Read the article.
Not the chaos around it.
One click removes distracting page clutter from many articles and presents a cleaner reading view. PureRead is designed to keep your reading activity out of PureRead servers.
Three steps to a cleaner read
No configuration, no accounts, no learning curve. Works on the first try.
Install PureRead
Add PureRead from the Chrome Web Store in seconds. No account required, no email, no tracking. Just click "Add to Chrome."
Navigate to any article
PureRead automatically detects article pages. The extension icon turns yellow when reader mode is available — no guesswork.
Click or press Alt+R
Instant full-page clean reading view. Ads, popups, nav bars, and sidebars are gone. Your chosen font, theme, and spacing snap into place.
Free features, no strings attached
The full reading experience comes free. Premium adds sync and extras — not gates.
Full-page reader mode
One click transforms any cluttered article into a focused, full-page reading view — not a cramped side panel. The whole screen is yours.
Auto article detection
The icon turns yellow automatically when reader mode can help. No need to guess — PureRead tells you when it's ready.
Light, dark, and sepia themes
Three reading themes — warm sepia, clean light, and true dark — synced across all your Chrome devices automatically.
Dyslexia-friendly fonts
System, Serif, OpenDyslexic (designed specifically for dyslexic readers), and Atkinson Hyperlegible. Adjustable size and line spacing.
Reading width control
Comfortable, wide, or full — choose the line length that feels right for your eyes. Your settings persist across sessions.
Progress bar & time estimate
A slim yellow bar tracks your scroll position. A reading time estimate up top helps you decide if now is the right moment.
Keyboard shortcuts
Alt+R to toggle reader mode, Alt+S for settings. Keep your hands on the keyboard.
Print-friendly output
Ctrl+P prints only the article — clean, without ads or nav bars cluttering the page. Saves ink too.
Basic highlights
Select any text and press H to highlight. Highlights are saved locally to your device — no account needed.
Copy clean text
One click copies the full article text — stripped of HTML, ads, and formatting junk. Ready to paste into your notes, docs, or AI chat.
The reader mode designed to keep your reading private
Every design decision makes data collection structurally impossible — not just against our policy.
In December 2024, readermode.io — one of the most popular Chrome reader extensions — was caught serving malware to its 2.6 million users. Browsing history was being exfiltrated silently. Users had no warning.
We built PureRead specifically in response. The difference isn't just a privacy policy you have to trust. It's architecture you can verify: no host permissions, no analytics, and no outbound API calls to PureRead servers.
activeTab only
PureRead activates only when you explicitly click the icon. It cannot read any page you haven't consciously opened — including every other tab, window, and background page.
Zero network requests
No telemetry, no analytics, no update pings, no font fetching, no CDN calls. The Content Security Policy enforces this at the browser level.
Transparency
The privacy model is straightforward to verify in the product itself. You can inspect the extension permissions, storage usage, and network activity instead of relying on marketing claims.
Free forever. Upgrade when you want more.
The full reading experience is free — no trial, no expiry. Premium adds power-user features.
- One-click full-page reader mode
- Auto article detection (yellow badge)
- Light, dark, and sepia themes
- 4 font choices incl. OpenDyslexic
- Font size, line spacing & width control
- Reading progress bar & time estimate
- Keyboard shortcuts (Alt+R, Alt+S)
- Print-friendly output
- Basic local highlights (press H)
- Copy clean article text
- Everything in Free
- Highlights & notes synced across devices
- Text-to-speech with natural voices
- Export to Kindle, PDF, and Markdown
- Custom CSS themes — fully customize your reading view
- Reading statistics & streaks
- Priority support
Cancel anytime. Billed via Chrome Web Store.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know before installing.
Does PureRead work on all websites?
PureRead works on the vast majority of article and blog pages. It uses Mozilla's Readability.js — the same engine that powers Firefox Reader View — to extract the main content from any HTML page.
Some pages don't work well with reader mode: highly interactive web apps, pages that load content entirely via JavaScript after the fact, paywalled content that doesn't render HTML in the browser, or pages that aren't article-format text. When PureRead can't detect a readable article, the icon stays grey and doesn't activate.
Why does PureRead only ask for activeTab permission?
Most Chrome extensions request host_permissions like <all_urls>, which means they can read every page you visit — including your bank, your email, your private documents — silently and in the background.
PureRead requests only activeTab, which gives it access to the current page only when you explicitly click the icon. It cannot read any other tab in the background. This is an intentional architectural choice to minimize access to your browsing activity.
Is PureRead really free? What's the catch?
Yes, the full core reading experience is free with no time limit. We do not sell personal data from the extension, and we do not show ads in the extension.
We sustain development through voluntary Premium subscriptions ($2.99/mo or $24.99/yr) for users who want cross-device sync, text-to-speech, and export features. If you love the free version and never upgrade, that's completely fine.
What happened to Mercury Reader and readermode.io?
Mercury Reader was a beloved, privacy-respecting reader mode extension that was discontinued after its parent company Postlight was acquired. It left millions of users without a good alternative.
Readermode.io was one of the most popular replacements — until December 2024, when it was discovered to be serving malware that exfiltrated users' browsing history to third-party servers. Over 2.6 million users were affected before it was removed from the Chrome Web Store.
PureRead was built directly in response to that incident. We designed the extension to minimize permissions, avoid outbound API calls to PureRead servers, and keep reading activity out of PureRead's backend infrastructure.
Does PureRead collect any data?
The extension is designed not to send your reading activity to PureRead servers. It uses limited permissions, stores preferences in Chrome-managed storage, and its extension pages enforce connect-src 'none'.
Your reading preferences are stored in Chrome's storage API on your device. If you enable Chrome Sync, Google may sync those preferences between your devices, and PureRead's servers are not involved in that sync.
Can I use PureRead offline?
Most PureRead functionality works offline once the page is already loaded. The extension bundles its fonts locally and does not rely on PureRead-hosted APIs for reader mode.
How is PureRead different from Chrome's built-in Reading Mode?
Chrome's built-in Reading Mode (added in Chrome 121) opens a side panel beside the original page, which means ads and tracking scripts on the original page continue running. It has limited font and theme options and no keyboard shortcut by default.
PureRead replaces the entire page with a clean view — ads and scripts stop loading. It offers more reading customization options (4 fonts including OpenDyslexic, reading width control, sepia theme), local highlights, a reading progress bar, copy-clean-text, print-friendly output, and keyboard shortcuts out of the box.
Contact us
Questions, feedback, bug reports, or partnership ideas. Send a note and it will go straight to the PureRead team at Logic Fusion, LLC.
Prefer email directly? product@logicfusion.net