Headway App Review: Is It Really Worth Your Time and Money? [2025]
It was back in 2022 when I first heard of the Headway App (from a post on Instagram) and became interested in book summary apps.
And, after days of research and comparing with the other two popular players in the book summary space: Shortform and Blinkist, I ended up going with Shortform — because I found their summaries to be more in-depth.
Buuut. It’s now 2025. So, I think it is time for me to make a new research and find out if the Headway App is really worth it, and more specifically if it’s actually the best book summary app on the market. And this time I’m gonna document all my research here! So if you are in a similar situation like me, I guarantee this will save you a ton of research time.
I talked to the team at Headway and they agreed to give us a 51% discount (or even higher, depending on additional discounts they might be running at the time) by taking the 3-minute quiz and signing up with this link!
I also talked to the team at Shortform and they agreed to give us a 20% discount on the Annual Subscription by signing up with this link!
Before the Research
I signed up to the Headway App on their website and chose the monthly subscription (their shortest subscription plan) to try out the app for my research.
Below is my full 5-day research — organized by day:
Research Day #1: Book Summaries
Research Day #2: Beyond Book Summaries
Research Day #3: User Interface
Research Day #4: Price
Research Day #5: Best Headway App Alternatives
And at the end, I share my conclusion on whether the Headway App is worth it in 2025, and if it’s truly the best book summary app on the market.
1. Research Day #1: Book Summaries
After reading a few book summaries, it’s clear to me that the content is very high-quality. The summaries are easy to understand and I like how they’re structured. Plus, with a library of over a thousand summaries, you’ll likely never run out of interesting reads!
To illustrate my research, I will take the bestselling book (and one of my all-time favorite books) Principles, written by Ray Dalio.
In the Headway App, a summary consists of a list of “key points”, which are sort of the key ideas of the book.
And they also have a list of “insights”, which are basically one-liners that kind of summarizes the key points themselves (exactly… the summary of the summary!).
So, for the book Principles, they have a list of 9 key points (the last key point is always the Conclusion) and 9 insights.
Now, I’ll go through the 3 main features of Headway’s book summaries:
Downloads
Highlights
Remember & Repetition
1.1 Downloads
In the Headway App you can download any book summary. And this is a feature I truly appreciate because I frequently lose internet on my routinely commutes, and I can’t think of something worse than staring at the phone for minutes waiting for the content to load 😂.
1.2 Highlights
Another interesting feature is that you can highlight any text in the summaries. And these highlights are then automatically tagged (to the book summary where it belongs) and saved in your Highlights Library.
I’m personally a big fan of highlighting because it allows me to save the stuff that resonates with me, which I can then revisit in the future — with the ultimate goal that these ideas eventually become second nature to me! (I think an idea becoming second nature is the mark of ultimate learning).
1.3 Remember & Repetition
As I mentioned earlier, every book summary comes with a list of “Insights” that are sort of one-liners that summarize the book summary itself.
These insights come as a list (within the Contents tab), but they are also spread across the summary.
And the interesting thing is that each of these insights have a “Remember” button, and when you click on that button the insight is automatically saved on your Repetition library.
The idea behind this feature is to help users remember these insights from the book summaries. But personally, I’m not sure if I would use this feature. I feel like the Highlighting feature is enough for me!
1.4 Style & Size
If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a sucker for dark mode. But don’t worry if you prefer light mode… Below you can see the difference between both and how you can easily switch between them.
As you can see in the image, you can also adjust the size of the text.
1.5 Audio
The Headway App has audio versions for all the book summaries in its library.
Here’s a sample from their book summary of Principles (recorded at 1x speed):
(By the way, you can listen to Headway’s summaries even when the screen is off!)
Personally, the audio sounded decent to me!
1.6 Other Languages
Beyond English, The Headway App offers four other languages: Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese.
These languages apply to both the User Interface and the book summaries. And after testing for each language, I found that they have a large catalog of summaries in Spanish, German, and French. However, their Portuguese catalog is much more limited — and I couldn’t find the summary of Principles in Portuguese.
I think this is a great feature if you’re learning — or thinking about learning — any of these languages (especially Spanish, German, or French), and it’s obviously useful if you’re a native speaker too.
1.7 Desktop Version
Headway is definitely a mobile-first app. As their desktop site is quite basic — there’s no summary index, it lacks features such as downloads and highlights, and you can’t even switch to dark mode! (if you’re as light-sensitive as I am, good luck reading at night 🫠 ).
Here’s how Headway’s summary of Principles looks on the desktop site…
Personally, I typically read book summaries on my phone, so this is not an issue for me. But if you plan to read frequently on your laptop, you might wanna check out alternative book summary apps such as Shortform or Blinkist — they both have a fully functional desktop interface. In the section Research Day #5: Headway App Alternatives we will dive deep into these alternative apps!
I talked to the team at Headway and they agreed to give us a 51% discount (or even higher, depending on additional discounts they might be running at the time) by taking the 3-minute quiz and signing up with this link! (Or if you’d rather skip the quiz, you can claim the same discount here!)
2. Research Day #2: Beyond Book Summaries
Beyond book summaries, the Headway App offers two services: Collections and Challenges.
2.1 Collections
A Collection is a curated list of book summaries that help you improve at a specific skill, typically containing about 8-10 summaries.
2.2 Challenges
A Challenge is similar to a Collection, but the summaries are structured in a set order (e.g./ Day 1: Why We Sleep, Day 2: What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, etc.). This service is available only on the mobile app.
3. Research Day #3: User Interface
3.1 Mobile Interface
The Headway App has a sleek design (especially on dark mode, but honestly… What doesn’t look better on dark mode? 😂 ), and it’s super easy to navigate!
3.2 Desktop Interface
The design is nice, but it’s not as feature-rich as their mobile app.
As mentioned earlier, you can’t make downloads or highlights, it doesn’t have Challenges or the Remember & Repetition feature, and there’s no possibility to switch to dark mode :(
4. Research Day #4: Price
It was annoying that I had to fill out a quiz and enter my email in order to see their pricing. But I did just that and finally got to the meat.
How Much Does The Headway App Cost?
Monthly Subscription for $34.46 (or €32.84) per month.
Quarterly Subscription for $62.93 (or €59.97) per quarter — equivalent to $20.98 (or €19.99) per month.
Yearly Subscription for $136.17 (or €129.77) per year — equivalent to $11.34 (or €10.81) per month.
None of the subscription plans offer a free trial. But they are always running time-limited discounts on their website.
I talked to the team at Headway and they agreed to give us a 51% discount (or even higher, depending on additional discounts they might be running at the time) by taking the 3-minute quiz and signing up with this link! (Or if you’d rather skip the quiz, you can claim the same discount here!)
5. Research Day #5: Best Headway App Alternatives
I think a Headway review wouldn’t be complete if I just talked about Headway. Because to figure out if the Headway App is worth it or not, we need to also look at the other top alternatives in the book summary space: Shortform and Blinkist.
5.1 Shortform
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I’ve been a Shortform subscriber since 2022. And I really love the app!
Here’s my research on Shortform…
By the way, I talked to the team at Shortform and they agreed to give us a 20% discount on the Annual Subscription by signing up with this link!
5.1.1 Shortform — Book Summaries
I think what makes Shortform truly special is their summaries…
They offer the most in-depth summaries. And for the classics or bestsellers (such as Principles), they even have a chapter-by-chapter breakdown — where they summarize each chapter of the book. So I think Shortform’s content feels more like study guides than traditional book summaries — which is fantastic to grasp a deeper understanding of the ideas of the books!
They add clarifications, counterpoints, or just helpful notes to the summary. I think this is a great addition because it expands our perspective, and also corrects for potential biases of the book authors. It’s aligned with one of my all-time favorite quotes: “One should not read like a dog obeying its master, but like an eagle hunting its prey.” - Dee Hock (founder of Visa)
They have exercises across the summary (very helpful to reflect on how to apply the ideas into your own life context).
They let you download any summary as a PDF (so you can read without internet).
You can easily switch between dark mode and light mode, and also adjust the text format of any summary.
And you can make highlights and even write notes on your highlights!
Shortform also offers audio versions for all their book summaries…
Here’s a sample from their book summary of Principles (recorded at 1x speed):
(By the way, you can listen to Shortform’s summaries even when the screen is off!)
Personally, I liked the audio quality!
5.1.2 Shortform — Beyond Book Summaries
Shortform offfers a wide variety of services beyond their book summaries. And all of them (except Shortform’s AI tool) are available on both the mobile app and the desktop site.
Let’s explore each of them:
Collections → Similar to Headway, Shortform offers Collections — curated lists of book summaries that help you improve at a particular skill, or make you more knowledgable on a topic.
Shortform’s Collections (mobile app + dark mode) Master Guides → These are compilations of ideas from different books to give you a comprehensive guide (with differing viewpoints) on a single subject for a deeper understanding.
Shortform’s Master Guides (mobile app + dark mode) Articles → Shortform creates Articles on the latest news and trends. I really like these because each article is based off many sources (like a research paper), which makes it way less biased than an article from any news outlet.
Shortform’s Articles (mobile app + dark mode) Podcast Summaries → They offer summaries on episodes of many different Podcasts.
Shortform’s Podcasts (mobile app + dark mode) Shortform AI → It’s a browser extension that summarizes everything on the internet, from articles and emails to YouTube videos, at a click of a button. And you can even install it for free! But if you want the premium version (for unlimited summaries) you would need a Shortform subscription.
Shortform AI summary of a YouTube video from Ali Abdaal
5.1.3 Shortform — User Interface
Mobile Interface
Shortform’s mobile app is beautiful and easy to use!
Desktop Interface
Shortform offers a great desktop interface. It’s as feature-rich as their mobile app, and it’s very easy to navigate!
Shortform on Desktop
5.1.4 Shortform — Price
It was nice that they have a direct price page on their website.
Shortform offers two Subscription Plans:
The Monthly Subscription goes for $24 per month.
The Yearly Subscription costs $197 per year (equivalent to $16.42 per month).
Both of these plans offer a 5-day free trial!
I talked to the team at Shortform and they agreed to give us a 20% discount on the Annual Subscription by signing up with this link!
5.2 Blinkist
Blinkist is another great alternative! I signed up to their app, and here’s my research on it…
5.2.1 Blinkist — Book Summaries
Blinkist’s summaries are quite similar to Headway’s summaries.
A summary is a list of “key ideas”, and they share a “final summary” at the end. In their book summary of Principles, they have 7 key ideas and the final summary at the end.
You can pick between four different background colors, and adjust the text size.
They let you download their summaries inside the app.
And you can make highlights, although it’s not possible to write notes on your highlights.
(On the picture above → I actually tried to highlight the entire paragraph, but looks like there is a glitch with this feature because it only highlighted a part of the paragraph. I tried with other paragraphs and the error persisted!).
Blinkist also has audio versions for all their book summaries, and honestly they sound amazing!
Here’s a sample from their book summary of Principles (recorded at 1x speed):
(By the way, you can listen to Blinkist’s summaries even when the screen is off!)
Personally, I think Blinkist’s audio sounds the most natural and I liked it more than the audio versions from Shortform and Headway.
5.2.2 Blinkist — Beyond Book Summaries
Just like Shortform and Headway, Blinkist offers much more than just book summaries. They have many extra services, and all of them are available on both the mobile app and the desktop version (except their Live Events — which is only offered in desktop).
Let’s explore each of these services…
Collections → Similar to Shortform and Headway, Blinkist also offers curated lists of book summaries.
Blinkist’s Collections (mobile app + dark mode) Guides → Blinkist offers Guides to help you improve at a particular skill. It’s all audio-based and honestly… it’s really cool!
Blinkist’s Guides (mobile app + dark mode) Shortcasts → These are their summaries on Podcast episodes.
Blinkist’s Shortcasts (mobile app + dark mode) Blinkist AI → You can paste any web link on this AI tool, and it will generate a summary using AI! These summaries are then saved within the Blinkist app.
Blinkist AI (desktop view) Live Events → This is Blinkist’s newest feature, and I think it’s a useful add-on to complement the learning experience.
Blinkist’s Live Events But I see two big issues with this feature:
There is not a wide offer of events. I literally just saw 6 events available for this whole month! — out of which I was only mildly interested in half of them.
It’s only offered on their PLATINUM monthly subscription, at a huge price jump! As of May 2025, it costs 59.99 EUR per month! (or approximately $63 per month). Honestly, I’d much rather pick a subscription without this feature (and save approximately 80% of that cost), and if I’m interested in an educational streaming platform I would just signed up to Skillshare or MasterClass — which are way cheaper, their catalogue of classes is much wider, and the instructors are top-notch!
5.2.3 Blinkist — User Interface
Mobile Interface
Blinkist has a stunning mobile app and it’s quite easy to use!
Desktop Interface
Blinkist’s desktop interface is great, and it’s as feature-rich as their mobile app.
Blinkist on Desktop
5.2.4 Blinkist — Price
Similar to Headway, you first have to fill out a questionnaire and enter your email in order to see their pricing. Again… pretty annoying!
So I did just that and got to their pricing…
Blinkist offers three Subscription Plans:
The Monthly (PLATINUM) Subscription goes for $62.95 per month. It includes live events and Blinkist AI.
The Yearly (PRO) Subscription goes for $146.88 per year — equivalent to $12.23 per month. It includes Blinkist AI (but not live events).
The Yearly (PREMIUM) Subscription costs $83.93 per year — equivalent to $6.99 per month. It doesn’t include Blinkist AI or live events.
They also gave me a 20% discount on my first payment, if I paid in less than 20 mins.
They used to offer a 7-day free trial for the yearly subscription, but as of May 2025 they have removed it :(
Conclusion: Is The Headway App Worth it in 2025?
Based on my 5-day research, I can say that the Headway App is great for learning key ideas from popular non-fiction books.
But… Is it really worth it when we have other great alternatives such as Shortform or Blinkist?
Personally, Shortform is still my favorite book summary app. Mainly because their summaries are more like study guides — with chapter-by-chapter breakdowns (for classics and bestsellers), helpful notes, exercises, and it even comes with a note-taking feature! All of this is incredibly helpful for gaining a deeper understanding of the books’ ideas.
Having said that, I also think an app like Headway or Blinkist can be a great complement to the learning experience.
On my own “learning funnel” I’ve started to use the Headway App to discover new books and read their quick high-quality summaries. Then, when a summary really grabs me, I move to the Shortform study guide. And finally, if I’m still hooked, I buy the book!
In my case, I picked Headway over Blinkist just because I really enjoy Headway’s user interface — I think it has the sleekest design and it just feels fun to use it. It’s true that Blinkist offers more services than Headway and the audio sounds better, but personally:
I’m only interested in the book summaries.
I don’t care about the audio — since I prefer listening to podcasts… (if you are wondering, my three all-time favorites are: Founders, Acquired, and Philosophize This!).
Besides, both Shortform and Headway have much better reviews than Blinkist — I compare them below.
Headway App Reviews vs. Shortform Reviews vs. Blinkist Reviews
As of May 2025, these are the reviews on Trustpilot:
Headway → 4,602 reviews with a rating of 4.2
Shortform → 790 reviews with a rating of 4.3
Blinkist → 595 reviews with a rating of 1.8
I talked to the team at Shortform and they agreed to give us a 20% discount on the Annual Subscription by signing up with this link!
I also talked to the team at Headway and they agreed to give us a 51% discount (or even higher, depending on additional discounts they might be running at the time) by taking the 3-minute quiz and signing up with this link! (Or if you’d rather skip the quiz, you can claim the same discount here!)
Thank you for reading this far ❤️
If you would like to get more frequent content from me, I recommend subscribing to my newsletter The Little Almanack → Most Fridays, I send out an email featuring an insightful passage from a book I’m reading or a thought-provoking snippet from an interview or podcast I’m listening to. Plus, I always include a hand-drawn visual to make it more memorable, along with some personal reflections.