Lector
Lector is an open-source language-learning reader that turns imported texts and media into material for reading and practice.
What Lector is
Lector is an open-source language-learning reader that turns imported texts and media into material for reading and practice. It accepts EPUBs, pasted text, and web articles, with clickable word translations and tracking for known, learning, and new vocabulary. Users can import timestamped YouTube transcripts or upload podcasts for transcription and listen-along playback. Cloze practice pairs sentences in frequency order and uses spaced repetition. Words and phrases can be sent to Anki as Basic or Cloze cards, and a beta add-on syncs reviews back. The tutor and writing correction can use the Claude API or a local model; AI translation can fall back to an on-device dictionary. The reader works with any language, while language packs add a frequency-ordered cloze bank and on-device dictionary. For self-hosted use, reading data stays in a server-side SQLite file, and the maker says it collects no app telemetry or account data. The Free plan costs nothing; it does not include podcast imports or managed AI requests, and journal writing is limited to 1,000 words per month.
Good
- Imports EPUBs, web articles, and pasted text
- Supports timestamped YouTube transcripts
- Includes spaced-repetition cloze practice
- Can send mined terms to Anki
- Self-hosted option keeps reading data in SQLite
Watch out
- Free plan excludes podcast import
- Free plan excludes managed AI requests
- Free plan limits journal writing to 1,000 words/month
- Beta Anki add-on syncs reviews back
Who it suits
Lector suits language learners who want to study from books, web text, transcripts, or podcasts and practice vocabulary over time. Self-hosting may suit readers who want data stored on their own hardware and can bring their own AI keys or use a local model.
Verdict
Lector combines imported reading and media with vocabulary tracking, exercises, and Anki export. The free tier has notable limits for podcast imports, managed AI, and journal writing; cloud plans start at $5 per month.
Plans and prices
From Lector's own pricing page, checked 15 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 10 collections · 200 texts · 10 words + 10 phrases/day tap-to-translate · 1,000 AI glosses/month · browser voices · optional own AI key |
| Self-hosted | Free | Every feature · unlimited usage · data stays on your hardware · own LLM keys or local model · community support · $0 forever |
| Cloud | $5 a month | 5,000 managed AI requests/month · 10,000 AI glosses/month · 300,000 voice characters/month · 5 podcast hours/month · 1,000 texts · 5,000 journal words/month · backups, updates, email support · or $50/year — two months free |
| Cloud Plus | $12 a month | 20,000 managed AI requests/month · 50,000 AI glosses/month · 1,500,000 voice characters/month · 15 podcast hours/month · unlimited journal writing, library and phrase length · priority support · early language-pack access · or ~$120/year — two months free |
The facts
Each one read from Lector's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- AI and language tools
- The tutor and writing correction can use the Claude API or a local model, while AI translation can fall back to an on-device dictionary.checked 7 Oct 2026
- AI providers
- Supported optional AI backends include Anthropic Claude and OpenAI-compatible servers such as Ollama, LM Studio and vLLM.checked 15 Oct 2026
- AI tutor and journal
- The built-in tutor answers grammar questions and corrects journal writing with explanations, using Claude or a local model.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Anki
- Lector sends mined words and phrases to Anki as Basic or Cloze cards, and its beta add-on syncs reviews back.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Anki integration
- Lector supports two-way Anki synchronization through its beta Lector Sync add-on, while local self-hosts can use AnkiConnect.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API client generation
- The API documentation gives an OpenAPI Generator command for producing a typed TypeScript fetch client.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API extensibility
- API settings allow provider-key storage for Anthropic or OpenRouter, model selection and OpenAI-compatible endpoint discovery on self-hosted deployments.checked 15 Oct 2026
- API import endpoints
- Documented endpoints import EPUB files, audio, YouTube captions and URL-extracted articles, and expose collection, lesson, progress and statistics operations.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Audio and video
- Users can import YouTube transcripts with timestamps or upload podcasts for transcription and listen-along playback.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Cloud data
- The privacy policy says cloud content is stored to provide the service and may be sent to a translation provider, and says content is not used to train models or sold.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Cloud region
- The homepage says Lector Cloud stores data in AWS us-east-1 and users can export it at any time.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Cloze practice
- Practice uses frequency-ordered Tatoeba sentence pairs with multiple-choice or typed answers and spaced repetition.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- The docs cover installation, environment variables, backups, OIDC multi-user login, Tailscale and HTTPS, reading features, language packs and the REST API.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Independent limit: language-pack gaps
- The Reddit post says Japanese and Korean have dictionaries and reader support but no cloze banks yet.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Independent limit: model dependence
- The Reddit post identifies rich translation, grammar tutoring and journal correction as the only functions requiring a model or API key.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Independent praise: feature parity
- The Reddit author states the cloud and self-hosted versions are the same application without an open-core split or feature separation.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Independent praise: installation
- A Reddit self-hosting post highlights that deployment uses one docker compose command and SQLite without an external database.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Independent praise: privacy
- The same Reddit post praises offline reader, cloze and vocabulary operation, with books remaining on the user's disk and no telemetry.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The documentation lists AnkiConnect, Claude or OpenAI-compatible AI servers, optional Google Cloud Text-to-Speech, and Docker.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Language coverage
- The site lists language packs for 24 languages including Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese-related Greek variants, Latin and others.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Language support
- The reader works with any language, while language packs add a frequency-ordered cloze bank and an on-device dictionary.checked 7 Oct 2026
- License
- The repository licenses Lector under GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0, including the requirement to offer corresponding source for modified network services.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: cloud account language bug
- A GitHub issue documented a July 8, 2026 cloud bug where browser-local language state could leak across accounts and cause setup inconsistencies between browsers.checked 15 Oct 2026
The company
- Company maker
- The product site identifies Luke Boyle as its builder, while his personal site says he is based in regional Australia.checked 15 Oct 2026
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