LingQ is usually the first tool people try when they want to learn a language by reading. It has around 49 languages, podcasts, a big community, and a price to match. MnemoRead is narrower: it is an ebook reader with the language tools built in. If most of your reading is books, this page should help you decide whether it is worth switching.
THE SHORT VERSION
Switch to MnemoRead if
you read novels, your books are EPUBs, you want grammar with your translations, and you read on your phone in the evening.
Stay on LingQ if
you mostly listen (podcasts, audio lessons), or you use the community and tutors.
Use both if
you read books and listen to podcasts. Many people do. MnemoRead is free for your own books, so it costs nothing to find out.
Where LingQ is better
LingQ does several things MnemoRead doesnât, and depending on how you study, some of them may matter more than anything else on this page.
- Listening. LingQ was built around audio. Lessons come with recordings, there are podcasts and playlists, and imported content gets transcribed. MnemoRead can read a word or a sentence out loud, but it wonât read you a whole book.
- Video and the web. With the LingQ browser extension and importer you can turn YouTube videos, Netflix subtitles and web pages into lessons. MnemoRead only reads EPUBs.
- Community. LingQ has forums, tutors, shared lessons and monthly challenges. MnemoRead is one personâs project, so there is none of that yet.
- Native apps. LingQ has proper iOS and Android apps. MnemoRead runs in the browser and can be added to your home screen. That works fine, but it isnât quite the same experience.
Where MnemoRead is better
When importing an EPUB into LingQ, you get the text chopped into lessons. The chapters, the cover and the formatting are gone. In MnemoRead, the same file will open as any ebook reader with pages, chapters, the fonts and margins you picked, and your place remembered. If you mainly read novels, that alone may settle it.
Beyond that:
- Translations in context. Tap a word and you get the one meaning that fits the sentence in front of you, rather than a list to choose from.
- Grammar, on words and on sentences. Tap a word and you get its base form, how the verb was conjugated to end up as the form on the page, the gender and the pronunciation. Tap a sentence and you get every part of it laid out in turn, each with its grammatical role. LingQ has grammar guides you read separately, but it wonât take apart the sentence in front of you.
- Phrase cards. You can save âaborder le navireâ rather than just âaborderâ, and every card keeps the sentence it came from.
- Knowing what you are getting into. Each book has a difficulty level, measured from how many of the languageâs common words its text needs, and a CEFR or JLPT reading for French, English and Japanese.
- A free plan you can actually read with. You can read your own books with 100 lookups a day, without even creating an account. LingQâs free plan stops at 20 saved words.
Feature by feature
| Feature | MnemoRead | LingQ |
|---|---|---|
| Read your own EPUB filesLingQ imports text; formatting, chapters and covers are often lost. | ||
| Reads like an ebook app (pages, fonts, margins, position sync) | ||
| Translation that fits the sentence, not a dictionary listLingQ offers dictionary entries, hints from other users and an AI definition; you pick. | ||
| Word grammar (base form, conjugation, gender, pronunciation) | ||
| Sentence grammar (every part of the sentence and its role) | ||
| Sentence translation | ||
| Flashcards from what you tap, spaced repetition | ||
| Phrase cards with the sentence they came from | ||
| Book difficulty and "words new for you" before you startLingQ shows known-word percentage per lesson. | ||
| Audio with the text (podcasts, audiobooks, lessons) | ||
| YouTube, Netflix and web-page readingLingQ has a browser extension and an importer. | ||
| Native iOS and Android appsMnemoRead installs from the browser to your home screen. | ||
| LanguagesMnemoRead: any language, with a free library in 8 of them. LingQ: about 49. | ||
| Library of free public-domain books by level | ||
| Community, tutors, forums | ||
| Free tier you can actually read withLingQ free is capped at 20 saved words. |
As of September 2026. LingQ changes often; if something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
Price
LINGQ
about $15 / month
About $120 a year. Free tier: 20 saved words, then you pay.
MNEMOREAD
âŹ4.99 / month
âŹ39 a year. Free tier: your own books, 100 lookups a day, no account.
The price gap is real, but it shouldnât be the deciding factor. If you use the audio lessons, LingQ is worth $15 a month. If what you want is a reader, you are paying $15 a month for a text importer.
Try it with the book you are reading now
- Find the EPUB (DRM-free; if you only have Kindle files, see the guide below).
- Open mnemoread.com on your phone and drop the file in. No account needed.
- Read one chapter. Tap five words. Tap one sentence.
If it doesnât feel better than LingQ after one chapter, you have lost ten minutes.
Other LingQ alternatives worth knowing
MnemoRead wonât suit everyone who leaves LingQ. Depending on what you mostly do, one of these might be a better fit.
Readlang
Free / about $6 per month
Best for: Reading web pages with a browser extension; the most generous free tier for single-word lookups.
The catch: Books are second-class: no real EPUB reader, no grammar.
Language Reactor
Free / about $6 per month
Best for: Netflix and YouTube with dual subtitles.
The catch: Video first; reading is an add-on.
Kindle with a dictionary
Free with a Kindle
Best for: Books you bought on Amazon. One tap gives one dictionary entry.
The catch: No context, no grammar, no flashcards, and your lookups go nowhere.
ttu Reader + Yomitan + Anki
Free
Best for: Japanese learners. Excellent, and well liked in the Japanese learning community.
The catch: Three tools to set up, Japanese only, no equivalent for European languages.
Questions people ask when switching
Can I import my LingQ known words into MnemoRead?
Not yet. Your saved words come from what you tap in MnemoRead, so your known-word list rebuilds as you read. If enough people ask, importing a LingQ export is not a big job.
Does MnemoRead work with Kindle books?
No, and neither does LingQ in any real sense. Kindle purchases carry DRM. Our DRM-free books guide lists where to buy the same titles without it, plus fan fiction and free classics.
Is MnemoRead really free?
Reading your own books is free with daily lookup limits and no account. The paid Reader tier removes the limits and adds audio, phrase cards and sync across devices.
Who makes MnemoRead?
One person, a French speaker who built it to read Japanese novels and then everything else. It has been online since 2025.
Bottom line
LingQ is a language-learning platform that can import text. MnemoRead is an ebook reader with language tools inside it. Pick the one that matches what you do most: listening and browsing, or reading books.
And if it is books, the quickest way to decide is not this page. It is one chapter of your own book, on your phone.