Comparison

Ai Search 2 vs MarginNote 4

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

Head to head
About

Ai Search 2

This app offers a customizable search experience, allowing users to create personalized search workflows and query directly on trusted websites. It features batch searching, speed dial for frequently visited sites, and keyword-based search routing.

Highlights
  • Customizable search workflows
  • Batch searching on trusted websites
  • Speed dial for quick website access
  • Keyword-based search routing
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • System share extension for bookmarks
Features
Read full description

Meet the all-new Ai Search, a smarter & faster way to search almost anything. What makes Ai Search so different from others search engines? With Ai Search, you can customize your own search workflow and search directly on your trusted websites. You know what you need, so be the master of your search results. Ai Search 2 is your personal search tool to query: an answers, a book, a point of view, news, videos, translations, develop API, etc… *** DELIGHTFUL NEW DESIGN *** Colorful, Intuitive, Lightweight, Efficient.
 *** POWERFUL NEW FEATURES *** • Seamless Batch Search
 Search directly on your trusted websites with your favorite Safari view, switch between different sources with swipe and tap.
 • Dial Customize most used websites, and open them in a single tap. • Bookmarks Save any website as bookmark in system share extension. • Keywords Specify target websites with your text input, without leaving the keyboard.
e.g. If query text has keyword ‘buy’, then search on Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Best Buy. • Rules Customize your search source with search terms. 
e.g. If query text starts with ‘how‘, then search on wikiHow and howstuffworks. • Gallery Explore awesome websites in different categories, save your favorite websites as your own search sources. • iCloud Sync Sync all your search settings and personal data with iCloud, be productive on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. Be prepared to take your search experience to a new level. Have an idea? Shoot us an email at support@aisearch.cc

About

MarginNote 4

This app integrates reading, note-taking, mind mapping, and flashcards into a unified study environment. It supports active learning with features like study sets, book compilation, and dual-article views. Enhance your understanding with visual learning tools and AI-powered content extraction for long-term memory retention.

Highlights
  • Integrated reading, note-taking, mind mapping, and flashcards
  • Quick Extend Note and Handwriting Layers for annotation
  • Study Set for organizing PDFs, EPUBs, videos, and audio
  • Mind Map and Concept Diagram for visual learning
  • AI Content Detection for formula and chart extraction
  • FSRS spaced-repetition algorithm for reviews
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
Features
Read full description

MarginNote is the PDF study tool for deep readers. One excerpt is a PDF highlight, a mind map node, and a flashcard — one capture, three places. This is the Card Axis architecture, so you stop ferrying content between a PDF reader, a notes app, and a flashcard tool. A decade of iteration. 188K+ App Store ratings. 【Four Featured Mechanics】 ▸ Card Axis — One excerpt, three renders. Document highlight, mind map node, and flashcard are the same card seen from three angles. ▸ Title Link — Old notes auto-surface in new documents. When a familiar concept appears in what you're reading, your past annotation lights up on the page. ▸ Extended Note — Long-press anywhere on a PDF to open writing space. No anchored text required; three display modes (inline / margin / collapsed). ▸ Immersive Mode (4.4) — Three-state toggle: Read / Write / Recall. UI folds away. Recall blurs excerpts with Gaussian blur — tap to reveal only after you've actually recalled. 【AI Capabilities (introduced in 4.2)】 AI book breakdown · AI OCR templates · AI translation · AI Q&A · AI flashcard generation Our stance is AI as assistant, not replacement — every suggestion can be saved as your own thinking node, never thinking for you. 【Apple Intelligence (iOS 26+)】 Recall Mode hints can run on-device via Apple Intelligence — pick "Apple AI" or "cloud LLM" in Settings. With Apple AI selected, three tiers of help — Neighbor Coordinate · Reasoning Prompt · Key Distinction — are generated by Apple Foundation Models right on your device: no network calls, no AI credits used, your notes never leave your device. Even if you've selected cloud LLM, going offline auto-falls back to Apple Intelligence (provided your device supports it) — so libraries, planes, and exam-day silent rooms never break your hint loop. 【Full Workflow】 Fast OCR · Study Sets (PDF / EPUB / video / audio) · direct read from Zotero / cloud drives / USB · 10 mind map styles · book recomposition · dual-document compare · concept maps · handwriting layers 【FSRS Spaced Repetition】 Built on the open-spaced-repetition project's algorithm (paper accepted by ACM SIGKDD; Anki has used FSRS as its default scheduler since v23.10). Push short-term memory into long-term. 【Built For】 Anyone re-reading a single document until it sticks — med school (USMLE / MCAT) · law school (LSAT / bar exam) · grad prep (GRE / GMAT / CFA) · researchers · language learners (IELTS / TOEFL) · serious readers. 【All Apple Platforms】 iPhone + iPad + Mac under one Apple ID. iCloud syncs Study Sets, notes, and review progress. Native Apple Pencil support on iPad. — Questions? Email service@marginnote.com Terms: https://dist.marginnote.com/MarginNote_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf Privacy: https://dist.marginnote.com/MarginNote_Privacy_Policy.pdf

Screenshots

Ai Search 24 screens
MarginNote 44 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: MarginNote 4 at 4.5 against Ai Search 2's 3.6. MarginNote 4 also leads on ratings volume (716 vs 17). Ai Search 2's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (80% vs 59%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Ai Search 2 sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and MarginNote 4 sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MarginNote 4 holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MarginNote 4 has 716 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 80% of Ai Search 2's written reviews are positive against 59% of MarginNote 4's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ai Search 2 ships an update fortnightly, MarginNote 4 every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 16, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Ai Search 2 versus MarginNote 4: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAi Search 2MarginNote 4
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (17 ratings)4.5 (716 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better58.8% of reviews
Number of ratings17716 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB330 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperYuanJing Co.,Ltd.Beijing Yunsi Software Technology Co., Ltd

Customer experience

Ai Search 2

All ratings17 ratings
Positive64.7%
Neutral5.9%
Negative29.4%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative10.0%

MarginNote 4

All ratings716 ratings
Positive86.3%
Neutral3.6%
Negative10.1%
Written reviews563 reviews
Positive58.8%
Neutral15.3%
Negative25.9%

Bugs and requests

Ai Search 2

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

MarginNote 4

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Disappearing annotations when using extend function
  • Inability to restore accidentally deleted mind maps
  • Inconsistent behavior with PDF file management

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved iCloud/cloud sync reliability
  • More intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • Better support for external document libraries
  • Ability to disable auto-excerpt selection

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Ai Search 2

One-time2
  • Ai Search Pro - Coupon$2.99
  • Ai Search Pro$3.99
12 purchases

MarginNote 4

Subscriptions5
  • Subscription to MAX (Monthly)7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Subscription to MAX (3 months)7 Days trial$4.993 Months
  • Subscription to MAX (6 months)7 Days trial$7.996 Months
Show 2 more
  • Subscription to MAX (Annually)1 Month trial$12.991 Year
  • MarginNote Max Annual1 Month trial$16.991 Year
One-time7
  • 14 days Free Trial2 variantsFree
  • Upgrade to PRO from MN3(iOS)$4.99
  • Unlock PRO Forever (New)$12.99
Show 4 more
  • Upgrade to MAX from MN3(macOS)$19.99
  • Unlock MAX based on PRO$39.99
  • Unlock MAX based on PRO (New)$40.00
  • Unlock MAX Forever (New)$51.99

Questions

Is Ai Search 2 free?
Ai Search 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MarginNote 4 free?
MarginNote 4 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ai Search 2 or MarginNote 4?
MarginNote 4 is rated higher. Ai Search 2 averages 3.6 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while MarginNote 4 averages 4.5 from 716 ratings.
Do Ai Search 2 or MarginNote 4 have ads?
Neither Ai Search 2 nor MarginNote 4 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ai Search 2 or MarginNote 4?
Ai Search 2 ships an update fortnightly, and MarginNote 4 every 3 weeks. Most recently, Ai Search 2 was updated on August 16, 2026 and MarginNote 4 on September 25, 2026.

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