# Paperpile vs Quartzy

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Paperpile at 72% against Quartzy's 25%. Paperpile also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.3) and ads (none vs shown). Quartzy's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Paperpile holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Paperpile has 129 ratings behind it against 16, 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 25% of Quartzy's.

Paperpile ships an update every 2 months, Quartzy monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Paperpile | Quartzy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (129 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paperpile/id1187562736/reviews)** | [3.3 (16 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/quartzy/id1613415245/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **129** | 16 |
| Positive reviews | **71.6% of reviews** | 25.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Ad-supported |
| Size | 242 MB | 39 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 15.1 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Paperpile LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1187562735) | [Quartzy, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1613415697) |

## What reviewers say

### Paperpile

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paperpile/id1187562736)

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:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Excellent reference library management
- 🔄 Seamless cross-device synchronization
- ✍️ Intuitive PDF annotation and highlighting
- 🎨 Clean and minimalist user interface
- 📱 Strong iPad and mobile integration

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- Dark mode implementation
- Edit citation metadata on mobile app
- Change PDF file functionality
- Save to downloads feature
- Dictionary/lookup function for reading


### Quartzy

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/quartzy/id1613415245)

Manage your lab's inventory with this mobile tool. Track stock, submit requests, and scan items to ensure supplies are always available, preventing experimental delays. Generate unique barcodes directly from your account.

**Highlights:** Track inventory in real-time, Submit supply requests, Scan and receive items, Print unique barcodes, Up-to-date stock view

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Paperpile free?

Paperpile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Quartzy free?

Quartzy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Paperpile or Quartzy?

Paperpile is rated higher. Paperpile averages 4.5 out of 5 from 129 ratings, while Quartzy averages 3.3 from 16 ratings.

### Do Paperpile or Quartzy have ads?

Quartzy shows ads; Paperpile does not.

### Which is updated more often, Paperpile or Quartzy?

Paperpile ships an update every 2 months, and Quartzy monthly. Most recently, Paperpile was updated on October 15, 2026 and Quartzy on October 4, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*