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Browser Extensions · head to head

Mercury Reader vs Pear Deck

M

Mercury Reader

Browser Extensions

Clear clutter from articles instantly

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Pear Deck logo

Pear Deck

Learning Management

Interactive presentations that engage every student

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; Pear Deck the Teacher Dashboard, draggable and drawing responses and Reflect and Review require Teacher Premium at $149 per year
  • They diverge on capability: Mercury Reader covers Content extraction, Pear Deck covers Interactive slides.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Mercury Reader and Pear Deck actually diverge.

Attributes where Mercury Reader and Pear Deck differ
AttributeMercury ReaderPear Deck
Pricing modelfreefreemium
PlatformsChrome, Firefox, EdgeWeb, Chrome Extension
CategoryBrowser ExtensionsLearning Management
Founded20152014

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

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
  • Chrome support
  • Firefox support
  • Edge support

Only in Pear Deck

  • Interactive slides
  • Real-time responses
  • Formative assessment
  • Student-paced mode
  • Dashboard
  • Audio responses
  • Drawing
  • Vocabulary

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.

Pear Deck

  • Turning slide decks into interactive lessons with student responsesnot Mercury Reader
  • Running formative checks for understanding during classnot Mercury Reader
  • Student paced review activities and assessmentsnot 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

Pear Deck

  • The Teacher Dashboard, draggable and drawing responses and Reflect and Review require Teacher Premium at $149 per year
  • Pear Assessment Premium is a separate $125 per year purchase from Pear Deck Premium
  • Standards aligned content, district library and efficacy reports are only in the Schools and Districts plan
  • SIS and LMS integration is only in the Schools and Districts plan
  • School and district pricing is by quote with no published rate

Pricing, plan by plan

Mercury Reader

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

Pear Deck

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 5 question types
    • Real-time responses
    • Student-paced mode
  • Premium$149.99/month
    • All question types
    • Audio responses
    • Flashcard factory
  • School/District$undefined/month
    • All Premium
    • Admin dashboard
    • Rostering

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 Pear Deck if

  • You need interactive slides.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome Extension.
  • You also want real-time responses.
Pear Deck review

Questions people ask

Is Mercury Reader or Pear Deck better?
Neither clearly leads. Mercury Reader starts at Free and Pear Deck at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Mercury Reader or Pear Deck?
Mercury Reader starts at Free and Pear Deck at Free.
Does Mercury Reader or Pear Deck run on more platforms?
Mercury Reader runs on Chrome, Firefox, Edge. Pear Deck runs on Web, Chrome Extension.
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 Pear Deck cannot?
Mercury Reader covers Content extraction, Clean reading view, Custom themes, Font customization. Pear Deck covers Interactive slides, Real-time responses, Formative assessment, Student-paced mode.
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Related pages

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