Comparison

Paperpile vs Rayyan

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Rayyan

This app streamlines systematic literature reviews for researchers, enabling quick article screening and decision-making on mobile devices. It supports offline work and real-time collaboration, significantly reducing review time.

Highlights
  • Offline article screening
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Quick inclusion decisions
  • Reference labeling
  • Article filtering
  • Configurable settings
Features
Read full description

The Most Advanced Systematic Literature Review App If you conduct research, Rayyan is the app for you. It accelerates systematic literature reviews in support of all types of evidence-based research. Developed by researchers, for researchers, Rayyan offers a quick and easy way to screen articles on the go, and it even works offline! Key Features: - Work online for real-time collaboration. - Download your reviews to work on the go or offline. - Swipe left or right to make inclusion decisions quickly. - Label references by selecting or adding labels. - Filter references with the touch of a button. - Configure and save your settings to work however you like. Save Your Valuable Time, Reduce Your Frustration, and Increase Your Productivity Rayyan is designed to guide you through article screening by enabling quick decisions and label applications on each article. You won’t believe how easy it is to use! Researchers report reducing the time spent on their reviews by 50%-80% or more using Rayyan. Enjoying real-time collaboration with fellow researchers has never been easier. Rayyan records every decision for you. The app even functions when you’re offline, so you can always rely on Rayyan to make the most of your valuable time. We welcome your feedback about the app. You can contact us anytime via email at support@rayyan.ai or on Twitter @rayyanapp. Terms of Use: https://www.rayyan.ai/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://www.rayyan.ai/privacy_policy/

Screenshots

Paperpile3 screens
Rayyan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Paperpile at 4.5 against Rayyan's 3.8. Paperpile also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 14) and review sentiment (72% vs 37%). Rayyan's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rayyan sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Paperpile asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Paperpile holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Paperpile has 129 ratings behind it against 23, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Paperpile's written reviews are positive against 37% of Rayyan's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paperpile ships an update every 2 months, Rayyan every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Paperpile versus Rayyan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaperpileRayyan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (129 ratings) — better3.8 (23 ratings)
Positive reviews71.6% of reviews — better37.1% of reviews
Number of ratings129 — better23
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size242 MB36 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperPaperpile LLCRayyan Systems, Inc.

Customer experience

Paperpile

All ratings129 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral3.9%
Negative9.3%
Written reviews81 reviews
Positive71.6%
Neutral4.9%
Negative23.5%

Rayyan

All ratings23 ratings
Positive73.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative26.1%
Written reviews35 reviews
Positive37.1%
Neutral14.3%
Negative48.6%

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
Show 7 more
  • 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
Show 12 more
  • 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

Rayyan

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Paperpile

No in-app purchases

13 purchases

Rayyan

Subscriptions13
  • Student Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Professional Monthly$14.991 Month
  • Student Quarterly$24.993 Months
Show 10 more
  • Essential Quarterly$24.993 Months
  • Professional Quarterly$39.993 Months
  • Advanced Quarterly$39.993 Months
  • Student Annual$59.991 Year
  • Essential Annual$59.991 Year
  • Advanced Quarterly 2 Seats$79.993 Months
  • Professional Annual$99.991 Year
  • Advanced Annual$99.991 Year
  • Advanced Quarterly 4 Seats$159.993 Months
  • Advanced Annual 5 Seats$499.991 Year

Questions

Is Paperpile free?
Paperpile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Rayyan free?
Rayyan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Paperpile or Rayyan?
Paperpile is rated higher. Paperpile averages 4.5 out of 5 from 129 ratings, while Rayyan averages 3.8 from 23 ratings.
Do Paperpile or Rayyan have ads?
Neither Paperpile nor Rayyan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Paperpile or Rayyan?
Paperpile ships an update every 2 months, and Rayyan every 5 weeks. Most recently, Paperpile was updated on October 15, 2026 and Rayyan on October 17, 2026.

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