Blinkist vs. getAbstract: Which is a Better Book Summary App?

Some of the most successful people in history and in our modern times have been avid readers– Warren Buffett is said to have read 600 to 1000 pages every day in the earliest stages of his career, while Bill Gates has stated that "reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding."

While Buffett suggests that knowledge is like compound interest and we should read 500 pages every day if we truly want to be successful, the truth is that most of us simply don't have the time.

What if you could seriously speed up how quickly you get through a book, though? What if you could access the most pressing points of essential texts in your field in a fraction of the time? Over time, what impact would that have on your professional and personal life?

In this article, we will look at two of the most popular tools for book summaries– Blinkest and getAbstract.

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Blinkist vs. getAbstract: Which Is a Better App?

There are a lot of different factors to weigh out when choosing the right book summary app.

In general, Blinkist is a better budget-friendly option for people who are looking to listen to and read summaries across a wide variety of genres, while getAbstract is more suitable for individuals who are specifically interested in growing their knowledge base for professional purposes.

Primary Audience

One of the first factors to consider when choosing a book summary app is its primary audience. Blinkist caters to a broad audience, offering summaries of books across various genres, including self-help, business, science, and more. Its diverse collection aims to appeal to a wide range of readers, making it suitable for those with varied interests.

On the other hand, getAbstract has a more specialized focus. It primarily targets business professionals and individuals seeking content related to leadership, career development, and industry-specific insights. If you're looking for business-oriented summaries, getAbstract may be the preferred choice.

If your primary goal in choosing a book summary app is to access knowledge that will help you grow your business, improve your brand, and find new ways to motivate and train your employees, getAbstract will likely be the better choice. However, if you have more diverse interests that you want to feed through book summaries, you might find Blinkist more suitable.

Size of Summary Collection

Another important consideration when selecting the right book summary app is the size of the collection you'll have access to.

As of the summer of 2023, Blinkest offers more than 6,500 book summaries. The titles summarized through this app cover the gamut of genres and categories– you can find everything from business to parenting, religion to science, and career to philosophy on this app.

Using Blinkist, you can choose to either read summaries or you can listen to them. When you select a book in your library, a brief overview will pop up in addition to the option to either listen to it or read it. Blinkest refers to pages as "blinks,' and the first blink when you select "read" will give you an overview of what you will get out of the summary.

If you choose to listen to the summary, the audio player will pop up and play the blinks one after the other until the summary is complete. You can even hit the autoplay button to listen to all of the book summaries stored in your library one after the other.

GetAbstract, on the other hand, has more than 5,000 summaries available to users with the Starter subscription and more than 25,000 available to those with the Pro subscription. When it comes to audio summaries, there are more than 17,000 available on getAbstract. If the text you want to listen to isn't available in a professionally recorded audio summary, they suggest using the text-to-speech function on your mobile device to listen to a summary rather than read it.

Depth and Quality of Summaries

GetAbstract undoubtedly has more summaries available than Blinkist. However, the summaries available on Blinkist are more thorough and in-depth than those on getAbstract.

Depending on whether you are looking for access to more summaries or deeper dives into your books of interest, one of these apps might be more suitable for you.

Personalized Experience

When you use Blinkist, you simply have to find the texts you want to read or listen to the summaries.

GetAbstract is a bit more advanced, using your likes, ratings, and even comments to make personalized suggestions about what to read next. 

Book summary apps can be an excellent way to learn more in less time. To further aid your quest for knowledge, check out our What's My Learning Style course and our Learning Styles Questionnaire.

Types of Summaries

There are also some significant differences between the types of summaries available through these apps. Blinkest covers a vast spectrum of genres and categories, including business, personal growth, history, parenting, science, relationships, psychology, health, philosophy, and much more.

That makes Blinkist great for anyone trying to expand their knowledge in a wide range of areas. At the same time, if you're looking for more niche and specialized summaries in the world of entrepreneurship, business, career, management, leadership, and productivity, getAbstract has much more to offer than Blinkist.

Cost of Subscription

Of course, cost is going to factor into your decision as well. Blinkest costs $12.99 per month, but buying a full year's worth of summary access will give you a 50% discount. There are also promo codes available that can help you reduce the expense even further.

Unlike getAbstract, Blinkest does offer a free version of their app. Through the free version, however, you only get access to one free blink each day, which is a book summary that is pre-selected for you.

For getAbstract, there are two main plans: the Starter Plan and the Pro Plan.

Signing up for the Starter Plan costs $99 per year. The Pro Plan costs an extra two hundred dollars at $299 a year. At this price point, the Starter Pack is a bit more expensive than Blinkist.

With the starter plan, you can access more than 5,000 book summaries. Some topics won't be available to you, as well as some features, such as downloading for offline use, creating a playlist, creating personal channels, and sending a summary to your Kindle.

When you scale up to the Pro Plan, you suddenly have more than 20,000 more summaries to choose from. All of the topics are available using this plan to be used for both personal and professional development.

Going with the Pro Plan also unlocks all of the app's features. If your primary goal is to have access to the most extensive collection of book summaries possible, this is the route you'll want to take.

There is also an Enterprise Plan available, which could be great if you want to offer your employees access to a book summary app to help their career development and engagement. Choosing the Enterprise Plan gives you a customized company portal, a dedicated earning consultant, API access, and more. If you're buying a getAbstract subscription for your company, you'll have to contact them for a quote.

There are two other options for getAbstract subscription plans: the student and gift plans. For the former, students can get a deal by selecting either the starter or the pro plan. If you want to give someone you know the gift of knowledge, you can use the gift plan, which matches the prices of the starter and pro plans.

User Experience

The audio quality available on Blinkist is slightly higher than the audio quality of getAbstract. Furthermore, the user experience of Blinkist is a bit more intuitive and has a more natural flow.

When you use Blinkist, you'll find that the app loads fast, and the design is minimalistic and easy to understand. It also seamlessly syncs between all of your different devices, meaning it's simple to keep listening wherever you last left off.

The minimalistic design seems to have been purposefully crafted to help you save time. You aren't overwhelmed with options at any point in the user experience– in general, they are typically trying to steer you toward either reading or listening to a book summary.

GetAbstract is also super easy to use and navigate. The interface is simple enough that you don't feel like you're getting lost in the weeds. Anyone comfortable regularly using a desktop or mobile device will likely catch on quickly.

Why You Might Choose Blinkist Over getAbstract

If you're looking for a broad range of book summaries across different genres, including self-help, science, and more, and prefer shorter summaries, Blinkist might be the better choice.

Offering concise and quick summaries that are usually around fifteen minutes long, Blinkist is an excellent tool for getting thousands of popular titles' main ideas and key takeaways.

If you're concerned about the cost of your book summary app, Blinkest beats out getAbstract. At the same time, if you're primarily interested in professional and business development, it might be worth the extra expense of signing up for the Pro version of getAbstract.

Why You Might Choose getAbstract Over Blinkist

Are you looking for a book summary app to help you access a huge span of knowledge about leadership, business, entrepreneurship, and professional development? If so, it might be worth taking on the extra cost of getAbstract. Furthermore, if you're interested in investing in your employees to help them become more effective workers and advance their careers, this is likely the better option.

If you have a strong interest in business-related content, are looking for professional development resources, and are willing to pay more for a subscription that gives you access to more titles, getAbstract might be more suitable.

GetAbstract, in many ways, is like a one-stop knowledge hub. This is where you can find many different resources in one easy-to-use platform. Furthermore, you can access content from experts and thought leaders in various industries, letting you dive way deeper into specific topics than Blinkist.

Are you ready to invest in your own development as a leader and professional? If so, make sure you check out our What's My Communication Style and our Emotional Intelligence customizable courses.

Expanding Your Knowledge Through Book Summaries and Courses

If you don't have time to read 500 pages a day as Warren Buffett suggests (and, really, who does?), book summary apps can be an excellent way to expand your knowledge and continue learning throughout your life and career. Whether you choose to read the text summaries on either Blinkest or getAbstract while you drink your morning coffee or you listen to the audio versions during your daily commute, it's truly remarkable how much you can learn when you're accessing the condensed wisdom of countless texts.

For professionals concerned with leadership, business, entrepreneurship, and professional development, getAbstract is likely the better choice. Furthermore, if you want to give your employees the gift of knowledge, getAbstract is far more suitable using its Enterprise Plan.

At the same time, there are some strong arguments in favor of Blinkist, particularly for individuals wanting access to information and knowledge that expands beyond the business and professional world. If you see your investment in a book summary app as an essential tool you can use in both your professional and personal growth, Blinkest could potentially be the right choice.

In our modern world, we are lucky to have easy access to countless different resources. At the same time, every time we engage with any one book or course, there is an opportunity cost. That's why book summary apps can be so powerful– we can take in more knowledge in significantly less time.

If you're interested in further developing your leadership skills, we want to direct your attention to our What's My Leadership Style course. In conjunction with your new access to countless books about leadership, you can use this course to identify your personal leadership style.

Do you have any questions about Blinkist, getAbstract, or which one you should use? If so, please feel free to let us know in the comments section down below, and we'll get back to you within a day or two! We do our best to ensure that every comment receives a reply in a timely manner, and we'd be more than happy to assist you however we can. 

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What's My Leadership Style

• Identify personal leadership styles
• Capitalize on style strengths
• Minimize style trouble spots

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