinkist, there are some features that are completely unique to Instaread.

1. Firstly, Instaread offers some of the original titles from their team. Y
2. You can use these original titles to achieve more clarity on the topic you are looking for.
3. Plus, it also offers you access to articles from the New York Times and several other magazines.

It is true that Instaread does not have a catalog of all the books they have. Nevertheless, they are growing their library rapidly to serve their clients.  

3. GetAbstract

GetAbstract is indeed a popular and veteran name when it comes to book summaries. Serving readers across the globe since 1999, this application nowadays offers over 20,000 book summaries in text as well as audible format.

While Getabstract caters to the needs of large organizations with specifically designed plans, they have some of the best plans for individual users too.

This application also makes use of a trustworthy as well as the tested format for displaying their summaries. Hence, they become easily readable and also help you to retain the knowledge.  

One of the most unique things about Getabstract is the fact, that it allows you to download the summaries in PDF format and print them.

This app has different pricing plans starting from $99 per year. Also, there are enterprise plans for companies.

Plus, you can also get training on the YouTube channel of the app to know how to use it more effectively.  

4. 12min

12 min is, of course, a very good book summary app to begin with. As the name suggests, the app claims that if you have only 12 minutes in your hand then you will be easily able to boost your knowledge by reading and understanding a summary.

According to the 12min team, they read a book several times and jot down all the important points and messages that the book conveys.

In other words, they turn a book into a micro book that you can easily read in just 12 minutes. Plus, the book summaries are available in both text as well as audio formats.

12min also offers a great collection of books. Hundreds of new non-fiction titles are added every week for you to check out.  

Are book summary apps worth it?

Books are always considered to be humanity’s best friend. Reading books help you in a plethora of ways. It does not only help in your intellectual growth but also calms your mind and enhances your focus.

However, it is not easy these days to take the time to read a book or two. Every day several books are being published.

Nonetheless, the time we have to read a book is continuously decreasing. The pressure of modern life and the busy cosmopolitan schedule make it very hard to take out a book for reading. 

Now, the question arises-“What is the best website/app for book summaries?“. How can you manage to read a book without disturbing your daily schedule? 

Well, you can surely take aid from the book summary apps. These apps are unique in all senses. They offer you the complete summary of a book with the utmost details.

And you can easily find the summaries of all the latest books, magazines, journals, and much more without any hassle.

Well, it is obviously a very good question! Is a book summary app truly worthy of your attention? Well, truth be told, they are.

The book summary apps come in very handy in a multitude of different situations.

1. Firstly, as we have said before, these apps provide you with a precise yet in-depth summary of books, magazines, journals, scholarly articles, and much more.
2. More importantly, you will find books under several categories like fiction, political science, science, economy, business and commerce, sports, and much more. So, you will be able to easily find any book that you have been searching for easily. 
3. Plus, these applications also save a lot of your time. The summaries are easily readable and they only take a few minutes to read. Thus, you will not have to spend hours to finish the book.
4. You will be able to understand the messages the book conveys within minutes. 

However, the most interesting thing might be the fact that the summaries are also available in audible versions.

Therefore, even if you do not have any time to read the summaries, you can also listen to the summaries while doing other work. So, are the book summary apps worth your time? Well, we leave it to you to find that answer. 

Conclusion

In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the best book summary apps, along with my top choices, so that you can pick the best one for you.

Book summaries are very helpful when you do not have the time available to finish a whole book. With the book summary apps, you will be able to easily understand the concepts and speed up your research process greatly.

So, go through the review of the best book summary apps once again and choose the best one.