Best alternatives to Reader View (2026)
10 Chrome extensions that do a similar job to Reader View, closest first. Each shows real store users, its rating, how recently it was updated and how many permissions it asks for.
Reader View today
Reader View alternatives, compared
- 1
Reader Mode for Google Chrome™
Strips away clutter like buttons, background images, and changes the page's text size, contrast and layout for better readability
≈20K users4.7★ from 170 ratingsNot updated for 4+ years8 permissions- About 2.5× fewer users than Reader View
- Updated less recently
- 2
Reader View 2.0
Read articles without any distractions 📖
≈1K users4.9★ from 9 ratings5 permissions- About 50× fewer users than Reader View
- Asks for fewer permissions (5 vs 8)
- 3
SimpRead - Reader View
Immersion-reading mode of Chrome extensions, similar to Safari read mode.
≈70K users4.8★ from 2.1K ratingsUpdated 6 weeks ago9 permissions- A similar number of users to Reader View
- Updated more recently
- Asks for more permissions (9 vs 8)
- 4
RSS Reader
A fast, private RSS & Atom feed reader — auto-refresh, unread badge, notifications, and OPML. No account, no tracking.
≈7K users3.5★ from 185 ratingsUpdated 3 months ago7 permissions- About 7.1× fewer users than Reader View
- Rated 1.1 stars lower
- Updated more recently
- Asks for fewer permissions (7 vs 8)
- 5
Doc Reader
Open and read DOCX, RTF, TXT and Markdown documents locally. Your files never leave your computer.
≈10K users3.5★ from 24 ratingsUpdated 3 months ago1 permissions- About 5.0× fewer users than Reader View
- Rated 1.1 stars lower
- Updated more recently
- Asks for fewer permissions (1 vs 8)
- 6
QR Code Reader for Google Chrome™
FREE Simple QR Code Reader which works for both Camera and Image files. No Internet needed.
≈300K users3.9★ from 783 ratingsNot updated for 2+ years1 permissions- About 6.0× more users than Reader View
- Rated 0.7 stars lower
- Asks for fewer permissions (1 vs 8)
- 7
ePub Reader for Google Chrome™
View ePUB files right in your browser.
≈300K users3.2★ from 417 ratingsUpdated 2 months ago2 permissions- About 6.0× more users than Reader View
- Rated 1.4 stars lower
- Updated more recently
- Asks for fewer permissions (2 vs 8)
- 8
Awesome PDF Viewer, Reader
PDF Viewer, Reader is a free tool that allows you to view/edit PDF files directly in your web browser.
≈20K users3.9★ from 110 ratingsUpdated 7 months ago2 permissions- About 2.5× fewer users than Reader View
- Rated 0.7 stars lower
- Updated more recently
- Asks for fewer permissions (2 vs 8)
- 9
Dark Reader for Chrome
A classic Dark theme for every website. Switch any web pages to dark mode or night shift mode in one click.
≈7K users4.2★ from 39 ratingsUpdated 6 months ago5 permissions- About 7.1× fewer users than Reader View
- Rated 0.4 stars lower
- Updated more recently
- Asks for fewer permissions (5 vs 8)
- 10
QR Code Reader
A chrome extension for reading QR code from webpage
≈200K users3.5★ from 86 ratingsUpdated 11 months ago6 permissions- About 4.0× more users than Reader View
- Rated 1.1 stars lower
- Updated more recently
- Asks for fewer permissions (6 vs 8)
Reader View alternatives: questions
What is the best alternative to Reader View?
By users, the most popular alternative is QR Code Reader for Google Chrome™ with ≈300K users and a 3.9-star rating. The closest match by what it does is Reader Mode for Google Chrome™.
Which Reader View alternative has the best rating?
SimpRead - Reader View has the highest rating of these alternatives with 50+ ratings: 4.8 out of 5 from 2.1K ratings.
Is there a Reader View alternative that asks for fewer permissions?
Doc Reader asks for 1 permissions, against 8 for Reader View.
How many alternatives to Reader View are there?
We list 10 close alternatives to Reader View on the Chrome Web Store, picked by what they do and ranked by how close they are.
Users and ratings are the figures shown on the Chrome Web Store, re-checked continuously. Alternatives are matched on name, description, category and topic. Browse best-of lists by niche.