Paperpile vs Logseq
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.
Logseq
This open-source outliner helps you write, organize, and share your thoughts using local Markdown and Org-mode files. Manage tasks, build a digital garden, and integrate with various services for enhanced productivity.
- Backlinks
- Knowledge Graph
- Page and block references
- Tasks & Todos
- SRS Cards
- Zotero integration
- Audio recorder
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Logseq is a joyful, open-source outliner that works on top of local plain-text Markdown and Org-mode files. Use it to write, organize and share your thoughts, keep your to-do list, and build your own digital garden. Logseq includes the following features: 1. Backlink 2. Knowledge Graph 3. Page and block references 4. Page and block embeds 5. Tasks & Todos 6. SRS Cards 7. Zotero integration 8. Youtube, Twitter, etc. integration 9. Audio recorder 10. Powerful queries 11. Whiteboards
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Logseq at every 3 weeks against Paperpile's every 2 months. Paperpile's advantage is review sentiment (72% vs 59%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Paperpile against 4.4 for Logseq. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 129 and 252 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 72% of Paperpile's written reviews are positive against 59% of Logseq's.
Paperpile ships an update every 2 months, Logseq every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Paperpile | Logseq |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (129 ratings) — better | 4.4 (252 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.6% of reviews — better | 58.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 129 | 252 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 242 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Paperpile LLC | Logseq Inc. |
Customer experience
Paperpile
Logseq
User reviews
Paperpile
From 129 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent reference library management
- 🔄 Seamless cross-device synchronization
- ✍️ Intuitive PDF annotation and highlighting
- 🎨 Clean and minimalist user interface
- 📱 Strong iPad and mobile integration
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and instability
- ⏱️ Lack of updates for extended periods
- 📱 Mobile app significantly behind web version features
- 🔋 High battery drain on iPad
- 🌙 No dark mode support
Logseq
From 252 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful note-taking features
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 🔒 Local data storage
- 💡 Unique folderless structure
- 🚀 Efficient for daily note-taking
Room to improve
- 🐛 Sync issues and data loss
- 🔍 Confusing mobile navigation
- 🔍 Lack of plugin support on mobile
- 🔍 Sluggish performance on older devices
- 🔍 Limited sync options (only iCloud)
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
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- 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
Logseq
Reported bugs
4 issues- Sync issues leading to data loss
- Inconsistent behavior when creating new blocks
- Cursor jumping issues when editing text
- Disappearing UI elements on mobile
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for other cloud storage options (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)
- Improve mobile UI and UX for better usability
- Implement plugin support on mobile
- Optimize performance for older devices
In-app purchases
Paperpile
No in-app purchases
Logseq
No in-app purchases
