# Paper vs Lights Out

The clearest difference is update cadence: Lights Out at daily against Paper's monthly. Paper's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Paper sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month and Lights Out sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $39.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Paper ships an update monthly, Lights Out daily. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Paper | Lights Out |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (1.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paper-writing-app-notes/id1476984841/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **1.8K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 71.6% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Daily** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 85 MB | 3 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Mihhail Lapushkin](https://appshunter.io/developer/1143513743) | [Abdulkadir Ali Ali](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896633824) |

## What reviewers say

### Paper

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paper-writing-app-notes/id1476984841)

This app offers a clean and configurable writing environment for various creative projects. It supports Markdown and plain text, syncs with iCloud, and integrates with other tools. Users can publish drafts to popular blogging platforms and export documents in multiple formats.

**Highlights:** Gorgeous writing space, Silky-smooth typing, Deep personalization (Pro), Markdown or Plain Text support, iCloud sync, Publish to Medium, WordPress, Ghost, Export to PDF, HTML, DOCX, ePub

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

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro Features — Discounted | $14.99 | per month |
| Pro Features | $29.99 | per month |
| Pro Features — Discounted | $49.99 | per year |
| Pro Features | $99.99 | per year |
| Pro Features — Discounted | $99.99 | one-time |
| Pro Features | $199.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 💗 Fantastic app
- 🎀 Great tool for writers
- 👍 Clean writing app
- 🤩 Awesome app
- 👍 Cute animations

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Glitchy and unreliable
- 💰 Paywalled features
- 🐛 Lost files and documents
- 🐛 Cursor issues
- 🐛 Buggy and unstable

**Reported bugs**

- Files randomly disappearing
- Cursor issues causing freezes
- Syncing and iCloud integration problems

**Requested features**

- Add image support
- Improve file management and recovery
- Expand font and customization options
- Implement team/collaborative writing features
- Add text formatting options like italics and bold


### Lights Out

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lights-out-app-blocker/id6809551708)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lights Out Complete | $39.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Paper free?

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

### Is Lights Out free?

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

### Do Paper or Lights Out have ads?

Neither Paper nor Lights Out shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Paper or Lights Out?

Paper ships an update monthly, and Lights Out daily. Most recently, Paper was updated on November 3, 2026 and Lights Out on October 26, 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.*