Highlights vs PDF Vault
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Highlights
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.
- 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
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"... an app that students, academics, and anyone who does substantial amounts of PDF-based research should try" - Macstories.net "It’s the novel approach to PDF annotation that makes this app a cut above the rest"- TapSmart.com *** "App of the Day" - App Store, US *** USE HIGHLIGHTS FOR FREE Highlights is a fast and lightweight PDF reader (under 10MB) packed with features to help you do your best research. Free users have access to standard PDF reader features including document browsing, reading and annotating. There are NO ADS, time limits or tracking. READ PDF DOCUMENTS • Open PDF documents from anywhere • Browse files using the familiar document browser • Open PDFs in Single Page or Two Page scroll mode • Double tap to Smart Zoom in on a paragraph or figure • Scrub smoothly to the desired page • Search the entire document in an instant • Navigate using any connected keyboard or mouse STORE YOUR FILES WHERE YOU WANT • Full support for "Open In Place" lets you make edits to the file where it is • Access your files from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box using the document browser • Or keep them privately on device only HIGHLIGHT AND ANNOTATE FASTER • Select text with your finger, Apple Pencil or mouse pointer • Highlight, underline, strikethrough text and make image selections • Add comments to annotations or as individual sticky notes • Annotate with fewer taps using context aware popovers • Default annotation colors prevents you from having to repeatedly setting the color for the same type of annotation every time TURN ANNOTATIONS INTO NOTES • As you markup text and images the contents are extracted and sorted into notes • Customize the formatting and contents of your notes • Sort the annotations chronologically or create your own color coding EXTRACT TABLE DATA AND RECOGNIZE TEXT • Convert images containing text or tables to actual text and tables using machine learning - letting you get to the underlying data with a single tap SMART COPY Copy annotations to the desired format with one tap: • Text markup as text • Image selections as images • Tables as CSV • Citations as BibTex LOOKUP CITATIONS • Highlights will fetch DOI-links and metadata • Markup any reference and tap the link icon to look it up • If you have read the work already or have it in your reference manager library, Highlights will link you to it EXPORT ANYWHERE • Save or share your notes as portable files: Markdown, TextBundle, HTML, WebArchive or PDF • Share them to your favorite notes app: Apple Notes, Bear, Craft, Evernote, DEVONThink, Keep It, MindNode, Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research or Ulysses • Or send them to a colleague via mail. It's your notes, you decide where they go MUCH MORE • Dark mode • Multi-window support on iPadOS • Keyboard shortcuts and navigation • Support for system Copy and Undo gestures • Alternative app icons • Custom accent colors • Apple Pencil double-tap gestures • Power annotation tools For a full list of features see: highlightsapp.net/features HIGHLIGHTS PRO The Highlights Pro subscription unlocks advanced features on your iPhone, iPad and Mac: • Export options for other apps and easily editable formats • Extract information using table and text recognition • Customize accent colors and alternative app icons • Power annotation tools • Citation lookups • Smart Copy Highlights Pro includes a 14-day free trial. You can cancel your subscription at any time. The subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off within 24-hour prior to the end of of the current period. Payments will be charged to your iTunes account and your account will be charged within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. For more information about Highlights Pro: highlightsapp.net/pro Privacy Policy: highlightsapp.net/privacy Terms of Use: highlightsapp.net/terms
PDF Vault
This ultra-lightweight application offers a comprehensive suite of PDF tools, including text-to-speech functionality, digital signing, document scanning, organization, and instant translation. It's designed for efficiency and ease of use, saving device space while enhancing productivity for work, study, or personal tasks.
- Text-to-speech for PDFs
- Digital document signing
- Scan paper documents to PDF
- Organize and manage PDF files
- Instant document translation
- Ultra-lightweight and fast
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Your private PDF workspace, built for people who take their documents seriously. Ask your PDFs questions, understand complex documents, translate, scan, sign, listen, and manage your files in one lightweight app. PDF Vault combines powerful PDF tools with a privacy-first approach: your documents stay on your device. ASK YOUR PDF ANYTHING Have a long report, contract, research paper, manual, or other document? Just ask. Ask PDF lets you ask questions about the content of your document and get answers based on the information inside it. Find important details, understand complex sections, summarize information, and explore your documents without searching through page after page. Your documents stay private and are processed on your device. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your documents are personal. PDF Vault is designed with privacy at its core. Your PDF data never leaves your device. No document uploads are required for the core PDF experience. Your files remain under your control while you work with them. ALL THE PDF TOOLS YOU NEED Listen to PDFs Turn your documents into spoken audio with built-in text-to-speech. Listen while working, commuting, studying, or simply when you prefer to hear rather than read. Translate PDFs Translate documents and understand content in other languages without leaving your PDF workspace. Scan documents Turn paper documents into digital PDFs using your device camera. Built-in OCR helps make scanned documents searchable and usable. Sign PDFs Sign documents quickly and conveniently. Add your signature and complete documents without printing them. Read and organize Open, read, manage, and organize your PDF files in a clean, focused workspace designed to stay out of your way. LIGHTWEIGHT AND FOCUSED PDF Vault is built to give you the tools you actually need without turning your device into a document-management maze. Whether you are working with contracts, invoices, academic papers, reports, forms, manuals, or personal documents, PDF Vault keeps everything you need close at hand. FOR WORK, STUDY, AND EVERYDAY DOCUMENTS Use PDF Vault at work to understand reports and contracts. Use it at university to explore research papers and study materials. Use it at home to manage forms, manuals, receipts, and other important documents. ONE PRIVATE WORKSPACE FOR YOUR PDFs Read. Ask. Translate. Scan. Sign. Listen. Organize. PDF Vault brings essential PDF tools together while keeping privacy at the center of the experience. PDF Vault Unlimited gives you unlimited access to all PDF Vault features while directly supporting our mission to provide the best privacy-first PDF tool where your data never leaves your device. Terms of Service: https://macmonsters.com/pdf-reader-terms-of-service.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Highlights at 15.0 against PDF Vault's 18.1. On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and PDF Vault sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Highlights | PDF Vault |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.6K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 53.3% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.6K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jonas Myren Ribe | Dmytro Skorokhod |
Customer experience
Highlights
PDF Vault
Bugs and requests
Highlights
Reported bugs
5 issues- 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
5 requests- 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
PDF Vault
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Highlights
- Highlights Pro: Monthly$4.991 Month
- Highlights Pro14 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Highlights Pro: Legacy Upgrade1 Year trial$29.991 Year
PDF Vault
- Mox PDF Tool Unlimited Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Mox PDF Tool Unlimited Annually7 Days trial$19.991 Year









