Shortform alternatives, sorted by why you're leaving

By the edgi team Facts checked October 19, 2026

The best Shortform alternative is edgi. It's free, a Lesson takes 60 seconds, and instead of a guide to what a book argued you learn the idea itself, then keep it as a card on a Map of what you know. If it's the books you want, Blinkist is shorter and cheaper, getAbstract leans toward business, Readwise keeps your own highlights, and Libby gets you the real book free with a library card.

We make edgi, and we built it to be the most fun way to learn the ideas books are about.

Prices are from each app's US App Store listing or its own site, checked October 19, 2026. Shortform charges different prices in the app and on its site; we list both.

What Shortform is good at

Shortform is the deep end of book summaries. Its App Store listing promises "chapter-by-chapter comprehensive summaries and analysis" plus "interactive exercises to apply the key lessons to your life," and the guide previewed on its homepage has tabs for Summary, Commentary, Exercise and Community. Its pricing page says it covers "12,000+" books and "1,000+" article and topic guides. Nobody else on this list goes as far into a single book.

The depth costs time and money. A guide is a long read, and at $194.99 a year on the App Store, Shortform is the priciest app here after getAbstract's top tier. It has 4.59 stars from 1,411 App Store ratings.

Top pick: edgi, for the ideas themselves

Most of what a nonfiction book teaches comes down to a few ideas, like loss aversion or the sunk-cost trap. edgi skips the book and teaches the idea. A Lesson takes 60 seconds and you play it: guess, drag, tap, then use the idea on a question before you leave. Finish it and the idea becomes a card, lit up on your Map next to everything it connects to. There are more than 104,000 ideas on the Map, 44,000 of them with a Lesson, joined by 296,000 connections. You get a trail instead of a reading list. The next Lesson is whatever the last one made you curious about.

Shortform's pitch is depth, so here is our Lesson on what depth does to memory. You answer quick questions about words: how they're spelled, what they rhyme with, what they mean. Then comes a test nobody warned you about.

Levels-of-processing effect The levels-of-processing effect is the finding that how well you remember something depends on how deeply you analyze it during encoding.

60-second Lesson

Levels-of-processing effect

People who wove word lists into stories remembered 93% of the words. People who just rehearsed them remembered 13%.

Play it here Read about levels-of-processing effect

In that research, depth was never about how long the text is. It's what you do with a word when you first meet it. Every edgi Lesson ends by making you use the idea.

Shorter summaries: Blinkist or getAbstract

Blinkist is the fast version of the same job. Its listing says you get "the most important ideas from 9,000+ top books and podcasts in just 15 minutes," as audio or text, and it has 4.77 stars from 157,080 App Store ratings. The App Store lists Premium from $79.99 to $119.99 a year, well under Shortform. You lose the commentary and the exercises. Our Blinkist alternatives page covers its shelf, and Headway alternatives covers the other 15-minute summary app.

getAbstract is the business shelf: "25,000+ of the world's best nonfiction and business books, articles and video talks" as 10-minute summaries, by its listing, which also says over a third of Fortune 100 companies use it. The App Store lists a Starter tier from $5.99 and Pro up to $299.99.

You'd rather read the books

If Shortform was how you chose books, these two help you read them.

Libby is free. It "connects you to your local library's collection of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more," and all you need is a library card. What's on the shelf depends on your library. It has 4.85 stars from about 4.57 million App Store ratings.

Readwise is for after you've read. It pulls your highlights in from Kindle, Apple Books and paper books and brings them back to you later. Full is $94.99 or $119.99 a year on the App Store.

You want a course, not a book: Kinnu

Kinnu's general-knowledge app is free, with 100 pathways and 899 lessons; the median lesson is about 1,500 words to read, with questions after. That makes it the closest thing here to Shortform's long reads, minus the price and the books. More in our Kinnu review.

Pick something else only if…

• You want one specific book's argument, chapter by chapter: stay on Shortform.
• You want a book in 15 minutes: Blinkist.
• You want business titles: getAbstract.
• You want to keep highlights from books you've read: Readwise.
• You need Android. edgi runs on iPhone and in the browser.

FAQ

What's the best alternative to Shortform? edgi, if you wanted the ideas: it's free, a Lesson takes 60 seconds, and every idea becomes a card on a Map of what you know. For book summaries, Blinkist is shorter and cheaper.

Is there a free alternative to Shortform? edgi and Kinnu are free. If you want the books themselves, Libby lends them free through your public library.

What's cheaper than Shortform? Everything on this list except getAbstract's top tier. Shortform is $194.99 a year on the App Store; Blinkist lists Premium from $79.99 a year, and edgi, Kinnu and Libby are free.

Is Shortform better than Blinkist? For depth, yes: Shortform adds commentary and exercises to each guide, and its pricing page claims more books, "12,000+" against Blinkist's "9,000+" books and podcasts. Blinkist is faster and cheaper, at 15 minutes a title.

Is edgi free? Yes. Lessons, cards and the Map are free, and Sets unlock with coins you earn by learning, not money. An optional Pro subscription adds extras like offline access.