Paperpile vs Lab.Hacks
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Paperpile
Organize and manage your research papers effortlessly. Collect, read, and annotate PDFs from millions of academic journals. Beat paper chaos with a tidy digital library.
- Search millions of academic papers
- Collect PDFs with one tap
- Organize with folders and labels
- Read and annotate PDFs
- Highlight and add notes
- Browser integration for saving
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Get a head start for you research and finally beat the paper chaos on your desk. With Paperpile you have all your research PDFs in one place — nice and tidy. Paperpile makes it easier than ever to collect, manage, read, and annotate your papers. FIND & COLLECT - Search millions of papers from 20,000+ academic journals right in the app. - Add new papers to your collection with one tap and the PDF will be downloaded automatically. - Save directly from your browser to your Paperpile library - User your university's off-campus proxy access to get restricted content behind paywalls. MANAGE & ORGANIZE - Bring structure to your library with folders and subfolders - Organize your library visually with colored labels - Mark important papers with stars. - Search your library to find the paper you need fast. READ & ANNOTATE - Read like on paper with a fast and slick PDF viewer experience - Highlight important sections in different colors - Add notes and never forget an important idea. - Add hand-drawn annotations - with your fingers or your Apple Pencil The Paperpile App requires a Paperpile account.
Lab.Hacks
This app serves as a laboratory assistant, offering a collection of essential tools, calculators, and guides for students, researchers, and technicians. It simplifies everyday lab tasks with features like dilution calculators, timers, and protocols, all accessible offline.
- Dilution, molarity, and unit conversion calculators
- Smart lab timers
- Quick reference tables
- Step-by-step protocols and guides
- Offline access
- Minimalist design
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Lab.hacks is your ultimate companion for everyday work in the laboratory. Whether you're a student, researcher, or lab technician, Lab.hacks provides you with a growing collection of essential tools, calculators, and practical hacks designed to make your lab life easier. Features: • Handy calculators for dilutions, molarity, unit conversions & more • Smart lab timers and quick reference tables • Step-by-step protocols and how-to guides • Offline access – always available when you need it • Minimalist design for maximum focus • No login required – just open and start using From pipetting shortcuts to buffer recipes – Lab.hacks brings efficiency to your fingertips. Stop wasting time searching for formulas and start working smarter in the lab! Get Lab.hacks now and discover how small tools can make a big difference. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Paperpile at none against Lab.Hacks's 8. Paperpile also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.6). Lab.Hacks's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (96% vs 72%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and device support 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
Both are free to download. Lab.Hacks sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Paperpile asks for nothing beyond the download.
Lab.Hacks holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 129 and 136 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Paperpile's written reviews are positive against 96% of Lab.Hacks's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Paperpile | Lab.Hacks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (129 ratings) | 4.9 (136 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.6% of reviews | 96.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 129 | 136 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 242 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Paperpile LLC | Lab.hacks GmbH |
Customer experience
Paperpile
Lab.Hacks
Bugs and requests
Paperpile
Reported bugs
12 issues- App crashes frequently on iPad and iOS devices
- Highlighting disappears when revisiting papers
- Overlapping annotations delete together when removing one
- Sync failures requiring logout/login cycles
- Annotations not syncing between iPad and web versions
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- PDF metadata recognition failures when adding papers
- Settings reset when returning to previously edited files
- App incompatible with older iOS versions (iOS 12)
- Login authentication errors with university accounts
- App crashes without reliable internet connection
- Search functionality broken after updates
- Annotations not saving/loading on iOS 14.4.2
Requested features
17 requests- Dark mode implementation
- Edit citation metadata on mobile app
- Change PDF file functionality
- Save to downloads feature
- Dictionary/lookup function for reading
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- Cite while you write feature
- BibTeX export capability
- Ability to upload PDFs directly from mobile app
- Support for Safari and other browsers
- Desktop application version
- Shared library access in mobile app
- Advanced sorting options (by title, author, date)
- Custom color options for annotations
- Paste images into PDFs
- Shape snapping for drawing tools
- University email authentication
- Paper rating system beyond stars
Lab.Hacks
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Paperpile
No in-app purchases
Lab.Hacks
- Lab.hacks Ad-free monthly$2.991 Month
- Lab.hacks Ad-free annual$28.991 Year
- Donate 1$$0.99
- Donate 5$$3.99
- Donate 10$$8.99
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- Donate 20$$17.99
- Donate 50$$44.99
- Donate 100$$89.99







