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Browser Extensions · head to head

Mercury Reader vs Night Eye

M

Mercury Reader

Browser Extensions

Clear clutter from articles instantly

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Night Eye logo

Night Eye

Browser Extensions

Dark mode on any website

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Mercury Reader mercury Reader's underlying engine (Postlight Parser) is free open source software licensed under Apache License 2.0, per the GitHub repository, with no paid tier; Night Eye can impact browser performance, especially on older or less powerful devices due to color conversion processing
  • They diverge on capability: Mercury Reader covers Content extraction, Night Eye covers Dark mode.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mercury Reader and Night Eye actually diverge.

Attributes where Mercury Reader and Night Eye differ
AttributeMercury ReaderNight Eye
Pricing modelfreeUnknown
PlatformsChrome, Firefox, EdgeChrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Brave
Founded20152018

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Browser Extensions).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Mercury Reader

  • Content extraction
  • Clean reading view
  • Custom themes
  • Font customization

Only in Night Eye

  • Dark mode
  • Color analysis
  • Image preservation
  • Per-site settings
  • Safari support
  • Opera support

Both cover

  • Chrome support
  • Firefox support
  • Edge support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Mercury Reader

No use cases recorded yet. See the Mercury Reader review.

Night Eye

  • Force a consistent dark mode on websites that don't natively support onenot Mercury Reader
  • Reduce eye strain and blue light exposure during night browsing via a built-in blue-light filternot Mercury Reader
  • Per-site color, brightness, contrast, and saturation customizationnot Mercury Reader
  • Selectively convert only icons/small images rather than full images to preserve visual fidelity in dark modenot Mercury Reader

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Mercury Reader

  • Mercury Reader's underlying engine (Postlight Parser) is free open source software licensed under Apache License 2.0, per the GitHub repository, with no paid tier

Night Eye

  • Can impact browser performance, especially on older or less powerful devices due to color conversion processing
  • Ineffective on web applications with fixed color schemes that cannot be altered
  • Does not work offline or on non-web content
  • Limited customization on websites that have their own built-in dark mode implementation

Pricing, plan by plan

Mercury Reader

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Clutter removal
    • Clean reading
    • Custom themes

Night Eye

Free
  • LiteFree
    • Dark mode on up to 5 websites
    • No ads
  • Pro$9/year
    • Up to 3 browsers
  • Pro Max$14/year
    • Up to 6 browsers
  • Lifetime$40/mo
    • Unlimited browsers
    • Lifetime updates

Which should you pick?

Choose Mercury Reader if

  • You need content extraction.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Chrome, Firefox, Edge.
  • You also want clean reading view.
Mercury Reader review

Choose Night Eye if

  • You need dark mode.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Brave.
  • You also want color analysis.
Night Eye review

Questions people ask

Is Mercury Reader or Night Eye better?
Neither clearly leads. Mercury Reader starts at Free and Night Eye at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mercury Reader or Night Eye?
Mercury Reader starts at Free and Night Eye at Free.
Does Mercury Reader or Night Eye run on more platforms?
Mercury Reader runs on Chrome, Firefox, Edge. Night Eye runs on Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Brave.
Can I use Mercury Reader for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What can Mercury Reader do that Night Eye cannot?
Mercury Reader covers Content extraction, Clean reading view, Custom themes, Font customization. Night Eye covers Dark mode, Color analysis, Image preservation, Per-site settings. Both handle Chrome support, Firefox support, Edge support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Night Eye: What is Night Eye?

Night Eye is a browser extension that applies dark mode to websites by analyzing page colors and converting them into a comfortable dark theme. It preserves photos and videos and offers customization options for brightness, contrast, and blue light filtering.

Source
Night Eye: What is the pricing for Night Eye?

Night Eye Lite is free with dark mode on up to 5 websites. Night Eye Pro costs $9/year for up to 3 browsers, Night Eye Pro Max costs $14/year for up to 6 browsers, and lifetime updates cost $40 for unlimited use across 10 browsers.

Source
Night Eye: Which browsers does Night Eye support?

Night Eye is available for Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Opera, Brave, and other Chromium-based browsers.

Source
Night Eye: Does Night Eye track my browsing?

No. Night Eye does not monitor, process, or store browsing activity. Webpage conversion is performed locally on the user's device. No ads appear in the free Lite version.

Source
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