# DarkPDF vs Highlights

The clearest difference is price: Highlights at Free against DarkPDF's $0.99. Highlights also leads on ratings volume (1.6K vs 27) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). DarkPDF's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On review sentiment, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Highlights is free to download; DarkPDF costs $0.99 up front. Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. DarkPDF asks for nothing beyond the download.

Highlights holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Highlights has 1.6K ratings behind it against 27, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of DarkPDF's written reviews are positive against 53% of Highlights's.

DarkPDF ships an update every 4 days, Highlights fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | DarkPDF | Highlights |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $0.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.3 (27 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/darkpdf/id1487657766/reviews) | **[4.5 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 27 | **1.6K** |
| Positive reviews | 47.1% of reviews | **53.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 days** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Paid | **Freemium** |
| Size | 3 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Numathic](https://appshunter.io/developer/1000499318) | [Jonas Myren Ribe](https://appshunter.io/developer/794854096) |

## What reviewers say

### DarkPDF

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/darkpdf/id1487657766)

This app allows you to read PDF documents in dark mode, inverting text and background colors to reduce eye strain. It also offers the ability to compress margins and blank spaces for a larger text display.

**Highlights:** Dark mode PDF reading, Invert text and background, Larger text display, Margin compression, Cross-platform compatibility (macOS & iOS)

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### 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 DarkPDF free?

DarkPDF costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Highlights free?

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

### Which has better reviews, DarkPDF or Highlights?

Highlights is rated higher. DarkPDF averages 4.3 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while Highlights averages 4.5 from 1.6K ratings.

### Do DarkPDF or Highlights have ads?

Neither DarkPDF nor Highlights shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, DarkPDF or Highlights?

DarkPDF ships an update every 4 days, and Highlights fortnightly. Most recently, DarkPDF was updated on September 21, 2026 and Highlights on October 1, 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.*