# PDF Highlighter vs Highlights

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Highlights at 53% against PDF Highlighter's 0%. Highlights also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.0) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 95 months). PDF Highlighter's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PDF Highlighter sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Highlights holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Highlights has 1.6K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of PDF Highlighter's written reviews are positive against 53% of Highlights's.

PDF Highlighter ships an update every 95 months, Highlights fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | PDF Highlighter | Highlights |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-highlighter-read-and-edit/id1434848610/reviews) | **[4.5 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 1 | **1.6K** |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | **53.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 95 months | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 33 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Jaydeep Dhameliya](https://appshunter.io/developer/1315657518) | [Jonas Myren Ribe](https://appshunter.io/developer/794854096) |

## What reviewers say

### PDF Highlighter

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-highlighter-read-and-edit/id1434848610)

Easily edit and highlight text, photos, and documents directly on your phone. This app provides realistic highlighting tools and drawing functions to mark important sections of PDFs and images, allowing you to save and share your annotated files.

**Highlights:** Edit and highlight PDF files and photos, Use realistic highlighter pen tool, Freehand drawing with pen, line, arrow, rectangle, and circle tools, Change drawing tool colors and sizes, Zoom in/out PDF pages, Export highlighted PDFs and photos, Add, delete, or edit PDF pages

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDF Highlighter Purchase Week | $2.99 | per 7 days |
| PDF Highlighter Purchase Month | $9.99 | per month |
| PDF Highlighter Purchase Year | $110.99 | per year |


### Highlights

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833)

This app is a fast and lightweight PDF reader designed for research. It allows users to read, highlight, and annotate documents, and then extract this information into organized notes. Advanced features include table data extraction, text recognition, and smart copying of annotations into various formats.

**Highlights:** Read and browse PDF documents, Highlight, underline, and strikethrough text, Add comments and sticky notes, Extract annotations into organized notes, Convert table data and recognize text, Smart copy annotations to various formats (CSV, BibTex), Lookup citation metadata and DOI links

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Highlights Pro: Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Highlights Pro | $29.99 | per year |
| Highlights Pro: Legacy Upgrade | $29.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great for highlighting and annotating PDFs
- 🔍 Effective for research and note-taking
- 📚 Useful for academic and professional work
- 👍 Clean and intuitive user interface
- 🔗 Good integration with other apps and cloud storage

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Subscription model is too expensive
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited search functionality
- 🔒 Lack of customization options
- 🔧 Poor customer support and unresponsive developers

**Reported bugs**

- Highlights and annotations randomly disappearing
- Text selection issues, especially with footnotes
- Compatibility problems with certain PDF files
- Syncing issues across devices
- Export functionality not working as expected

**Requested features**

- Add handwriting and freeform annotation support
- Implement a table of contents or bookmarking feature
- Allow editing of notes directly in the app
- Provide a one-time purchase option instead of subscription
- Improve search capabilities with visual results and navigation


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PDF Highlighter free?

PDF Highlighter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Highlights free?

Highlights is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, PDF Highlighter or Highlights?

Highlights is rated higher. PDF Highlighter averages 3.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Highlights averages 4.5 from 1.6K ratings.

### Do PDF Highlighter or Highlights have ads?

Neither PDF Highlighter nor Highlights shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, PDF Highlighter or Highlights?

PDF Highlighter ships an update every 95 months, and Highlights fortnightly. Most recently, PDF Highlighter was updated on October 2, 2026 and Highlights on October 18, 2026.

---

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