Help
Last updated 2026-09-03
pnut is a place to read books, mostly classics, with a layer of notes, recaps, definitions and narration around them, and a community of other readers. This page covers the things people ask about most. If it does not answer your question, write to hello@pnut.pub and a person will reply.
Getting in
Anyone 13 or older can create an account at pnut.pub/signup with a name, an email address and a password. We email you a link to confirm the address; nothing works until you open it. If you were invited instead, follow the link in the invitation to set a password. If you have forgotten your password, use Forgot password on the sign-in page and we will email you a reset link.
If a reset link does not arrive within a few minutes, check your spam folder, then email us.
Reading
Your Library holds the books you have added. Open a book to see its cover page, which shows where you left off and lets you jump back in. Your place is saved as you read and follows you between devices and between the website and the iPhone app.
Every book on pnut can be read in the browser for free. Some books also carry the pnut edition: narrated audio, a lexicon of the words worth looking up, and notes alongside the text.
Spoilers. Notes, recaps and character pages are held back until the story has reached the point they describe. You can turn this protection off for a book from its cover page or from the reading menu, and back on again at any time.
Looking a word up. Press and hold a word while reading to see what it means, both in general and in this particular book. Drag to select more and the same toolbar offers to save the passage, add a note, copy it, or share it.
Listening
Books with audio show a Listen option. The narration on pnut is produced by software. The voice was built from recordings of a member of the pnut team, who agreed to it, but the reading you hear is generated, not a person reading each book aloud. The lock screen and your headphone buttons control playback: play, pause, back 15 seconds, forward 30, and previous or next chapter. The full-screen player has a sleep timer that stops the narration after 15 to 60 minutes, or at the end of the chapter. Moving on to the next chapter by itself while the screen is locked can still fail on some devices; we are working on it.
Community
The Community section holds reviews, discussions of passages, and book clubs. You can post your own reviews and join clubs. What you post is visible to other pnut members.
The rules are short: be decent to other readers, do not post anything unlawful, hateful, harassing or sexually explicit, and do not post other people's private information. If you see something that breaks these rules, use Report on the post or on the person's profile, or email us with a link. We remove content that breaks the rules and may close accounts that keep breaking them.
Blocking someone. On a reader's profile, or from the menu on any of their posts, choose Block. You will no longer see anything they post anywhere, and they will not see anything of yours; any follow or friendship between you ends. They are not told. Settings lists everyone you have blocked, with an Unblock button.
Your account
- Change your name. Settings, then your name field.
- Change your email. Email us from the address on the account and tell us the new one.
- Sign out. Settings, at the bottom.
- Delete your account. Settings → Delete my account, on the phone or the desktop. It removes the account and everything attached to it at once. If you would rather we did it, email hello@pnut.pub from the address on the account.
Paying for pnut
The text of a public-domain book is free to read. A book's Premium edition adds the narrated audio, every reading companion, character portraits and setting cards, and looking up a word in the lexicon as you read, and costs one credit. Credits are $5 each, or come every month on the Reader plan: two for $9.99, or four for $15. "Add to Library" on a book's page shows what the Premium edition adds; credits are also sold on the Credits page. Everything you buy is yours to keep.
Your plan, your card and your invoices live behind Manage billing on the Credits page. Pause or cancel there whenever you like; cancelling keeps the credits you have. A book's edition can be refunded from its page as long as you have read or listened to less than five percent of it. A plan can be refunded within 14 days of the first charge by writing to us.
Nothing is sold inside the iPhone app. It shows what you have and sends you to pnut.pub in your browser to buy.
Reporting a problem
Every page has a Report a problem button. It sends us a description of what went wrong, the address of the page you were on, the size of your screen, and, if you choose to attach them, screenshots. Nothing is sent until you press send.
About the words on the screen
The books themselves are the authors' own words. Much of what pnut adds around them, including chapter recaps, pre-reading primers, character and place descriptions, historical setting notes, and the lexicon's definitions, is drafted by software and reviewed by people. We are working to label this material clearly wherever it appears. If something looks wrong, the report button is the fastest way to tell us.
The iPhone app
The pnut app for iPhone is the website in an app. It needs an internet connection to open, and everything you see in it is the same as on pnut.pub. Offline reading is planned. Nothing is sold inside the app; any subscription, when subscriptions exist, is bought on the website and the app simply unlocks it.
Contact
hello@pnut.pub. A person reads it.