Instapaper Premium costs $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year. The base Instapaper account is free and includes unlimited article saves. Premium is the paid upgrade that adds full-text search, a permanent archive, unlimited notes, and a few reading extras. You can confirm the current numbers on the official Instapaper Premium page.
Last reviewed: June 15, 2026.
The short answer
- Free: $0. Unlimited saves, the core reader, folders, and basic reading.
- Premium: $5.99/month, or $59.99/year if you pay annually.
Paying yearly works out to about $5 a month, so the annual plan is the cheaper route if you already know you want Premium.
Free vs Premium
| Free | Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $5.99/mo or $59.99/yr |
| Article saves | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Reader view | Yes | Yes |
| Full-text search | No (titles only) | Yes |
| Permanent archive | No | Yes |
| Unlimited notes | No | Yes |
| PDF reader | Limited | Yes |
| Text-to-speech (AI voices) | No | Yes |
| Speed reading | No | Yes |
| Kindle integration | No | Yes |
What Premium actually adds
The free tier is genuinely usable. Plenty of people save articles and read them without ever paying. Premium is worth it once your library gets big enough that you need to find things again, or you want to read in ways the free app doesn't support. According to the official Premium page, the upgrade includes:
- Full-text search. The free account only searches titles. Premium searches the full text of everything you saved, which is the main reason to upgrade.
- Permanent archive. Your saved articles stay available even if the original page goes offline.
- PDF reader and unlimited notes. Better handling of PDFs, plus notes and highlights without a cap.
- Text-to-speech with AI voices and speed reading. Listen to articles or move through them faster.
How this compares to Gleamr
If full-text search is the reason you're considering Instapaper Premium, it's worth knowing that Gleamr includes full-text search on the free plan, not just the paid one. Here's the side by side.
| Instapaper | Gleamr | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Unlimited saves, title search | 50 articles, full-text search |
| Paid monthly | $5.99 | $8 |
| Paid yearly | $59.99 | $49.99 |
| Full-text search | Premium only | Free and paid |
| Pocket import | Yes (first tag becomes a folder) | Yes (keeps your tags) |
| Data export | CSV | JSON and HTML |
Instapaper wins on the free tier if you save a lot and rarely need search. Gleamr is the better fit if you want to search everything from day one, keep your tags after a Pocket import, and pull your whole library out as JSON whenever you want. Founder Annual at $49.99/year also lands below Instapaper Premium.
For the longer head to head across more apps, see our Pocket vs Instapaper vs Gleamr comparison.
Is Instapaper Premium worth it?
If you live in the free tier and never miss search, you probably don't need to pay. If you have hundreds of saved articles and keep failing to find the one you want, full-text search alone justifies the $59.99/year. The other extras (PDF reader, notes, text-to-speech) are nice, but search is the deciding factor for most people.
If you'd rather not pay for search at all, that's the gap Gleamr fills. You can see Gleamr pricing or start free with 50 articles and decide from there.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Instapaper Premium cost in 2026?
Instapaper Premium costs $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year. Annual billing is the cheaper option, roughly $5 a month.
Is Instapaper free?
Yes. The base Instapaper account is free and includes unlimited article saves and the reader view. Premium is an optional upgrade.
What does Instapaper Premium add over the free plan?
Premium adds full-text search, a permanent archive, a PDF reader, unlimited notes, text-to-speech with AI voices, and speed reading. Full-text search is the main reason most people upgrade.
Is there a cheaper alternative with full-text search?
Gleamr includes full-text search on its free plan (up to 50 articles) and its Founder Annual plan is $49.99/year, below Instapaper Premium. Instapaper still has the more generous free tier for unlimited saves.
Want full-text search without paying for it? Start free with Gleamr, or compare the plans first.