Swap one scroll for one story.
We won’t ask you to delete anything. Your coach just parks a small reading session at the time you usually doomscroll.
Read Rebel · Out-read the algorithm
The algorithm hates this app.
Your feed is engineered to keep you scrolling. Read Rebel is engineered to get you reading: it finds out what’s stopping you, hands you one book you’ll actually love, and plants small sessions right where the scrolling used to be. Miss a day? Rebels regroup — no guilt.
- 2-minute diagnosis
- 7 days of Plus free, no card
- No account
Free forever to read, with no ads. Works offline and your books never leave your device. Install it on Windows, macOS or Linux from Chrome or Edge, or get it on Android.
Be honest for a second
It’s 11:47 pm. You meant to read tonight.
Here’s how the day usually goes. Read it slowly. Some of it might sting.
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2:14 pm
In the meeting, the exact word was right there. A flatter one came out, and you heard it.
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9:58 pm
“Five minutes on my phone, then the book.”
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10:43 pm
Still scrolling. You couldn’t name one thing you just saw.
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11:05 pm
The book on the nightstand still has its bookmark on page 30. Forty-odd more on the shelf, bought with real intentions. Unfinished things have a way of nagging.
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11:20 pm
Someone asked about the last book you finished. You remembered the cover. Not one idea from inside it.
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11:47 pm
“I used to be a reader.” You say it like it happened to someone else. Kal se pakka. (Tomorrow, for sure.)
That sting is good news. It means the reader in you never left. You didn’t stop caring. You got outplayed, every evening, by something built to win.
You’re not lazy.
You’re outnumbered.
Whole teams of engineers work to keep your thumb moving. Nobody is working to get you back to page one. Until now.
As sticky as your feed. Good for you.
Streaks that forgive, a focus garden that grows, quirky nudges and a coach that notices when you slip — the same hooks, pointed at a habit you actually want.
See what you stole back.
Every week shows the minutes you reclaimed — and roughly how many reels you didn’t watch (an estimate, at about 30 seconds a reel).
Why Read Rebel
Not another e-reader. A coach that plans for the day you slip.
E-readers give you pages. Summary apps give you shortcuts. Habit apps give you a streak to lose. Read Rebel gives you a plan built around why you stopped.
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It asks why you stopped.
A 2-minute diagnosis covers the real reasons: no energy after work, the phone pulling you away, losing interest, forgetting what you read, starting strong then stopping, not knowing what to read, reading alone. Your plan is built on your answers.
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One book. Not a list of a hundred.
One first book matched to your reasons, interests, minutes and language (English, Hindi or both), plus two alternates. If it isn’t working, one tap swaps it. Quitting a book is allowed here.
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It shows up at your scroll time.
The diagnosis asks when you usually end up doomscrolling. That’s exactly where your 5–15 minute session goes. You’re not finding new time. You’re taking back old time.
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Built for your worst day, not your best.
Miss a session and the next one shrinks and gets a realistic new time: never miss twice. Planned rest days don’t break your streak. Invite a reading buddy for a private weekly check-in on WhatsApp.
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Remember it. Then use it.
Words are saved with the sentence you found them in, then you practise using them in a sentence of your own, with instant offline feedback, and review them with spaced-repetition flashcards. A weekly reflection asks for one idea you’ll actually apply.
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A book that feels better than the feed.
Immersive mode reads a book’s mood and sets the scene: rain for a mystery, fireflies for a fantasy, a crackling fire for something cozy, with calm music to match Plus. All private: no account, works offline, your files stay on your device.
| Feature | Read Rebel | E-reader apps | Summary apps | Habit apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asks why your reading stops | Yes | No | No | No |
| One matched book, English or Hindi | Yes | Store picks | No | No |
| Sessions at your usual scroll time | Yes | No | No | Reminders |
| A recovery plan after a missed day | Yes | No | No | Varies |
| Whole books, not summaries | Yes | Yes | No | Not applicable |
| Words kept in context, used in your own sentence | Yes | Some | No | No |
| No account, works offline | Yes | Varies | Varies | Varies |
Categories, not specific products; features vary from app to app. This is our honest read of what’s typical. Read Rebel opens files you already own (EPUB, PDF, TXT, Markdown) and doesn’t sell books.
How it works
Your reading coach, in four gentle steps.
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Diagnose
Two minutes: what usually stops you, your language (English, Hindi or both), your interests, the time you realistically have, and when you tend to doomscroll.
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Your book
One first book that fits you, from a curated English and Hindi list, plus two alternates. Not the same bestseller everyone gets.
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Small sessions
5 to 15 minutes in your scroll slot. One tap to check in: Read, Missed, or This book isn't working. After a consistent week, sessions grow by just 2 minutes.
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Reflect & recover
A short weekly reflection on what helped. Missed a day? Never miss twice: the next session shrinks and moves to a time that fits.
Why it’s built this way
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If-then plans. Deciding in advance when and where you’ll act (“when X happens, I’ll do Y”) helped people follow through on goals across many studies.
So your session is tied to your scroll time.
Gollwitzer, 1999; Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006 (meta-analysis)
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Tiny, well-prompted habits. A behaviour happens when motivation, ability and a prompt meet. Make it small and give it a cue.
So you start at 5–15 minutes, not an hour.
BJ Fogg, Tiny Habits, 2019
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Habits take weeks, and one miss is okay. In one well-known study, new daily habits took a median of about 66 days to feel automatic, and missing a single day didn’t derail the process.
So the coach expects misses and plans for them.
Lally et al., 2010, European Journal of Social Psychology
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Spaced review. Reviewing material at spaced intervals is one of the most replicated findings in memory research: it beats cramming for long-term recall.
So your saved words come back as flashcards on a schedule.
Cepeda et al., 2006 (meta-analysis)
We cite these to show where the design comes from, not to promise results. Your mileage will vary, and that’s fine.
What's inside
Everything a reader needs, nothing that shouts.
Read Rebel borrows the best ideas from e-readers, study tools and habit apps, then turns the volume down.
Serene reading
A page that gets out of the way.
Import EPUB, PDF, TXT or Markdown and read in a distraction-free space with calm themes and carefully chosen fonts, including the highly legible Atkinson Hyperlegible.
- Focus lens dims every paragraph except the one you're reading.
- Bionic emphasis for easier scanning, and RSVP speed reading when you want pace Plus
- Smooth page turns or scrolling, and full screen. Hands-free auto-scroll Plus
- Shelves for Reading, Want to read and Finished.
Immersive mode Plus
Every book gets its own weather.
Read Rebel senses a book's mood, whether that's mystery, romance, adventure, the sea, nature, fantasy, sci-fi, a classic or something cozy, and quietly sets the scene around it.
- A matching colour theme for the page.
- A gentle animated atmosphere: rain, snow, fireflies, stars or drifting leaves.
- An ambient soundscape and soft music to match.
Listen & music
Rest your eyes. Keep the story going.
Read-aloud follows along sentence by sentence and word by word, so you can listen, read along, or drift between the two.
- Pace from 0.5× to 3×, shown as approximate words per minute, with your choice of voice.
- Sleep timer, with the page following the voice as it reads.
- Peaceful generative music (piano reverie, ambient pads, music box) or your own playlist, softened automatically under the voice Plus
- Ambient soundscapes: rain, ocean, fireplace, wind and gentle noise Plus
Remember what you read
Keep the lines that change you.
Highlight in five colours, add notes, and find it all again in your Notebook. With Plus, coming back to a book starts with a short "Previously on…" recap.
- Notebook with search, review mode and Markdown export. Turn any quote into a shareable card.
- Double-click a word for its meaning and save it with the sentence you found it in.
- "Explain" any name, place or idea with a Wikipedia summary.
- Spaced-repetition flashcards (up to 50 cards free, unlimited with Plus), chapter reflections, bookmarks, in-book search, and a rating and review journal when you finish.
- A spoiler-free "Who's who" character tracker Plus
Habit engine
A little progress every day.
Tell Read Rebel whether you're just starting, getting back into reading, a regular reader or a bookworm, and it suggests goals that suit you. Then it helps you keep showing up.
- Daily goal ring, streaks and a reading heatmap. Every 7-day streak earns a streak freeze for busy days (hold one free, two with Plus).
- 13 rebel ranks, three daily quests, and 29 achievements to discover (three are secret).
- A focus garden where a plant grows while you stay in your book.
- Yearly challenge, reading alarms with snooze, and a gentle evening streak guard.
Rebels who read
A year from now, you’re the one who reads.
Goals fade. Identities stick. You’re not “trying to read more”. You’re becoming someone who picks up a book when the feed is calling. Here’s what fifteen minutes a day adds up to.
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Day 30
~7.5 hours read
About one book finished, maybe a second one started. Around 900 reels you didn’t watch.
Your evening has a new default, and it has a bookmark in it.
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Day 90
3–5 books
About 22 hours of reading. In that habit study, daily habits took a median of about 66 days to feel automatic, so you’re past the hard part.
“I used to be a reader” quietly becomes “I’m reading something good right now.”
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Day 365
12+ books
Roughly 90 hours: somewhere around 12 to 20 books, plus a year of saved words and weekly reflections.
You out-read the algorithm. Fifteen minutes at a time.
Estimates, not promises. They assume 15 minutes a day, a silent reading pace of about 200–260 words a minute (typical adult averages; Brysbaert, 2019), books of 70,000–90,000 words, and reels of about 30 seconds. Your pace, books and days will differ.
Earn your rank. You can’t buy it.
13 rebel ranks, earned only by reading — not even Plus can skip one. 29 achievements to unlock along the way. Three of them are secret. We’re not telling.
- Scroll Survivor
- Page Recruit
- Chapter Cadet
- +7 more
- Algorithm Slayer
- Unscrollable
- Rebel Legend
Pricing
Free to read. Plus, when you want more.
Every new reader gets 7 days of Rebel Plus, free, with no card. When the trial ends you keep everything in Free.
Free
₹0 forever
A complete, calm reader and coach that’s yours to keep. No ads.
- The full reading coach: diagnosis, matched book, sessions, recovery
- Unlimited books and reading
- Highlights and notes
- Read-aloud at every speed
- Streaks, ranks, quests, goals and reading alarms
- 3 core themes: Paper, Sepia and Night
- Up to 50 vocabulary cards
Best value
Rebel Plus
₹67 / month
₹799 paid once for 12 months · save 33%
The full, immersive Read Rebel experience.
- Immersive mode: mood-matched themes, atmosphere and soundscapes
- Calm generative music, plus your own music
- All 12 serene themes and comfort light
- Hands-free auto-scroll and speed reading (RSVP)
- "Previously on…" recaps and Who's who
- Unlimited vocabulary and flashcards
- Hold 2 streak freezes instead of 1
- Quote cards without the watermark
- Coming later: cloud sync and an AI book companion
Why go Plus? The honest math.
It costs less than the scroll it replaces
₹2.2 a day
On the annual pass: ₹799 once, about ₹67 a month. Less than one café coffee.
Now the other price. Thirty minutes of scrolling is about 60 reels. The same thirty minutes of reading is about 7,000 words, or roughly 25 pages. (Estimates.)
You risk nothing. Literally.
- 7 days of Plus free. No card, no sign-up.
- Nothing to cancel. Passes are prepaid and never auto-renew.
- Changed your mind? Ask for a refund within 7 days of buying.
- Nothing held hostage. Your books, notes and progress stay yours, Plus or not.
What day 8 takes back
Your trial gets you used to these. When it ends, they go quiet unless you keep Plus:
- The rain behind your mystery novel
- Calm music under the read-aloud voice
- 9 of your 12 themes
- Every flashcard after the 50th
- “Previously on…” recaps and Who’s who
- Room for a second streak freeze
Free stays a complete reader and coach. Plus keeps the atmosphere.
Why charge at all? Read Rebel has no ads, and there’s no data to sell: it stays on your device. Plus passes are how the rebellion pays its bills.
Subscriber perks
- Founding Reader badge and achievement for early subscribers
- A bonus streak freeze with your first pass
- Early access to new features
- New soundscape and music drops every month Coming soon
- Refer a friend: give a month, get a month Coming soon
Prices include applicable taxes. Fair regional pricing: we show Indian and US prices here, and your local price is applied at checkout based on your country, so readers everywhere pay a fair amount.
Plus is a prepaid pass. Pay with UPI, cards, netbanking or wallets through Razorpay, or with an international card. Passes don't renew automatically, so you're never charged again unless you choose to buy another. If Plus isn't for you, ask for a refund within 7 days of purchase. See the refund policy and terms.
Still on the fence?
Good. Let’s argue it out.
The voice in your head has objections. Fair enough. Here are straight answers.
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“I don’t have time.”
You do; the feed has it right now. Sessions start at 5 to 15 minutes and go in the slot you’d usually scroll. We’re not asking for new time, just that time back.
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“I’ve tried before. I always stop.”
Most apps are designed for your best day. This coach expects misses: the next session shrinks and moves, rest days don’t break your streak, and “start strong, then stop” is literally one of the diagnosis answers.
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“Another app on my phone?”
It’s a swap, not an addition. Same phone, same thumb, same ten minutes, with a book at the end instead of a feed. It also runs on your PC, works offline and needs no account.
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“Is it worth paying for?”
You don’t have to decide today. The core reader and coach are free forever. Plus is free for 7 days with no card. If you buy a pass and regret it, there’s a 7-day refund, and nothing ever auto-renews.
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“I don’t even know what to read.”
That’s the coach’s job. You get one book matched to you, in English, Hindi or both, plus two alternates. Don’t like it? Swap it. No guilt.
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“I’ll start on Monday.”
Honestly? Fresh starts are real: people are more likely to begin a goal at a new week or month (Milkman et al., 2014). So do the 2-minute diagnosis tonight, and your plan will be waiting on Monday.
Start my rebellion — free
2 minutes. No card. No account. Nothing to cancel.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
What does the reading coach actually do?
It starts with a 2-minute diagnosis of why your reading stops, your language, your interests, how much time you really have and when you usually end up scrolling. Then it suggests one first book (with two alternates), schedules short sessions in that slot, and asks for a one-tap check-in. If you miss a day, the next session gets smaller and is rescheduled realistically. Once a week, it asks a short reflection. If a book isn't working, you can swap it: quitting a book is allowed.
Does Read Rebel give me the book? Can I read in Hindi?
Read Rebel recommends books from a curated English and Hindi list, but it doesn't sell them. Get your book wherever you like: a bookshop, a library, a DRM-free ebook store, or free public-domain sources. Then import the file into Read Rebel. You choose English, Hindi or both during the diagnosis.
How does the 7-day free trial work?
After onboarding, every new reader gets all of Plus for 7 days automatically. You don't need to sign up or enter a card. When the trial ends, you keep the Free plan, and Plus features show a gentle prompt instead. Your books, highlights and progress are never locked away.
How do I pay, and does it renew automatically?
Plus is sold as a prepaid pass for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months. In India you can pay with UPI, cards, netbanking or wallets through Razorpay, and elsewhere with an international card. Passes don't renew automatically: when yours ends, you choose whether to buy another. You can ask for a refund within 7 days of purchase by writing to hello@readrebel.app.
Where do I get books?
Read Rebel opens files you already have: EPUB, PDF, TXT and Markdown. You can use DRM-free books you've bought, public-domain classics from sites like Project Gutenberg, or your own notes and study material. Read Rebel doesn't sell books, and it can't open DRM-protected files such as Kindle purchases.
Are my books uploaded anywhere?
No. Books, highlights, vocabulary and progress are stored in your browser or on your phone. There's no account. The only things that go online are word and "Explain" lookups when you ask for them (sent to dictionaryapi.dev and Wikipedia), the web fonts, and checkout if you buy Plus. See the privacy policy.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Once it's installed, the reader, read-aloud and habit tools all work without a connection, and so do Plus features you've unlocked. Definitions and "Explain" need the internet.
How do I install it on my PC?
Open Read Rebel in Chrome or Edge, then choose Install desktop app in the sidebar, or Install Read Rebel from the browser menu. It then opens in its own window, like any other app.
Is there an iPhone or iPad app?
Not yet. Read Rebel is available for PC as an installable web app and for Android. You can open the web app in Safari, but alarms and some audio features work best on PC and Android for now.
Why do the read-aloud voices sound different on different devices?
Read-aloud uses the voices built into your device, so quality varies. On Windows, Microsoft Edge offers very natural "Online (Natural)" voices. On Android, you can install extra voices in your phone's text-to-speech settings.
How do I move my progress to another device?
Use Settings → Export backup and import the file on the other device. Book files aren't included in the backup, so import those again. Automatic cloud sync is coming to Rebel Plus later.
Tonight is page one.
The feed will be there tomorrow. So will the algorithm. Tonight, at the time you’d usually scroll, give one good book five minutes. That’s the whole rebellion.
Free forever to read · 7 days of Plus free, no card · Nothing auto-renews