In this crazy world, who has time to sit down and read a whole book to get that one piece of wisdom or insight? Well, that’s why Blinkist exists. So what is Blinkist? Launched in 2013, the Blinkist app is a book summary service that distills quick and easy-to-read summaries from over 7,500 non-fiction books (plus around 40 new titles every month). Blinkist has various pricing options, including monthly and annual subscription fees, free trial periods, and additional discounts, making it an affordable and valuable service.
📚 Titles Covered | ~7,500 |
✅ Summaries Quality | High quality with great voice narrations and use of music to keep readers engaged |
⭐ Additional Content | Shortcasts, podcasts, and infographics in addition to book summaries |
🌐 Works offline | Yes |
📱App ecosystem: | Works on various devices, including iPhones, Androids, Mac, Windows and even in the car |
👫 Two for One Offer: | Buy one subscription and share with another person for free |
✂ Free Version: | Yes |
💵 Price: | $8/month paid annually, offering great value for money |
🔥 Special Offer 🔥 | Use our Special Offer to Get 35% off |
How Does Blinkist Work?
These summaries, or “blinks,” break down complex ideas from business and self-help into 15-minute reads. Additionally, Blinkist offers audio versions of these summaries, enhancing the experience by providing an alternative to reading. Whether you're at the gym, commuting, or taking a quick break, you can consume knowledge effortlessly.
Who Benefits from Blinkist?
For those with a hunger for knowledge and the curious, Blinkist takes the best of the best — those books you’ve been meaning to read but just haven’t had the time for — and delivers the essence to you. Looking for new perspectives, career advancement, personal growth, or a spark of inspiration? Blinkist might be the place to be. Learning is easy without anchoring you to an armchair for hours.
Features of Blinkist
The Blinkist platform has a vast and diverse library that covers self-help, business, health, history, and science. The library is updated regularly to include the latest bestsellers and timeless classics so readers have access to a wide range of content. Compared to other similar services, Blinkist stands out with its extensive features and exceptional value. No other book summary service even compares in terms of the value it delivers.
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How Blinkist Summaries Are Created
So what’s the secret behind Blinkist? It’s their team of writers and editors whose job is to distill books down to the best bits: key ideas, stories, and most important key insights. It’s about hitting the essence without the fluff so you get the message loud and clear, fast.
Ease of Use
Designed for ease of use, Blinkist’s interface is simple to navigate and find what you’re looking for whether by category or by title. And the best part? You can read or listen, so it’s perfect for your commute, gym time, or even those quick breaks. Learning for the fast-paced modern world.
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Additional Features
Beyond book summaries, Blinkist adds extra features like highlights, personal notes, and synchronization across devices to help with knowledge retention and to apply what you’ve learned. This personalization ensures that each user gets a tailored experience that suits their reading habits.
Explore Blinkist’s 27 Categories
Curious about what Blinkist has to offer? Click on “Discover” in the blinkist library, and voilà! You’ll get a big, beautiful overview of all the categories. It looks something like this:
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Blinkist organizes its summaries into 27 nifty categories, including:
Biography & Memoir
Career & Success
Communication Skills
Corporate Culture
Creativity
Economics
Education
Entrepreneurship
Health & Nutrition
History
Management & Leadership
Marketing & Sales
Mindfulness & Happiness
Money & Investments
Motivation & Inspiration
Nature & the Environment
Parenting
Personal Development
Philosophy
Politics
Productivity
Psychology
Religion & Spirituality
Science
Sex & Relationships
Society & Culture
Technology & the Future
Click on any of these categories, and you'll dive into a treasure trove of books on that topic. It’s perfect for when you’re hungry for knowledge on a specific subject but don't have a particular book in mind. Just scroll through, hit “Add to Library” on the ones that catch your eye, and you’re good to go.
Each category page features trending blinks, recently added summaries, and highlighted audio versions. If you’re a completionist, click “See all blinks on…” at the bottom of the page for an alphabetical list of all the goodies. Happy exploring!
Personalization
And because we’re all different, Blinkist gets personal with book recommendations that match your interests and reading style thanks to a bit of AI and your reading history. It’s like having a friend who knows exactly what you like and will guide you to your next great read.
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Blinkist’s reading summaries condense the key ideas of popular nonfiction books and podcasts into short 15-minute audio clips or text explainers, making it easy for busy people to learn from as many sources as they want without drastically changing their lives.
Benefits of Blinkist
Blinkist allows you to get knowledge in a timely manner by providing key insights from nonfiction books and podcasts. You can gain powerful ideas in minutes from their summaries, helping you grow and maximize your potential. Here are the benefits you can get by using Blinkist:
Time Saving: For those who can’t find time to read, Blinkist is the solution with its book summaries. Users can read summaries in 15 minutes, so you can learn during breaks or while multitasking.
Wide Learning from Nonfiction Books: Blinkist has access to book summaries of popular nonfiction books across subjects, so you can explore new areas or deepen your understanding without being limited by time or resources.
Audio Versions Included: With text and audio summaries, you can learn in your preferred way. Blinkist partners with podcast creators to provide key insights from podcasts, offering transformative podcasts.
Free Summaries: Blinkist offers free summaries as part of its free plan so users can get a daily curated selection of book summaries for free. Whether you like to read on-screen or listen on the go, Blinkist has got you covered.
Better Knowledge Retention: The summaries focus on key ideas, insights, and practical advice, so users can retain more information. This distillation approach helps users to understand and remember faster than traditional reading methods.
Traditional Reading vs Blinkist
The way we consume literature and, by extension, information has been changed by the screen; TV, computer, smartphone, tablet, or the modern-day e-reader. The debate has been going on for years: what’s the right, the best, the most efficient, practical way to consume and engage with information?
Benefits of Traditional Reading
While traditional reading offers the deepest level of engagement and allows readers to get a full and unfiltered view of the book’s subject, we can’t ignore the practical benefits of book summary platforms like Blinkist, especially for non-fiction books. Traditional reading requires a big time and attention commitment. Compared to other similar apps, Blinkist offers more value for money.
The Advantage of Summaries
But in an age of information overload, the brevity of Blinkist becomes a very handy option. By condensing huge amounts of information into bite-sized summaries, Blinkist caters to the modern person’s need for efficiency and speed in learning. This is not to diminish the value of deep reading but to acknowledge the reality of life today where time is a scarce resource. The experiences of traditional reading — turning pages and annotating margins by yourself — are indeed enriching. But these sensory pleasures should not overshadow the practicalities of digital platforms which offer flexibility and adaptability to different lifestyles.
Why Choose Blinkist?
Blinkist, with its simple interface and audio-text interchangeability, is the modern way of consuming information, catering to the diverse needs of today’s readers. Using Blinkist and similar platforms doesn’t mean you are abandoning traditional reading but improving your overall knowledge acquisition strategy.
Plus, with Blinkist, you don’t have to be bored to death when you want to finish the book just because you feel there might be something important on the next page; if there’s something you need to know, chances are Blinkist will have it in its summary.
Blinkist cost
If you want to join the Blinkist community, there are several options. Let’s break them down:
Free Trial
As a new user, you can get a 7-day free trial which gives you full unlimited access to all features and summaries on the platform. The only thing you have to do is create a free account. The trial is to let you test the app and see if it fits your learning style before committing full-time. Compared to other book summary services, Blinkist offers competitive subscription options with unique features and value.
Premium Subscription
Once the trial is over, you can subscribe to a Blinkist premium subscription which is available on a monthly and annual basis.
You have two choices. You opt for the monthly Premium plan, priced at $15.99, or you can go for the annual Premium plan, which costs $99.99 (equivalent to only $8.34 per month). If you ask me, the annual plan is the better option. Not only will you save 50% compared to the monthly plan, but you'll also enjoy a 7-day free trial. So, it's a simple choice – select the subscription plan that aligns with your budget and preferences. It couldn't be easier!
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This tier gives you access to the full library of book summaries, including audio and additional features like offline access, highlighting, and note-taking. The premium subscription is unlimited access to the library.
Special Offers. How much does Blinkist cost?
The pricing for the Premium subscription varies depending on your location and may include promotions. Generally, the annual subscription is more cost-effective if you plan to use the platform long-term.
Blinkist also has special offers and partnerships which adds more value to its subscribers. You can get 35% off with our exclusive Blinkist discount.
What is Blinkist? Now You Know
Blinkist is a great example in the reading and learning debate. Critics and fans can’t ignore the platform’s innovative approach to a common problem: the scarcity of time in today’s fast-paced world. Blinkist doesn’t aim to replace traditional reading but to supplement it, to be a bridge to information for those of us who are time-starved but knowledge-hungry.
You can say Blinkist’s real genius is that it serves two purposes. It makes learning accessible and efficient for the busy and a springboard to deeper learning. The summaries are so concise it invites further exploration and what starts as a shortcut could well be a deeper journey of discovery. For a comprehensive evaluation of the Blinkist app, consider reading a Blinkist review to gain insights into its functionality, features, and overall user experience.
Alternatives to Blinkist
If you're in the market for some Blinkist alternatives, you might wanna check out Headway app. It's a really nice app that serves up book summaries and key takeaways from non-fiction reads, just like Blinkist app does.
👉 Read our extensive comparison article: Blinkist vs Headway
Headway gives you quick and snappy summaries so you can wrap your head around the main ideas of a book fast. For more deets on Headway, check out this in-depth Headway app review.
