# Highlights vs Read+ PDF Reader

The clearest difference is ads: Highlights at none against Read+ PDF Reader's shown. Highlights also leads on ratings volume (1.6K vs 7). Read+ PDF Reader's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly) and review sentiment (67% vs 53%). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Read+ PDF Reader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Highlights against 4.4 for Read+ PDF Reader. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Highlights has 1.6K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 53% of Highlights's written reviews are positive against 67% of Read+ PDF Reader's.

Highlights ships an update fortnightly, Read+ PDF Reader every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Highlights | Read+ PDF Reader |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833/reviews)** | [4.4 (7 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/read-plus-pdf-reader/id1540059125/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.6K** | 7 |
| Positive reviews | 53.3% of reviews | **66.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | **Every 3 days** |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 37 MB | 24 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **13.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Jonas Myren Ribe](https://appshunter.io/developer/794854096) | [B TO J PTY LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/569308231) |

## What reviewers say

### 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


### Read+ PDF Reader

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/read-plus-pdf-reader/id1540059125)

This application allows users to read, manage, and annotate PDF files on their iOS devices. It offers features like text search, OCR extraction, file merging, and integration with cloud storage services. Users can also share and print their documents.

**Highlights:** Read PDF books naturally, Bookmark and annotate PDFs, Search text within files, Extract text with OCR, Merge and rearrange PDF pages, Cloud storage integration, Share and print PDFs

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

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 Month Subscription | $3.49 | per month |
| 1 Year Subscription | $28.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Highlights free?

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

### Is Read+ PDF Reader free?

Read+ PDF Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Highlights or Read+ PDF Reader?

Highlights is rated higher. Highlights averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.6K ratings, while Read+ PDF Reader averages 4.4 from 7 ratings.

### Do Highlights or Read+ PDF Reader have ads?

Read+ PDF Reader shows ads; Highlights does not.

### Which is updated more often, Highlights or Read+ PDF Reader?

Highlights ships an update fortnightly, and Read+ PDF Reader every 3 days. Most recently, Highlights was updated on September 22, 2026 and Read+ PDF Reader on August 31, 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.*