A Reader Mode alternative for when the reading tools stop working.
If Reader Mode started crashing your tabs, the official bolding extension does nothing when you click it, or your ADHD reading extension wants $29 a year and never answers support, here is the honest comparison. ReadFocus bolds the start of each word, gives you a reading ruler and paragraph focus, runs only in your browser on the sites you choose, and costs nothing or $12 once — never a subscription.
Add to Chrome Add to Firefox Free to install. Also works in Edge from the Chrome Web Store.
Side by side
| ReadFocus | Reader Mode | The official bolding extension | ADHD Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it does to the page | Keeps the page as it is and adds bold word starts, a ruler, paragraph focus, bigger text and dyslexia-friendly fonts | Replaces the page with a stripped-down reader view | Opens a reader view with bolded word starts, one page at a time | Keeps the page and applies one of its emphasis modes |
| Price | Free; $12 once to unlock everything | Free tier; paid Premium (reviews mention a lifetime promo) | Free | Free tier; Pro $29 a year or $59 lifetime |
| Account or sign-in | No — settings live in your browser's extension storage | Not shown on the listing | No | Not shown on the listing |
| Where it runs | Only on sites you switch it on for (asked once per site), then automatically | Every page you open it on | Has to be started again on every page, from the extensions menu | Per-site auto-apply is a Pro feature |
| Chrome Web Store rating, September 2026 | New — listed September 2026, no ratings yet | 3.1 ★ from 186 ratings, 100,000 users | 2.4 ★ from 316 ratings, 100,000 users | 4.2 ★ from 5 ratings, 604 users |
| Last update | September 2026 | November 2025 | June 2024 | February 2026 |
| What recent reviews report | — | Tab crashes (STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION), pages that stop responding, a lifetime promo bought for a feature that was not there | "No instructions and doesn't work"; nothing happens on click | "Doesn't do anything, and the developers don't respond" |
| Reading ruler | Yes, free (Alt+Shift+R) | Not shown on the listing | No | Not shown on the listing |
| How much of each word is bold | Light, medium or heavy free; precise strength with the unlock | Not shown on the listing | Fixed | Three modes free; typography controls in Pro |
| PDF files | Not yet | Not shown on the listing | Reviews report it does not work on PDFs | Not shown on the listing |
| Google Docs | No (Docs draws its text as graphics, so no extension of this kind can) | Not shown on the listing | Reviews report it does not work in Google Docs | Not shown on the listing |
| Cancelling | Nothing to cancel; 14-day refund on the unlock | Depends on the Premium plan you bought | Nothing to cancel | Yearly plan renews; lifetime is one payment |
Rival facts as shown on their Chrome Web Store listings and reviews in September 2026; "not shown on the listing" means we could not confirm it either way. Tell us at info@gankdat.com if something here is out of date and we will fix it.
About Reader Mode
Reader Mode is the first result for its own name and has 100,000 users, which is why so many people land on it. Its listing was last updated in November 2025 and the recent reviews describe the same things: a STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION crash in Chrome that stops when the extension is disabled, sites whose buttons stop working while it is installed, a welcome page that never loads, and a lifetime promo bought for a feature that turned out not to exist. If you liked its clean-text view, Chrome's own built-in reader does that part well. What ReadFocus adds is the reading help on the page you are actually on — bolded word starts, a ruler, one paragraph at a time — without replacing the page or crashing it.
About the official bolding extension
The company that trademarked the technique publishes its own Chrome extension. It has 100,000 users and a 2.4-star rating from 316 reviews; the listing has not been updated since June 2024. The pattern in the reviews is not that the idea is bad — the people who got it working love it — but that nothing happens when you click, there are no instructions, it has to be started again on every single page, and it does not work on PDFs or Google Docs. ReadFocus switches on once per site and stays on, handles new text as it loads in feeds and forums, and never touches a text box you are typing in.
About ADHD Reading
ADHD Reading is the polished newcomer: local-first, a free tier with three emphasis modes, and Pro at $29 a year or $59 lifetime for typography controls, per-site auto-apply and profiles. It is a fair product and we would not talk you out of it. The differences are price and shape: ReadFocus gives you per-site auto-apply and three bolding presets for free, and the whole of the rest — precise strength, paragraph focus, the fonts — for $12 once, with a 14-day refund and an address that answers.
If you came here for a reading ruler
The free ruler extensions are small and well liked, and almost every top review of them asks for the same thing: PDF support. ReadFocus's ruler is free too, follows the mouse, toggles with a shortcut and can be combined with the bolding and paragraph focus. It does not work in PDF files yet either; that is the next thing on the list, and we will not sell it before it ships.
What ReadFocus does not do
- No PDF files yet. It works on web pages.
- No Google Docs. Docs draws its text as graphics rather than page text, so no extension of this kind can bold it; we say so rather than list it as a feature.
- No text-to-speech. If you want a full suite with a reader voice, Helperbird is a well-maintained one at $30 a year; ReadFocus is the small, one-payment tool.
- It asks once per site before it runs there. That is what keeps it from reading pages you never asked it to.
Free, forever
- Bold word starts — light, medium or heavy
- Reading ruler (Alt+Shift+R) and a per-site switch (Alt+Shift+F)
- Reading text up to 150% bigger without touching the page's own menus
- Works on articles, docs, forums and infinite-scroll feeds; never touches text you edit
Unlock — $12, once
- Precise bold strength
- Paragraph focus — everything but the paragraph you are on is dimmed
- OpenDyslexic and Atkinson Hyperlegible fonts
- One key for every browser you sign in to; works offline; 14-day refund, no questions asked
Get your key — $12, once
Sold by our merchant of record (Stripe), which charges the right VAT for your country and
emails the key within a minute. Install the extension first, then paste the key.
More on the ReadFocus page · read the privacy policy.