Language Reactor alternative
Language Reactor works on the screen. This works on the page.
Language Reactor turns Netflix and YouTube into a language lesson inside desktop Chrome — for free, and very well. What it does not do is follow you to the sofa with a phone in your hand. Readly is the reading half of the same idea, built as a native iOS app.
Download Readly for iOSFree to start. iPhone and iPad.
The short answer
Stay with Language Reactor if your input is video and your screen is a laptop. Dual subtitles on Netflix and YouTube, a popup dictionary, precise replay controls, Anki export — two million people use it, most of them without paying anything. Nothing on this page replaces that.
Add Readly if you want the same click-for-meaning habit while reading, on a phone, away from a browser. Language Reactor has no iOS app, and its web app in mobile Safari is not the same thing as a reader that holds your place in a novel.
Side by side
| Language Reactor | Readly | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Chrome extension on desktop, plus a web app in the browser. No iOS app | Native iOS app for iPhone and iPad |
| What you learn from | Netflix and YouTube, plus text you import — books and web pages | Books from the library, your own EPUB, or an article you paste |
| Free plan | Generous: dual subtitles and the popup dictionary on Netflix and YouTube | 30 translations per day, with the whole library included |
| Paid plan | Pro unlocks saving words and machine translation. Language Reactor publishes no pricing page we could verify — check inside the app | Premium $6.99/month or $47.99/year |
| How translation runs | On their servers; machine translation on Pro | On the device via Apple Translation, with a server fallback |
| Saved vocabulary | On Pro, with Anki export | Free and automatic, with practice built in |
| Scale | About 2,000,000 users and 4.2 stars on the Chrome Web Store | Newer and much smaller |
| Long-form reading | Possible — text import into the browser reader | The entire purpose of the app |
Checked against languagereactor.com and its Chrome Web Store listing on 24 August 2026. Prices in USD.
A browser extension cannot become a phone app
Language Reactor is a desktop tool by construction: it works by sitting on top of Netflix and YouTube inside Chrome. That is a strength — it borrows content it does not have to license, and the free tier is genuinely free rather than a trial. It is also a hard boundary. There is no iOS app, and reading a novel through a browser extension on a phone is not something anyone does twice.
Readly starts from the opposite end: a native reader on the phone, where most reading actually happens, with the translation appearing inline on the word you tapped. Different device, different half of the day.
The free tier deserves credit
Most apps in this category call a seven-day trial a free plan. Language Reactor does not: subtitles in two languages and a click-for-definition dictionary on Netflix and YouTube cost nothing, and that alone is more than some paid products deliver. Pro adds saving words and machine translation.
Readly's free tier is 30 translations a day with the full library, renewed daily. Premium is $6.99 a month or $47.99 a year. We could not find a public pricing page for Language Reactor Pro to quote against it, so compare inside their app rather than trusting a number from a review site — including ours.
What Language Reactor does better
Where Language Reactor is simply the better tool:
- Video. Netflix and YouTube with synchronised dual subtitles and frame-accurate replay. Readly has no video at all.
- The price of zero. A real free tier used by around two million people, not a countdown to a paywall.
- Anki export. If your review system is already Anki, that export is worth more than any built-in practice screen.
- Desktop ergonomics. Keyboard shortcuts, a big screen, a mouse — video study is simply better there.
- It reads too. Text import handles books and web pages in the browser, so on a laptop it covers part of what Readly does.
These two barely overlap, which is why most people who use both keep both: Language Reactor for evenings with a series, Readly for the book on the commute.
If you use both
There is nothing to migrate — the two do not compete for the same hour. A reasonable split is video on the laptop with Language Reactor, reading on the phone with Readly, and one vocabulary habit rather than two: whichever app you use more, review there and let the other one just be input.
Questions people ask
Does Language Reactor have an iPhone app?
No. Language Reactor is a Chrome extension for desktop plus a web app you open in a browser. There is no native iOS app, which is the main reason people look for an alternative for phone use.
Is Language Reactor free?
Yes, and unusually so: dual subtitles and the popup dictionary work on Netflix and YouTube without paying. A Pro tier adds saving words and machine translation. They do not publish a pricing page we could verify, so check the current price inside the app.
Can I read books with Language Reactor?
Yes — it can import text, including books and web pages, into its browser reader. It is a browser tool, though: on a phone that means a tab, not a reading app that keeps your place.
Can I watch Netflix with Readly?
No. Readly reads books, EPUB files you upload and articles you paste. Video is exactly what Language Reactor is for.
What does Readly cost?
Free for 30 translations a day with the built-in library, or Premium at $6.99 a month or $47.99 a year for unlimited translations, longer phrases and your own EPUB uploads.
Which languages does Readly support?
The languages Apple Translation supports on your device — roughly twenty, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
For the half of the day without a screen in front of you
Keep the series and the extension. Try reading a chapter the same way — tap what you do not know, keep going.
Download Readly for iOSFree to start. iPhone and iPad.
Other comparisons
- Readly vs Readlang — a web reader with a Chrome extension
- Readly vs LingQ — the import-anything power tool
- Readly vs Beelinguapp — parallel text with recorded narration
- Readly vs Lingopie — learning from licensed TV shows