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Headway Sucks — 16,704 1-Star Reviews

Before you buy the Headway 15-minute book summary app, read real experiences and see why over 16,704 people left 1-star reviews.

Read this first

Steer clear of HEADWAY. This app is unethical. Their business model is based on getting free trial customers' money whether they got value out of the app or not. $150 a year! If I used the app, I would happily pay for it. I did not use it and was still charged and unable to get a refund. Scroll through their Google Play reviews and see this is what the majority of the 1-star reviews complain about. Shouldn't a company aspiring to help users “become the best versions of themselves” have some kind of integrity?

Screenshots / Evidence

User review complaining about difficulty cancelling the Headway free trial and being charged for a yearly subscription.
Multiple 1-star reviews describe difficulty cancelling during the trial and unexpected charges.

I did not comment on the quality of the book summaries as I did not use it long enough to make a judgement. However this tells you all you need to know:

User review explaining that Headway book summaries are AI generated and often miss important concepts, and that AI audio narration is poor quality.
Criticism of AI-generated summaries and narration, and the lack of human quality control.

Still want to buy it?

If after all that you still want to buy the app, then follow this advice to get it cheaper:

  • Decline the first price (often $150/year). Wait for the discounted pop-up offers.
  • Compare any in-app price with public promos or app-store pricing before you subscribe.
  • Set a calendar reminder to cancel before the trial ends if you’re just testing.
User review describing price shown as $150 per year with aggressive discount popups down to $78 and then $50.
Pricing pop-ups and large yearly fee complaints.

Latest 1-Star Reviews

Here’s a recent example from Google Play. Many more like this can be found by sorting the app’s reviews by rating.

Screenshot of a recent 1-star review of the Headway book summary app from Google Play.
Recent 1-star review describing the user’s negative experience with the app.