Evanreads

Stop re-reading. Start retaining.

You've read the same paragraph four times and still couldn't say what it said. Evanreads shows you one line at a time, then checks what stuck — so you read it once.

Try it free — no account needed — No credit card required.

What it does to the reading you were actually assigned

A two-column course pack at nine-point type, and the same sentence in Evanreads: one line at a time, read aloud if you want it, with a check at the end of every section.

Built on the research

Evanreads is built on three findings from cognitive psychology that explain why re-reading the same paragraph over and over isn't working — and what to do instead.

1 in 5 students have reading-related learning differences

Phonological processing difficulties — the core challenge in dyslexia — affect 20% of the population. Structured, paced reading with text-to-speech support measurably improves comprehension outcomes.

Shaywitz & Shaywitz (2020) — Biological Psychiatry

Working memory overload is why you re-read

The human working memory can hold only 4–7 items at once. Reading a full page activates far more — causing the brain to drop earlier content before it can consolidate.

Sweller (1988) — Cognitive Science

50% more retained after one week

Students who were tested on material after reading retained significantly more than those who re-read it — even when re-readers spent more total study time.

Roediger & Karpicke (2006) — Psychological Science

Built by a father who watched his son give up on reading.

When Evan started college, I watched a familiar pattern unfold. He'd see a syllabus and feel overwhelmed by the volume of reading. He struggled to break it into pieces or mentally calculate what it actually meant in hours of real reading. So he'd avoid it. Days would pass. Then the deadline would hit, and panic would take over. He'd cram, re-reading the same pages, frantic, stressed, and frustrated. Nothing was sticking. Retention was near-zero. Over time, frustration turned into the belief that he wasn't cut out for college.

His tools weren't working for him. So I built one that did.

— Jake, father and founder

Pricing

Free doesn’t expire. Paid covers the whole semester, and a school email makes it cheaper.

Full plan details on the pricing page.

Questions

Is Evanreads free?

Yes — Evanreads has a free plan with no time limit and no credit card required. You can read up to 5 pages per session and access core features including line-by-line focus mode, text-to-speech, retention quizzes, and reading stats. Paid plans unlock unlimited readings, full-length reading, your whole reading history, streaks and badges, and My Schedule for tracking syllabus assignments.

Who is Evanreads for?

Evanreads is built for college and high school students who struggle to get through assigned reading — especially those with ADHD, dyslexia, or other learning differences. It also works well for anyone who finds themselves re-reading the same paragraph multiple times without retaining it.

How is this different from just highlighting or re-reading?

Re-reading is one of the least effective study strategies for long-term retention — students consistently overestimate how much they've absorbed. Evanreads uses retrieval practice (post-reading quizzes) and focused single-section reading to reduce cognitive load and improve how much you actually remember. This is backed by decades of peer-reviewed research in cognitive psychology.

What file types does Evanreads support?

You can paste text directly, or upload PDF, DOCX, or TXT files. Text-based PDFs work well today. Support for scanned and image-based PDFs (OCR) is coming soon.

Is my reading data private?

Yes. Your documents and reading history are stored privately and are never used to train AI models or shared with third parties. Paid accounts sync to the cloud so you can pick up where you left off across devices. Free accounts store data locally in your browser.

Which school email do I need for the Student plan?

The Student plan works with any verified school email — US schools (.edu), international universities (.edu.au, .ac.uk, and similar), and US K-12 school districts (.k12.[state].us). If your school isn't covered, contact us and we'll help. No school email? The Standard plan offers the same unlimited reading features at $9/month.

How is this different from Speechify or Natural Reader?

Those apps read the text to you. Evanreads doesn't read for you — it paces you through the text one line at a time so your attention stays on the page, then checks what you retained. Read-aloud is there when you want it, but it's a support, not the point.