# Highlights vs Momentum

The clearest difference is rating: Highlights at 4.5 against Momentum's 3.8. Highlights also leads on ratings volume (1.6K vs 101). Momentum's advantage is review sentiment (62% vs 53%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Momentum sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Highlights holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Highlights has 1.6K ratings behind it against 101, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 53% of Highlights's written reviews are positive against 62% of Momentum's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Highlights ships an update fortnightly, Momentum every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Highlights | Momentum |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833/reviews)** | [3.8 (101 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/momentum/id1564329434/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.6K** | 101 |
| Positive reviews | 53.3% of reviews | **62.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 37 MB | 29 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Jonas Myren Ribe](https://appshunter.io/developer/794854096) | [Momentum Dashboard Corp.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1564329436) |

## 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


### Momentum

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/momentum/id1564329434)

Enhance your new tab page with a focus-driven start screen. Get daily inspiration, manage tasks, and access quick links, all while enjoying beautiful nature photos and quotes.

**Highlights:** Daily inspiring photo, quote, and mantra, Task reminders and to-do list manager, Website and app shortcuts, Local weather information, Customizable dashboard, Focus-driving soundscapes, Pomodoro timer

**Features:** Safari Extension, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Momentum Plus - Monthly | $5.99 | per month |
| Momentum Plus - Yearly | $46.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Beautiful and aesthetic design
- 🔓 Helpful productivity features
- 👍 Inspiring daily quotes and images
- ✨ Great browser start page replacement
- 💡 Useful to-do list and note-taking

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 Requires account login
- 💰 Subscription model too expensive
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited customization options in free version
- 🌐 Compatibility issues on some devices

**Reported bugs**

- Login issues and frequent log-outs
- Tab reloading problems
- Incompatibility with certain Safari features
- RAM usage issues on M1 Macs

**Requested features**

- Add support for multiple languages
- Integrate with popular task management apps
- Allow customization of background images
- Improve sync between devices
- Add more widgets and productivity tools


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Highlights free?

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

### Is Momentum free?

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

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

Highlights is rated higher. Highlights averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.6K ratings, while Momentum averages 3.8 from 101 ratings.

### Do Highlights or Momentum have ads?

Neither Highlights nor Momentum shows ads.

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

Highlights ships an update fortnightly, and Momentum every 3 weeks. Most recently, Highlights was updated on November 7, 2026 and Momentum on November 7, 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.*