MarginNote 3 vs Whiz Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MarginNote 3
This app redefines studying by integrating e-reading with powerful annotation, mind mapping, and flashcard tools. Organize knowledge, connect ideas with hashtags, and enhance memory retention through spaced repetition. It offers a seamless workflow across multiple documents and devices.
- Integrated PDF/EPUB reader
- Advanced annotation tools
- Mind mapping and outline organization
- Flashcard creation and Anki export
- Multi-document support
- Handwriting and Apple Pencil support
- OCR for scanned PDFs
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MarginNote 3, all brand new e-reader to better study and digest your books Integrating powerful tools for book annotation, mindmapping, flashcards and more, to build up your reading notes as never before. ============================================ Welcome to MarginNote. This is a highly powerful reading and study software and is applicable to Mac, iPad, and iPhone. By integrating the PDF/EPUB reader and multiple powerful study tools, MarginNote will enable learners to reorganize and connect knowledge from different aspects, then memorize and grasp it accordingly. Whatever your profession, such as student, educator, researcher, lawyer, or life-long learner, you may annotate and take notes through MarginNote, organize notes via Mindmap and Outline, connect knowledge horizontally via Hashtag and raise memory effect via the Flashcards. You will discover what MarginNote does is not to simply integrate these tools. Instead, it combines them deeply and skillfully, which makes it easier for users to toggle between different tools. What's New in MarginNote 3 * New and Clean UI Completely redesigned. * Improved performance and Running more smoothly * Support both Document Reading mode & Study Reading mode. * Excerpts & Note-taking * Enhanced Handwriting & apple-pencil support. * Support TextBox on PDF. * Support direct text-typing & sketching when editing note cards. * Support Auto OCR when excerpting on scanned PDFs. * Emphasis & Cloze * Support direct emphasis in powerful Emphasis mode both on PDF or Outline. * Support auto convert emphasis to Cloze in CardDeck. * Support creating Image-Occlusion flashcards. * Multi-Documents * Support both document tabs & split views to switch between documents. * MindMap * Auto grouping new excerpts by Document Table of Contents. * Support new brach display mode: Framework. * Swipe/Drag gestures to slide in/out Outline & Documents in Study mode. * Enhanced grouped cut/paste, drag to merge,.. etc. * Outline * Improved search and displaying keywords in results. * Improved styles. * CardDeck: * View Flashcards in MindMap mode and Document mode. * Enhanced Anki Export: Card styles, Image occlusions, Cloze * Enhanced Research web browser. * iCloud Sync * Fixed several design issue in previous versions. * More stable & improved performance. * Categories * Separate categories for Document, Study and Review. * Trash * Recover data from Trash and make data more safe. * Trial * 14-days free trial. MarginNote 2 features: Reading: - Support PDF and EPUB format; Annotating and NoteTaking: - Support text highlight and rectangular highlight; - Add notes directly at the page margin; the note editing area will not overlap with the book content at all; - Text, voice, picture, sketching and many other forms of comments in note; - Add hashtags to notes to facilitate the connection of notes; Outline and Mindmap: - Outline and Mindmap in one view; - Create Outline tree by swipe gestures; - Multi-selection editing such as group, merge, clone, etc; - Quick searching and filtering according to colors, hashtags, books. Flashcard: - Highlights and notes can be automatically turned into flashcards for review; - Spaced repetition adopting the Anki-based algorithm; - Switch to the linking book page at any time; iPad Pro & Apple pencil: - Split View of multiple tasks; - High-precision drawing by Apple pencil; - Fine tuned for Apple pencil; - Keyboard shortcuts; Import, Export and Sync: - Import webpages and notes from Evernote; - Export flashcards to Anki; - Export Outline to OmniOutliner; - Export Mindmap to iThoughts or MindManager; - Export to Evernote; - Export all the margin notes, MindManager, Outline and Pages to a printable PDF; - Sync books & notes with iCloud; Terms of Use: https://www.marginnote.com/press/marginnote-3-term-of-use Privacy Policy: https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/92678020
Whiz Reader
This app helps you read foreign language content by providing instant word definitions and text translation. It supports PDF annotation, OCR, document scanning, and clipboard translation for a seamless reading experience.
- Word definition lookup
- Text translation
- Real-time split-screen translation
- PDF annotation with Apple Pencil
- OCR and document scanning
- Clipboard translation
- Web page to PDF conversion
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Whiz支持多种语言,是帮助阅读外文的APP。Whiz支持文件和任意网页的单词释义查询和文本选择翻译;更支持实时翻译,选择文本即可即时获取翻译。此外,文档标注、OCR和文档扫描功能使得阅读更加便捷。 点击查词 - 点击PDF文档上的任意单词,或自由选取单词,即可获取其释义。 - 可以选择使用系统内置词典,或者使用提供的在线词典进行查询。 文本翻译 - 选取一段文本即可快速进行翻译。 - 支持任意语言。 实时翻译 在阅读界面中,使用分屏视图即可进行实时翻译。在阅读界面选择文本,另一栏将自动显示对应的翻译。 PDF文档标注 可在PDF文档内使用Apple Pencil进行标注。可使用钢笔、荧光笔和橡皮三种标记工具,支持导出带标注的文件,支持设备间共享。暂不支持触摸添加标注。 剪贴板翻译 将应用分屏,在其他应用中复制内容,即可在本应用中获取翻译。 OCR与文档扫描 - 支持PDF文件的OCR功能,可将扫描版文件转换为可选择文本的、适用于Whiz单词查询和文本翻译的文件,可在应用内阅读,也可导出用于其他应用。 - 提供内置文档扫描仪,可用于扫描文档并保存至应用中。通过OCR功能还可转换为可选择文本的PDF文档。 生成PDF 可将网页及其他类型的文档保存为PDF文件。 单词收藏和文本收藏 查词时可收藏当前单词,可在收藏夹内查看、导出。另外,选取一段文本,可将其添加到收藏。 注:上述部分功能需要解锁高级功能。
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: MarginNote 3 at 75% against Whiz Reader's 0%. MarginNote 3 also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (5K vs 1). Whiz Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. MarginNote 3 sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Whiz Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
MarginNote 3 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MarginNote 3 has 5K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of MarginNote 3's written reviews are positive against 0% of Whiz Reader's.
MarginNote 3 ships an update every 6 weeks, Whiz Reader every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MarginNote 3 | Whiz Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (5K ratings) — better | 4.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 74.6% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.2 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 392 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Beijing Yunsi Software Technology Co., Ltd | Yesheng Liang |
Customer experience
MarginNote 3
Whiz Reader
Bugs and requests
MarginNote 3
Reported bugs
5 issues- Syncing issues causing data loss across devices
- Crashes and freezes when working with large documents
- Inconsistent behavior with highlighting, erasing, and text formatting
- OCR not functioning reliably for non-Latin scripts
- Difficulty managing and organizing large document libraries
Requested features
5 requests- Improved export options and ability to share projects
- Better integration with other productivity apps like Anki
- More customization options for mind maps and annotations
- Smoother handwriting experience and better palm rejection
- Support for more file formats like PowerPoint
Whiz Reader
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
MarginNote 3
- OCR Pro (Monthly)3 Days trial$0.991 Month
- OCR Pro (Annually)3 Days trial$9.491 Year
- 14 days Free TrialFree
- Unlock Full$12.99
- Upgrade to Full$12.99
Whiz Reader
- 高级功能$0.99









