I have an odd problem that I've been trying to find a solution to. As an avid fan of RSS feeds, I like to sift through thousands of interesting nuggets of info and headlines every day. However, I'm also trying to reduce my screen time. Moreover, the increasingly algorithm-driven news cycles have made me feel like I'm losing control over the information I consume. Now, most of us newshounds rely on read-it-later services, but these are increasingly ridden with ads, locked behind subscriptions, locked to specific platforms, or, shudder, pivoting to AI-enabled recommendations. Basically, if you, like me, prefer to use an eReader for your reading and prefer a clutter-free long-form experience, these options fall short.

This is where Readeck steps in. This free and open-source project can transform any article from the internet into a distraction-free eBook. It can even transform a collection of articles into an eBook. And it does so with remarkable elegance, stripping out all the extraneous ads and images. You host the app on your own, obviously own the data, and customize it to fit your reading habits. Better still, there are no subscriptions or walled gardens to worry about.

Sounds incredible, right? Here's why I've switched to Readeck, how it works, and why I think it might be the perfect addition to your self-hosted stack.

Turn online articles into eBooks

Quality input, better output

At its core, Readeck is a bookmarking app that strips out all the extraneous cruft that clutters modern web pages. Be it popups, banners, trackers, videos, or just ads, Readeck strips all of it out to leave you with what matters most to you - the article. And it does this remarkably well.

The interface is simple to a fault. You paste a link, Readeck processes it using its built-in algorithms and formatting rules. A few seconds later, you get a perfectly formatted text copy of the article. You'll find links to the original article, of course. Additionally, the app includes standard tools like the ability to highlight text, or add labels. Readeck's near-perfect formatting stands out, in particular. Headlines are correctly styled, and so are paragraphs. This doesn't feel like a janky project, but more like production software. If you prefer more customization, Readeck will let you adjust fonts and font sizes to suit your liking. There's also an accompanying browser extension that lets you add articles to Readeck with one-click. All of which is to say that all the essentials of a great bookmarking service are here and ready for use.

Of course, what we're here for is the eReader support. Readeck allows you to export any article or collection as an ePub, complete with catalog support. This means that you can curate your own list of reading material, long-form reads, features and editorials and have it ready to export as a book on any e-ink or non e-ink reader of your choice. An added benefit here is that your bookmarks are guaranteed to be available to you, offline.

Self-hosting made simple

Works on anything

I'm a big fan of open-source apps that make it incredibly easy to get started. That's the way towards democratizing access and making open-source the norm, not the exception. Readeck is easy to deploy, even for beginners. The project offers a well-documented Docker setup that basically requires one command to install. If you can follow basic instructions and have Docker installed on your computer, Raspberry Pi or NAS, you are good to go.

Readeck also works well with minimal resources. The RAM and CPU requirements are documented, and are low, ensuring that it remains fast even when processing complex pages with loads of cruft.

While I haven't used it yet, Readeck also offers an API. This can be useful for those who want to automate workflows or build on top of Readeck. The API lets you submit links, fetch EPUBs and manage your content programatically, and I can see myself spending a few afternoons building an automated workflow connecting my Inoreader saves with Readeck and an automated workflow to export EPUBs to Calibre. The possibilities are endless here.

Why Readeck matters if you're an avid reader

Whether you use a Kobo with KOReader or a Kindle with Calibre, Readeck conveniently slots into your reading routine. I've previously used Calibre's automated RSS fetch utility, but it never really worked well for me. This does. I now queue up interesting articles during the day and read them offline on my eBook reader in bed. Particularly interesting long-form reads go into their own collection for catching up on long flights.

Essentially, instead of skimming through content, Readeck gives me back the freedom to carefully curate the hose of information and read without distractions, ads, infinite scrolling, at my own pace. Readeck isn't the only bookmarking service in town, but it does enough to differentiate itself, especially if you want to club it with an ebook reader. This one's going to be a mainstay of my self-hosted stack.