# Storyteller

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/storyteller/

9 people recommended Storyteller in Hacker News comments and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 9 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free, self-hosted tool that aligns ebooks with audiobooks so you can read and listen in sync, with your position synced across devices.

Summary written by Claude from 21 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 19 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Syncs reading position across devices (3 comments in the sample): "Storyteller works great for this. It even syncs your position across devices." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49498664)) "I run Storyteller on it and it syncs position to my storyteller server" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48998057)) "sync your progress to a Storyteller server" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49099167))
- Switch between reading and listening (3 comments in the sample): "it's really nice to be able to switch back & forth from reading to listening" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49503948)) "You can even set different playback speeds for readaloud vs listening" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49429000)) "being able to see the text usually makes it easier to listen faster!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49499990))
- Creates EPUB3 read-along audio files (3 comments in the sample): "It aligns ebooks with audiobooks to create EPUB3s with media overlays so you can do immersive reading." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49428995)) "there’s some great existing software to create EPUB3 files with the audiobook aligned with text" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47345960)) "That is actually the exact use case that I originally built Storyteller for!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49498576))
- Runs on e-readers like Boox (2 comments in the sample): "I contribute to Storyteller in my free time and I absolutely love using my Boox with it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49001309)) "I run Storyteller on it instead of the native e-reader." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48535923))

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Storyteller", https://hackerapproved.com/p/storyteller/ (9 recommend, 0 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.