Is Blinkist Worth It? Reading And Audio App Review

Do you struggle to find time to read a book? Are you too busy getting to that dusty pile of books lying around? In that case, Blinkist may be the answer. Is Blinkist worth it for reading books? In this Blinkist review, I’ll discuss how you can get more reading (or listening) time with this app.

UPDATED: JANUARY 7, 2023

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  1. What Is Blinkist?
  2. Pros & Cons
  3. How Does Blinkist Work?
  4. Can Blinkist Benefit Your Time?
  5. What About Your Business?
  6. Pricing
  7. Final Words
Is Blinkist worth it? This post is an in-depth review of a reading app known as Blinkist.

What is Blinkist?

If you’re not familiar with Blinkist, it’s a subscription-based service where you can download book summaries. It’s been around for several years and has grown to be a popular service. The books are mostly nonfiction, ranging from personal development, current events, and psychology.

It’s great for those who don’t have sufficient time to read. Also, it’s excellent for those who may want a summary of a specific book. It’s why they always quote, “Big ideas in small packages”.

If you’re in a hurry…

Here’s a brief video about Blinkist in general. Along with that, here’s a list of pros and cons to consider as well.

We Are Blinkist (Youtube)

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Nonfiction books available in 15-minute, bite-size nuggets
  • Book summaries include what you need to know, take out the fluff  
  • Check out books you may or may not like- if you don’t want a book, then no need to buy it
  • Time savings is a huge bonus, especially for those who don’t have a lot of time

Cons

  • With books in summary format, you don’t get the full value of a book 
  • Serves more for the business community (more like executive summaries)
  • Not all books are available, such as fiction or children’s books 
  • Some people believe reading/listening to book summaries- it’s a form of “cheating.”

How does Blinkist work?

One of the best things about Blinkist is it’s a timesaving tool for busy professionals, or for anybody who lives an “on the go” lifestyle. Some great features come with the reading app.

Is Blinkist worth it? Blinkist comes in the format of 15-minute summaries. It’s boiled down to only the key points of what you need to know about.

15-minute book summaries

When you download a book, you’ll get a 15-minute overview of the main takeaways. The Blinkist team will read the books, then break down the key points from the books. We refer to these points as “blinks.” 

It’s excellent for those who may not want to read a book in its entirety, or who aren’t sure if they’re going to buy the book. The idea behind Blinkist is for readers to test out a book. If you like what you see in a book, then you can decide whether to purchase it or not.

Is Blinkist worth it? With Blinkist, you can get a brief summary of a nonfiction book to review via text or audio format.

Audio & text formats

Blinkist books come with an audio version and text format. It’s convenient for those who commute and travel if they want to listen to a book. 

Or if you’re like me, listening to a book while doing chores or working out at the gym. All books are available in bite-size audio and text, which is suitable for those wanting to learn knowledge on the go.

Over 5,000 books are available

Blinkist has a massive library of books that keeps growing each year. It adds around 40 titles each month in about 30 categories. 

Is Blinkist worth it? With its extensive library, Blinkist has more than 5,000 books to listen to or read from the app.

One account, multiple devices

Blinkist is available for download on a smartphone, tablet, desktop, and Kindle. So it’s convenient to read or listen to books on your phone while commuting. 

Or, if you want to use it while working on your laptop, that option is available as well. On another note, you can access it offline through the mobile app if you’re not in an area with an internet connection.

A relevant article from notimekillers.com

Read next on “What’s The 80 20 Principle In Business? 80/20 Book Review“, to read more about the Pareto principle. This book is a great read by Richard Koch.

Can Blinkist benefit your time?

In my experience, I’ve been using Blinkist for nearly three years. I have nothing but stellar things to say about the app. 

I may listen to 1-3 books on a good day, which can be between 7-21 books each week! That’s a lot of reading time, not to mention the savings in buying books instead. 

In that time frame, I’ve listened to dozens of books on time management and productivity. Luckily, I’ve learned some great tips and tricks to help me become a better individual (personally and professionally). 

Based on a recent study they conducted with customers, some interesting takeaways include:

  • 95% of Blinkist subscribers read significantly more than before
  • 91% of Blinkist customers create better habits
  • 87% made positive changes in their lives after using Blinkist

What about your business?

Your team can build better habits by using Blinkist if you run a business. Whether that’s through professional development or learning new skills, there are multiple opportunities. 

Blinkist has partnered with multiple businesses to provide premium access for their teams. Think of it as a learning platform for your team to learn new habits. For more information, check out the pricing chart below.

Pricing

Blinkist offers its users a 7-day free trial to check out their library. For your first seven days, you get free access to over 5,000 books to read or listen to in 15-minute nuggets. 

Once the 7-day free trial is up, you have the option to sign up for a monthly or yearly subscription. Blinkist’s premium plans include the following:

Premium Monthly ($15.99/month)Premium Yearly ($99.99 billed annually)– $8.34/month
With the monthly plan, this fit is useful if you want to try out a short-term strategy and maybe cancel later.
The yearly option is the most popular choice. You can save a little dough in the long term with it planned in place. The 7-day free trial is a good start to testing out the app.

You get access to other neat features. These features include:
Unlimited access to every book in their library 
Ability to learn hands-free with audio 
Highlight ideas you love 
Enjoy your library offline
Sync highlights with Evernote (note-taking & productivity app)
Send your titles to your Kindle reader
Prices are accurate as of January 2023

If you’re not ready to go premium, Blinkist gives you the option to access one pre-selected free daily read. You’ll receive a free title every day when you sign up.

Is Blinkist worth it? There are great testimonials from those who use the Blinkist business plans. Here is one of them.

There are two business plans that Blinkist offers to your team.

Teams (5-200 people)Enterprise (200+ people)
This plan is for companies of up to 200 people. So it’s suitable for small teams wanting to get started with Blinkist at a discount.

These features include:
Blinkist Premium Access
-Engagement resources
-Partner portal for account management
For companies with more than 200 individuals, you can request a demo to see how Blinkist can help your team achieve its learning goals.

Some of their features include:
-Blinkist Premium access
-Engagement resources
-Dedicated customer success partner
-Access to a user analytics dashboard
Prices are accurate as of January 2023

Final Words

If you wish you had more time to read, I encourage you to give Blinkist a shot. Learning more will allow you to continue to develop and expand your knowledge.

Of course, the best part is you can sign up now with a free 7-day trial before paying. If you want to start saving more time (and investing in yourself), sign up to begin your 7-day free trial. Continue learning today!

Your Turn: Is Blinkist a solution to your reading time?

I would like to know your thoughts on the reading app. Do you like what Blinkist has to offer from its extensive library? Can Blinkist help you listen to more books than you usually would?

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. I look forward to reading them and I’ll gladly respond promptly.

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Eric is the owner and chief editor of notimekillers.com. 

He takes great pride in helping people manage their time and grow their businesses. 

Eric is a firm believer in financial and time freedom, as he believes in financial independence and taking ownership of your time. 

“Time is your most important asset. It can be your best friend or worst enemy. How you use your time can shape the future you desire to have.” 

In his leisure time, Eric loves to write and read whenever possible. He enjoys going for long walks outdoors while doing in-home workout videos every week. 

You can also connect with Eric via LinkedIn.

Self Photo 2019: Here's a picture at a building in downtown Chicago.

6 thoughts on “Is Blinkist Worth It? Reading And Audio App Review”

  1. Although I personally much rather read the whole book, like really diving deep into it, I can see that Blinkist could be very useful in some cases.

    One would be, a student in high school that has to make a book report but didn’t have time to read the book in to depth. He or she could still score some points by using Blinkist. 🙂

    Second, if you own an online book store, this would be very handy to write out a short description of the book on your sales page without too much effort! That sounds actually quite handy 🙂

    Reply
    • Hi Lizzy,

      Some people prefer to read books in full, but they can’t find the time to do. So with apps such as Blinkist, it can come in handy to read or listen to short summaries.

      The example of a high school student comes in handy, especially when they’re writing a book report. For myself, that would have been helpful for me when I was younger.

      I like the idea of having an online book store. It can be a good way to write out great book descriptions while setting up landing pages. So for anyone who owns an online bookstore, there’s a lot of potential when using Blinkist.

      Thank you for sharing your thoughts- they’re much appreciated.

      Reply
  2. I have tried Blinkist and I think it’s great, but I think that the monthly price is a little too much- unless you subscribe to the annual plan. 

    I love how easy it is to use, and the selection of books is quite good. Blinkist is a wonderful subscription, but for some people, I think StoryShots might be better.

    Great article, and thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • Hi Champ,

      I think Blinkist itself is very easy to use, especially with the large selection of readings available. I’m intrigued by how many nonfiction books you’re able to read from the app.

      When it comes to pricing, I always prefer the yearly option. It’s nice that I can pay once every year, and not have to worry about it for another twelve months. So for Blinkist, I do suggest going to an annual plan for great savings.

      That’s good to know about your thoughts. I never heard of StoryShots before. I’ll see if I can write a review on that.

      But in the meantime, thank you for sharing your thoughts. They’re very much appreciated.

      Reply
        • Hi Champ,

          Yes, that’s what I was looking at earlier. Doing a little research on StoryShots, it looks like another alternative for reading.

          I’ll look into and see what I can write about, but it’s worth writing a review for the site. I’ll get back to that at some point.

          Thank you again for bringing that up. All the best.

          Reply

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