Compare Weava and GPT Reader: Which Extension is the Best?

Weava Highlighter was once a popular choice, but now it’s filled with ads and has a poor user experience. Better options like Web Highlights do the job better without the hassle.
Transform any text into natural-sounding speech with this free ChatGPT-powered text-to-speech tool. We've tested its capabilities on short articles and lengthy PDFs.
Key Features
  • Web & PDF Highlighting: Easily highlight text on web pages and PDFs using various colors.
  • Annotations: Add detailed notes to your highlights for better reference and organization.
  • Cloud Syncing: Seamlessly access your highlights and notes across multiple devices.
  • Organize with Folders: Structure your highlights with folders and sub-folders for easy retrieval.
  • Citation Creation: Automatically generate citations for your highlighted text, simplifying your research process.
  • Text-to-Speech Conversion: Natural-sounding AI voices powered by ChatGPT
  • Document Support: Handles PDFs, Google Docs, and web content
  • Audio Download: Option to save generated audio for offline listening
  • Playback Controls: Adjustable speed, pause, and rewind functionality
  • Multi-format Support: Works with pasted text, documents, and website content
Our Rating
7.0
9.0
Total users
200,000
9,543
Total ratings
2,728
86
Average rating
4.1 ⭐
4.2 ⭐
Entry Level PriceFreeFree
Chrome
Chrome Web Store logo
4.1
3.01
2.7K+ ratings
200.0K+Users
Chrome Web Store logo
4.5
4.45
67 ratings
8.0K+Users
Edge
-
-
Firefox
-
Mozilla Firefox Add-ons Store logo
3.9
3.83
19 ratings
1.5K+Users
Safari
-
-
Features
8.5

Weava offers basic but functional features like web and PDF highlighting, annotations, and folder organization.

The basic functionalities work great but the lack of innovative or advanced functionalities, especially compared to competitors, limits its appeal.

Top 3 Features of Weava Highlighter

1. Highlight Websites and PDFs

Highlighting text with Weava

Similar to our favorite highlighter Web Highlights, you can highlight text on any website or PDF. Choose different colors to customize your highlights and make important information stand out.

2. Organize Research into Folders

Organize in folders

Weava lets you save your highlights and organize them into folders, making it simple to keep your research organized and find what you need fast.

3. Collaborate with Your Team

Share folders with your co-workers

Weava allows you to share folders with your team, making collaboration on research projects easy. Everyone can add and view highlights and notes all in one place.

9.2

The functional scope of GPT Reader is designed for a wide range of users and demonstrated many useful functions in the test. The voice quality is surprisingly good and offers a natural-sounding output. We particularly liked the comprehensive format support, which seamlessly processes everything from PDFs to web content. The control of the playback is also well implemented, making it easy to adjust the speed directly and individually. However, the function for downloading audio files stood out the most in the test. In theory, entire books can be converted and then downloaded as audio books. However, this was the only area where we had to make deductions, as the free ChatGPT version had limitations when processing longer texts or documents.
We tried to convert a 300-page PDF and were able to process 22% of it, which corresponded to around 2 hours of audio. After this 22%, the free quota of requests on ChatGPT was reached, and the request was canceled.

Performance
7.0

Weava performs adequately when it comes to basic highlighting and syncing. However, the overall performance is marred by the intrusive ads and occasional bugs that make the experience less smooth than it should be.

8.3

The performance tests showed a mixed picture. For shorter texts and paragraphs, GPT Reader processes content quickly and delivers a smooth rendering. The application is fast and reliable for typical use cases such as articles or short documents. Here we tested self-written summaries for learning purposes. However, we encountered significant limitations with larger files, as it is not possible to complete processing due to the limited number of requests. The option of pausing and then resuming would help here. In addition, the process takes a very long time for larger files; the extension needed around 40 minutes for around 75 pages of a PDF. The limitations of the ChatGPT API particularly affect the processing of longer documents such as entire books. This is currently only possible with a premium version of ChatGPT.

Design
6.0

The design is where Weava really struggles. The interface is cluttered with ads, making it not only visually unappealing but also frustrating to use.

Here's a screenshot showing one of their ads taking up nearly half the height of their sidebar:

Ads are covering half of the sidebar

The overall design feels outdated and lacks the intuitive flow found in other tools. This poor design significantly hampers the user experience.

9.0

The design of GPT Reader is clean and professional, with an intuitive layout that makes navigation effortless. The fact that there is even a dark as well as a light mode shows that the different user preferences have been taken into account. The controls are logically arranged and easily accessible. Even though the extension is designed for functionality, the design is not forgotten.

Value for Money
6.8

The free version of Weava offers basic features, and their premium plan at $3.99/month is priced similarly to competitors.

However, given the ads in the free version and the overall user experience, you can find better value in alternatives that provide more features and a cleaner interface for the same or even lower cost.

8.9

Currently, GPT Reader offers a very good price-performance ratio, as all functions are available completely free of charge. We found no hidden costs or unexpected limitations in the free version.
The features should be sufficient for most users; the only thing to note is the limited number of requests per hour that ChatGPT allows. If you need to convert entire books into one, you will need a premium version of ChatGPT.
It should also be mentioned that the extension already indicates that the download function may be offered in a paid version in the future, which could influence this rating in the future.

future premium function

At the moment, however, it is a very good offer in the text-to-speech sector.

Ease of Use
6.5

Weava’s basic highlighting functionality is straightforward, but the poor design and mandatory account creation add unnecessary friction. The ads make navigation cumbersome, and while it’s not difficult to learn, using the tool effectively can be a challenge due to these barriers.

8.7

In terms of user-friendliness, GPT Reader scores very well. Users of all technical levels should have little problem simply converting text to audio. The user interface is self-explanatory, and all functions are displayed immediately.
The only negative point is that a separate ChatGPT registration is still required, and an error message appears if the ChatGPT requests are exceeded, which can lead to confusion.

Security & Privacy
7.0

Weava does take steps to protect user data, and their privacy policy is clear about not selling personal information. However, the requirement to create an account and the potential for data collection through ads could be a concern for privacy-conscious users.

9.7

In our security analysis, GPT Reader showed a strong commitment to protecting user privacy. The extension only collects data from user-reported bugs and feedback. We appreciated the transparent privacy policy, where the user can read specific points.

Conclusion

Weava Highlighter may still be a popular choice, but its current state leaves much to be desired. The overwhelming presence of ads and a clunky design significantly detract from the user experience, making it hard to justify its use when other tools offer a more polished and ad-free environment.

If you’re serious about your productivity, it’s worth exploring alternatives like Web Highlights, which delivers all the benefits of Weava without the downsides.

GPT Reader is a promising text-to-speech extension based on ChatGPT voices. The easy-to-understand voices, combined with the fact that it is completely free, set it apart from conventional TTS tools.

The extension can process various document formats. Both PDFs and copied web articles can be converted, but it has its limitations with longer texts. For example, a 300-page PDF was only partially converted in the text due to ChatGPT's limitations, which still resulted in about 2 hours of audio.

The tool is very user-friendly and supports multiple languages. This extension is a must for anyone who wants to listen to texts.

Our Recommendation

In our comparison between Weava and GPT Reader, GPT Reader came out on top, scoring 9.

Weava is the most widely used, with over 200k users and 3k+ reviews, but GPT Reader outperformed it in our review. User reviews for GPT Reader reflect our findings, while we rate Weava lower than users do.

Notably, GPT Reader has the highest user rating in the Chrome Web Store at 4.24, which supports its strong performance in our review.

There are big differences between these extensions, so it's important to look at the details below to find the best fit for your needs.


  • Looking for the richest feature set? GPT Reader stands out with a rating of 9.2. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 8.5.
  • Need top performance? GPT Reader stands out with a rating of 8.3. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.
  • Design lovers, take note: GPT Reader stands out with a rating of 9. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.
  • Want to get the most for your money? GPT Reader stands out with a rating of 8.9. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.8.
  • If you hate complicated tools, GPT Reader stands out with a rating of 8.7. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.5.
  • With privacy and security becoming ever more important, GPT Reader stands out with a rating of 9.7. On the other hand, Weava lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.

If you want a quick recommendation, GPT Reader is our top pick. But as always, the best choice depends on what matters most to you.