Blinkist vs getAbstract (Updated 2023)

Updated on the 5th of March, 2023

There are several well-known book summary sites out there, but the two most popular are Blinkist and getAbstract. Which one is best for you?

We compare Blinkist vs getAbstract head-to-head to help you decide which is worth your money.

Personally, I use Blinkist every day, but both options are great depending on your situation.

Why should I read book summaries?

Book summaries allow you to gain insight from dozens of different authors in the time that it would take you to read one full book.

You’ll be able to get straight to the key points of every book right away and use that information to enhance your business, improve your life, or simply boost your knowledge of the world.

Blinkist and getAbstract solve a similar problem, but there are small differences in what content they review and how they present their information.

To get the most out of reading book summaries, you should choose the site that matches your personal preferences.

How Does Blinkist Work?

Blinkist is a platform dedicated solely to summaries of popular non-fiction books.

Each summary takes about 15 minutes to read and is accompanied by an audio file of the text.

The summaries are divided into chapters, called “Blinks,” of 200-300 words, or 1-2 minutes of audio.

Whether on a desktop or using the Blinkist app, it’s easy to search by book title or author, or by browsing numerous categories and curated lists.

Once you’ve found a title you like, you can add it to your personal library or send it to your Kindle device.

Once a book is in your library, you will have access to the summary and audio even when offline.

This makes it easy to consume a few Blinks while on a plane or in a subway.

One advantage of the Blink format is that it makes it easy to jump straight to a point that you find interesting.

For example, let’s look at a screenshot from the Blinkist summary of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” By bringing up the summary outline, you can see the title of each individual Blink.

Maybe you already know you have to be proactive and don’t want to read about the first habit, but you’re intrigued by “The second habit: Begin with the end in mind.”

You can read the two Blinks related to the second habit and get all the information you want in just a few minutes.

Every Blink is accompanied by audio. You can find it at the bottom of the screen on your desktop, or at the headphones icon on the top right corner of your phone.

It is very simple to go from reading to listening or to listen along as you read the text.

How Much Does Blinkist Cost?

To access Blinkist, you much purchase the premium plan, which grants access to every single one of Blinkist’s summaries. There are three payment options for the premium plan:

A monthly subscription for $15.99/month.

A yearly subscription for 99.99/year, or $8.34/month.

A group yearly subscription for up to 10 individuals for $549/year. This works out to $54.90/year per person or $4.58/month.

Blinkist does offer a 7-day free trial period which gives you access to all the features of the premium plan. You must provide a credit card to receive the free trial. If you are not suitably impressed by Blinkist, make sure to cancel before the eighth day or your credit card will be charged.

GetAbstract review

GetAbstract has been around since 1999 and has amassed 20,000 summaries of more than 5,000 titles. It has summaries printed in seven languages (English, German, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish), while Blinkist has only English and German.

GetAbstract summaries are presented differently than Blinkist summaries.

The text is in a single, long-form document rather than the short Blinks. GetAbstract gives a list of things “you will learn” and “Take-Aways” at the top, so you get a sense of the book as a whole before diving into the full summary.

Blockquotes from the book are interwoven through the summaries, giving us a better look at the author’s own words than the Blinkist summaries do.

GetAbstract rates each of its title on a 1-10 scale in three categories:

Applicability – How easily can you apply the book’s ideas to your daily business operations?

Innovation – Are the book’s ideas new, or does the book offer new perspectives on existing ideas?

Style – How clear, savvy and concise is the book?

These ratings help you identify the superior books as you scroll through a list of titles. Most books are rated between 6 and 9; this makes sense, as getAbstract is discerning in the books it chooses to review, and will not review books it doesn’t think are useful.

While many getAbstract summaries include audio, others do not. Like the summaries, the audio is not broken up into smaller sections.

We found the Blinkist audio format to be more user-friendly, as it is a lot easier to go back and find a particular section of audio without having to wade through an entire 15-minute file.

How Much Does getAbstract Cost?

The Starter plan is $99/year for online access to all 20,000+ summaries. The $299/year Pro plan allows you to download PDFs, ePubs, and audio, or send summaries to your Kindle.

The Pro plan also includes bonuses like being able to create personal channels and audio playlists.

Students can receive the Starter plan for free and the Pro plan for just $59/year.

You must send a scan of your student ID or another form of student documentation in order to claim eligibility.

For everyone else, you can try getAbstract for one week free. Unlike Blinkist, you do not need to provide a credit card to receive this deal.

Best for Book Selection

Blinkist currently has more than 3,000 titles in a number of categories.

Its focus is on readers looking for advice on improving themselves (Personal Growth & Self-Improvement, Motivation, and Inspiration, Productivity & Time Management) or their careers (Entrepreneurship & Small Business, Corporate Culture, Marketing & Sales).

But it also has many titles for those looking to learn about topics such as Science, History, Philosophy, and Religion.

GetAbstract has a larger selection than Blinkist, currently hosting more than 5,000 titles. Its selection is much more focused on business-related books, with hyper-specific categories such as Customer Relations, Employee Retention, Negotiation, and the Gig Economy.

There are also smaller categories covering Science, Politics, the Environment and Biographies.

Who Wins?

getAbstract has been around a lot longer and has built up the larger library, though Blinkist is doing its best to catch up. Blinkist has a better variety of titles, but for the career-focused reader, getAbstract is the clear winner.

Best for Quick Summaries

Blinkist is designed to be consumed in short “Blinks,” which covers one meaningful element from a book. If you have a minute or two to spare, you’ll be able to listen to or read a Blink, gain insight, and move on with your day.

GetAbstract’s summaries are presented as one whole document or audio file. Its “Take-Aways” section acts as a roadmap of the ensuing summary, but it’s not always easy to find what you’re looking for right away. This is particularly true when you’re using the app, which requires a lot of scrolling.

Who Wins?

It depends on what you’re looking for in a short amount of time.

Those who like to learn piece-by-piece will love the Blinks format. Those who just want a quick overview will prefer the “Take-Aways” section of getAbstract.

Personally, I think Blinkist wins here. 

Best for Long-form Summaries

GetAbstract’s format makes more sense for somebody who wants to read the whole summary in one sitting. Blinkist’s short chapter format can get repetitive, as each Blink ends with a preview of the next Blink.

Overall, though, the summaries are very similar in both length and quality. If you have the time to sit down and concentrate on reading a summary, you will likely glean the same amount of information in the same amount of time.

Who Wins?

You can’t go wrong with either site.

However, the way Blinkist uses their ‘Blinks’ for each book lays out the summaries well, is easy-to-read, and makes it simple to understand complex books in minutes.

Best for Business Owners

Blinkist has a large number of titles that will help readers improve their businesses and their productivity. Business owners can use the yearly group subscription plan to get discounted memberships for their employees in groups of 10.

GetAbstract’s catalogue is specifically designed for business owners and ambitious employees.

Many large corporations, including Deloitte, General Motors, Merck and UBS, offer their employees free access to getAbstract to improve their career skills.

Business owners are asked to contact getAbstract to get rates for its Enterprise plan, which provides full-access for employees and a customized company portal.

Who Wins?

GetAbstract has tools and plans for business owners that Blinkist does not provide.

Most User-friendly

Blinkist and getAbstract are easy-to-use sites that make it easy to find and access the titles you want.

They both have clean designs with no ads. Both have free apps that function smoothly and allow you to send your summaries to your Kindle.

Both even include links to Amazon to buy the books you’re looking at. And both have blog sections that discuss book choices, business ideas, and self-improvement: Blinkist Magazine and getAbstract Life.

Really, these are two well-designed sites that know what users want and what they don’t want. The focus here is the book summaries and that’s the way it should be.

Who Wins?

Blinkist allows you to highlight text that you find particularly informative and keeps a list of all your highlights.

You can also sync your notes up with Evernote if you’re a member. Blinkist also has an audio version of every summary, while getAbstract does not. For these reasons, Blinkist has a slight edge here.

Best Value-for-Money

For $99 a year, Blinkist gives you access to everything the site has to offer. For that same $99 a year, getAbstract gives you online access to all its summaries but does not allow you to download them or send them to Kindle. GetAbstract’s $299/year unlimited plan may be prohibitive for many of you out there.

Who Wins?

Blinkist’s unlimited plan is the best bargain, but getAbstract’s Starter plan is a good deal. However, you’ll be missing out on offline access and other features.

4 Reasons Why GetAbstract Is Better Blinkist 

1. Book summary services, in addition to ebook and audiobook Summaries. GetAbstract offers a unique analysis of the meaning of books as well. 

Additionally, Unlike Blinkist, you can create personal channels based on your personal perspectives. 

You can also share your personal channels, including your favorite summaries with other people. 

2. Business management systems: GetAbstract will provide you with excellent business management systems, including companies’ customer care services. 

In addition, GetAbstract can quickly help you integrate various learning streams into learning management systems. 

3. Large library: you should know that among the various things that makes GetAbstract famous is its large libraries. 

You can get excellent reading summaries in the libraries ranging from your personal preference, business books,  and audiobooks summary. 

4. GetAbstract provides a well-organized learning system; GetAbstract offers excellent enterprise services for big and small business owners.

As a business owner or an enterprise team, there are many business books you can have full access to, including professional development books. 

These books will guide you on how to go about your enterprise plan successfully. 

Additionally, as a bibliophile, you can access a full summary of various books on the GetAbstract app. 

The various book summaries range from personal development books, nonfiction books, personal improvement books, and audiobook summary. 

5 Reasons Why Blinkist Is Better Than GetAbstract

1. On the Blinkist book summary app, there is a free membership forum.

On this forum, as a member, you are entitled to one free summary daily.

2. Extended audiobook summaries; on Blinkist, you can have full access to multiple audiobook summary. 

Almost all books on Blinkist have summaries which is not so in the case of GetAbstract.

3. Awesome book selection; on Blinkist, you can enjoy an extended book summary service ranging from long-form summaries to audio summaries you can finish in just a few minutes. 

4. Blinkist is cost-effective compared to GetAbstract’s cost.

On Blinkist, you can get an affordable subscription plan ranging from a monthly subscription, a yearly subscription as well a group monthly subscription. 

5. Extended Audiobook selection: Blinkist has an extensive audio feature where you can find exciting audiobook summaries on both personal and professional development aspects. 

How Much Does GetAbstract Cost? 

Apart from the free version, GetAbstract has two main plans.

 There is the starter plan and the premium service plan. 

The monthly plan is $29.90, while the premium service plan is $299 annually.

How Much Does Blinkist Cost? 

Blinkist monthly subscription is  $12.99 while it’s $89,99 annually.

You should know that there is a one week free trial attached to its yearly subscription. 

GetAbstract Vs. Blinkist 

Both the GetAbstract and Blinkist popular book summary apps are unique in providing excellent services. 

But, in terms of price, Blinkist cost is more friendly than the GetAbstract apps. 

As much as Blinkist and GetAbstract offer extensive summaries, Blinkist’s summaries are more expanded than GetAbstract summaries. 

Blinkist also has more summaries than GetAbstract because almost all audiobooks have unique summaries. 

Additionally, blinkist employ real people to read the books entirely and write the whole summary of the book read rather than using Artificial intelligence. 

It also features a short cast that typically provides key takeaways into podcasts.

However, when using GetAbstract, you can enjoy all the features of GetAbstract for three days of free trials before purchasing your yearly subscription. 

These features include the audio versions where you can create a unique audio file to add all your audio playlist.

Additionally, by using GetAbstract, you can read summaries and send summaries in up to seven languages. To have this online access, you should contact GetAbstract on their website. 

You can also contact them for other features such as analysis.

However, both GetAbstract and blinlist are cost-effective. But still, Blinkist wins because it offers high-quality services at a lower price.

From blankist comparison to GetAbstract, blankist emerged as a clear winner in terms of the quality of the summary.

Additionally, blankist has other features that can play on many gadgets other than iPhone, Android, and PC.

It can be played on Evernote, kindle, and Alexa which is not so in GetAbstract.

From the GetAbstract review, it emerges as the winner in terms of extensive enterprise services whereas blankist is highly known for offering individual services.

You should know that the main difference between GetAbstract and Blinkist is the size of the library and target customers. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Better Than Blinkist? 

Handbound 3.0, wits .io, and Glose are better alternatives to Blinkist. 

Is Blinkist Subscription Worth It? 

Yes, a Blinkist subscription is worth every penny. You can read summaries in just a few minutes. 

You can even save summaries as well if you want. 

Additionally, It usually highlights the critical key insights from podcasts and key lessons from books to give you a better understanding.

Is GetAbstract Subscription Worth It? 

Yes, it’s worth it. This is because it saves you an ample amount of time during reading. It usually highlights the key points to give you an insight into the meaningful element in the book. This insight usually makes student documentation easier.

Is Blinkist The Best Book Summary App? 

Yes, Blinkist is the best book summary app for non-fiction books. You can have the free mobile version as well as a subscribe to premium plans at an affordable price. 

Which Book Summary Website Is The Best

From blankist review, it ranks as the best summary we site due to many reasons such as;

• It’s cost-effective for an extended and high-quality summary.
• A few key lessons from every book are also highlighted to make readers develop healthier habits.

Final Thoughts

In the battle of Blinkist vs. getAbstract, the winner is … too close to call!

These two sites have many more similarities than differences, and your choice will come down to personal preference.

If you’re purchasing for a large business, I’d recommend getAbstract. However, for everyone else, Blinkist is the wat to go.

I use Blinkist every day and love the service.

We recommend taking the 7-day free trials offered by both sites.

There is no better way to learn which site tends to carry the books you want and which site has the summary format that is best for your style of learning.