Comparison

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup vs MarginNote 3

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

Enhance your PDF workflow with powerful annotation and markup tools. This app offers a dynamic and intuitive experience for editing, drawing, and adding text to your documents. Access your work across multiple devices and collaborate in real-time.

Highlights
  • Dynamic PDF annotation tools
  • Cross-platform access and cloud sync
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Insert text, images, lines, and shapes
  • Convert images to PDF
  • Redact sensitive information (Pro)
  • Measurement tools (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Powerful PDF tools at your fingertips. The latest PDF technology and software for a better experience. With an intuitive UI designed for delight – there’s a better way to PDF! Do your best work with Drawboard. - Dynamic PDF tools that feel good to use - Multi-platform access and storage. Where you are, your work is. - Paperless. A way of working for a sustainable future TOOLS FOR EVERY JOB Fast, responsive, and accurate markup tools. Draw with best-in-class ink for flawless Apple Pencil hand-feel and finally replace pen and paper. CROSS-PLATFORM ACCESS ON ANY DEVICE Upload your annotated PDFs to the cloud and mark up with others in real time with instant sync. Go Pro in-app for additional storage capacity and advanced features. WORK YOUR WAY Customize your workspace by docking your favorite tools and build a toolbar that works for you! MORE - Text review markup - freehand highlighter, text highlighter, underline, strikeout, squiggly on PDF. - Insert lines and shapes - cloud tool, rectangle, ellipse, line, arrow, polygon and polyline on PDF. - Add text with a range of fonts and text styling options - Insert images and camera photos onto PDFs. - Convert JPG and PNG image files to PDF. - Write, annotate, ink and draw on PDFs. - Customize and edit annotation colors, stroke widths, and opacities. - Create new blank PDF documents of different size, color, orientation and page count. - Insert, rotate and delete PDF pages. - Open, read, mark up and save large and complex PDF documents. GET MORE WITH PRO - Redact text and sections of your PDF documents - Measure elements on your page with length and area measurement tools and smart page calibration - Add callouts, hyperlinks and audio notes to your documents - On-page ruler - measure objects on your page with the ease of using a tape measure

About

MarginNote 3

This app redefines studying by integrating e-reading with powerful annotation, mind mapping, and flashcard tools. Organize knowledge, connect ideas with hashtags, and enhance memory retention through spaced repetition. It offers a seamless workflow across multiple documents and devices.

Highlights
  • Integrated PDF/EPUB reader
  • Advanced annotation tools
  • Mind mapping and outline organization
  • Flashcard creation and Anki export
  • Multi-document support
  • Handwriting and Apple Pencil support
  • OCR for scanned PDFs
Features
Read full description

MarginNote 3, all brand new e-reader to better study and digest your books Integrating powerful tools for book annotation, mindmapping, flashcards and more, to build up your reading notes as never before. ============================================ Welcome to MarginNote. This is a highly powerful reading and study software and is applicable to Mac, iPad, and iPhone. By integrating the PDF/EPUB reader and multiple powerful study tools, MarginNote will enable learners to reorganize and connect knowledge from different aspects, then memorize and grasp it accordingly. Whatever your profession, such as student, educator, researcher, lawyer, or life-long learner, you may annotate and take notes through MarginNote, organize notes via Mindmap and Outline, connect knowledge horizontally via Hashtag and raise memory effect via the Flashcards. You will discover what MarginNote does is not to simply integrate these tools. Instead, it combines them deeply and skillfully, which makes it easier for users to toggle between different tools. What's New in MarginNote 3 * New and Clean UI Completely redesigned. * Improved performance and Running more smoothly * Support both Document Reading mode & Study Reading mode. * Excerpts & Note-taking * Enhanced Handwriting & apple-pencil support. * Support TextBox on PDF. * Support direct text-typing & sketching when editing note cards. * Support Auto OCR when excerpting on scanned PDFs. * Emphasis & Cloze * Support direct emphasis in powerful Emphasis mode both on PDF or Outline. * Support auto convert emphasis to Cloze in CardDeck. * Support creating Image-Occlusion flashcards. * Multi-Documents * Support both document tabs & split views to switch between documents. * MindMap * Auto grouping new excerpts by Document Table of Contents. * Support new brach display mode: Framework. * Swipe/Drag gestures to slide in/out Outline & Documents in Study mode. * Enhanced grouped cut/paste, drag to merge,.. etc. * Outline * Improved search and displaying keywords in results. * Improved styles. * CardDeck: * View Flashcards in MindMap mode and Document mode. * Enhanced Anki Export: Card styles, Image occlusions, Cloze * Enhanced Research web browser. * iCloud Sync * Fixed several design issue in previous versions. * More stable & improved performance. * Categories * Separate categories for Document, Study and Review. * Trash * Recover data from Trash and make data more safe. * Trial * 14-days free trial. MarginNote 2 features: Reading: - Support PDF and EPUB format; Annotating and NoteTaking: - Support text highlight and rectangular highlight; - Add notes directly at the page margin; the note editing area will not overlap with the book content at all; - Text, voice, picture, sketching and many other forms of comments in note; - Add hashtags to notes to facilitate the connection of notes; Outline and Mindmap: - Outline and Mindmap in one view; - Create Outline tree by swipe gestures; - Multi-selection editing such as group, merge, clone, etc; - Quick searching and filtering according to colors, hashtags, books. Flashcard: - Highlights and notes can be automatically turned into flashcards for review; - Spaced repetition adopting the Anki-based algorithm; - Switch to the linking book page at any time; iPad Pro & Apple pencil: - Split View of multiple tasks; - High-precision drawing by Apple pencil; - Fine tuned for Apple pencil; - Keyboard shortcuts; Import, Export and Sync: - Import webpages and notes from Evernote; - Export flashcards to Anki; - Export Outline to OmniOutliner; - Export Mindmap to iThoughts or MindManager; - Export to Evernote; - Export all the margin notes, MindManager, Outline and Pages to a printable PDF; - Sync books & notes with iCloud; Terms of Use: https://www.marginnote.com/press/marginnote-3-term-of-use Privacy Policy: https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/92678020

Screenshots

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup4 screens
MarginNote 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup at weekly against MarginNote 3's every 6 weeks. MarginNote 3's advantage is review sentiment (75% vs 64%) and iOS requirement (11.2 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and MarginNote 3 sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup against 4.7 for MarginNote 3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2K and 5K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 64% of Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup's written reviews are positive against 75% of MarginNote 3's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup ships an update weekly, MarginNote 3 every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup versus MarginNote 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawboard PDF Annotate, MarkupMarginNote 3
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (2K ratings) — better4.7 (5K ratings)
Positive reviews64.2% of reviews74.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2K5K — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.011.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB392 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperDrawboard Pty LtdBeijing Yunsi Software Technology Co., Ltd

Customer experience

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

All ratings1,996 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews316 reviews
Positive64.2%
Neutral12.7%
Negative23.1%

MarginNote 3

All ratings5,043 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral2.6%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews983 reviews
Positive74.6%
Neutral11.5%
Negative13.9%

User reviews

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

From 2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent PDF annotation tools
  • 👍 Convenient cross-platform sync
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 👍 Great for students and professionals
  • 🚀 Smooth writing experience with Apple Pencil

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔒 Cloud storage limitations
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🔍 Missing search and bookmark features
  • 🔧 Inconsistent functionality between platforms

MarginNote 3

From 5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful and efficient for studying and research
  • 👍 Excellent mind mapping and note-taking features
  • 💡 Unique and innovative functionality like video annotation
  • 🚀 Handles large volumes of documents and notes well
  • 👍 Useful for organizing and synthesizing information from multiple sources

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 👎 Steep learning curve and lack of comprehensive documentation
  • 👎 Unreliable cloud syncing between devices
  • 👎 Cluttered and unintuitive user interface in some areas
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches with certain features like handwriting and OCR

Bugs and requests

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Annotations not syncing properly between devices
  • Unexpected loss of work and unsaved changes
  • Scrolling and page navigation issues
  • Compatibility problems with certain PDF files
  • Text input box disappearing after scrolling

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add page flattening and form filling options
  • Improve eraser tool and precision
  • Implement a dark mode
  • Provide better organization and folder support
  • Add more customization options for tools and UI

MarginNote 3

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Syncing issues causing data loss across devices
  • Crashes and freezes when working with large documents
  • Inconsistent behavior with highlighting, erasing, and text formatting
  • OCR not functioning reliably for non-Latin scripts
  • Difficulty managing and organizing large document libraries

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved export options and ability to share projects
  • Better integration with other productivity apps like Anki
  • More customization options for mind maps and annotations
  • Smoother handwriting experience and better palm rejection
  • Support for more file formats like PowerPoint

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup

Subscriptions6
  • Pro Lite7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Pro Plus7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Pro Unlimited7 Days trial$18.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Pro Lite7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Pro Plus7 Days trial$83.901 Year
  • Pro Unlimited7 Days trial$159.991 Year
One-time2
  • Pro Plus$10.00
  • Pro Unlimited$20.00
5 purchases

MarginNote 3

Subscriptions2
  • OCR Pro (Monthly)3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • OCR Pro (Annually)3 Days trial$9.491 Year
One-time3
  • 14 days Free TrialFree
  • Unlock Full$12.99
  • Upgrade to Full$12.99

Questions

Is Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup free?
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MarginNote 3 free?
MarginNote 3 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup or MarginNote 3?
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup is rated higher. Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup averages 4.8 out of 5 from 2K ratings, while MarginNote 3 averages 4.7 from 5K ratings.
Do Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup or MarginNote 3 have ads?
Neither Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup nor MarginNote 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup or MarginNote 3?
Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup ships an update weekly, and MarginNote 3 every 6 weeks. Most recently, Drawboard PDF Annotate, Markup was updated on November 1, 2026 and MarginNote 3 on November 1, 2026.

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