Read books where
your thinking lives.
Octavo is a calm, beautiful EPUB and PDF reader for Obsidian. Every highlight becomes a linked note in your vault — and every note can point back to the exact page.
A reader that feels like a book
Apple-Books calm by default. Every control you'd want, one switch away.
EPUB, PDF and more
EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, CBZ and PDF — on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android.
Highlights are notes
One tap saves a highlight to the book's note as Markdown, with a deep link back to the page. No hidden database.
Your notes, in the margins
Any note that links into a book shows up right in the text. Hover to preview it.
PDF++ links keep working
Switching from PDF++ or Annotator? Your existing links open in Octavo. Importers bring Kindle, KOReader, Readest and more.
Themes & typography
Original, Paper, Calm, Focus, True Black. Fonts, spacing, margins, page turns — and a full-screen focus mode.
A real library
Covers, Continue Reading, shelves and collections — built on your notes, so it works with Bases and search.
Private by design
No telemetry. AI is optional and uses your own key or a local model (Ollama).
Goals, gently
Optional daily goal and a forgiving streak, logged to your daily note. Nothing leaves your device.
Free reader. Optional Cloud.
Octavo is free forever and works fully offline. Octavo Cloud adds hosted services that cost money to run. We will never move a free feature behind a paywall.
Octavo
forever, no account needed
- EPUB & PDF reader, themes, focus mode
- Highlights, notes, links and backlinks
- Library, shelves, collections
- Importers from other readers
- Read-aloud with system voices
- AI with your own key or Ollama
Octavo Cloud Most popular
$3/month, billed yearly
- Cloud Library — keep books outside your vault (great with Obsidian Sync's 5 MB limit), open them on any device
- Send-to-Octavo — email books to your private inbox
- OCR — make scanned PDFs searchable (500 pages/month)
- Natural voices — neural read-aloud (300 min/month)
- KOReader sync for e-readers
Cloud + AI
$7/month, billed yearly
- Everything in Cloud
- Ask & explain passages — no API key needed
- Chapter summaries into your notes
- Highlight flashcards
- Fair-use limits apply
Founder lifetime 200 seats
Octavo Cloud for life (10 GB library), one payment. Thank you for backing an independent reader from day one.
- Buy here with card, Apple Pay or PayPal.
- Install Octavo in Obsidian (free).
- Sign in under Settings → Octavo with the email you paid with. Done.
Paying with M-Pesa? Choose a yearly plan inside Obsidian under Settings → Octavo. Prices in USD; local taxes may apply. Payments by Lemon Squeezy, our Merchant of Record. Refunds.
Questions
Is Octavo really free?
Yes. The reader and everything that runs on your device is free and stays free. Octavo Cloud pays for servers, storage, OCR and voices.
Where are my highlights stored?
In your vault, as plain Markdown in each book's note. Cancel Cloud or uninstall Octavo and they're still yours.
Does Octavo collect data about my reading?
No. The plugin sends nothing unless you use a Cloud feature or an AI provider you configured. See our Privacy Policy.
Can I cancel any time?
Yes, from your account. You keep access until the end of the period you paid for. See Refunds.
Which payment methods?
Cards and PayPal worldwide (processed by Lemon Squeezy, our reseller and Merchant of Record), and M-Pesa in Kenya (via Paystack).
Get Octavo
Free, in Obsidian's community plugins. Desktop, iPhone, iPad and Android.
Install
Obsidian → Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search “Octavo” → Install → Enable.
Open a book
Drop an EPUB or PDF into your vault, or run “Octavo: Open library”.
Cloud (optional)
Settings → Octavo → Octavo Cloud → Sign in. Bought on this site? Use the same email.