# Highlights vs MiniNote

The clearest difference is review sentiment: MiniNote at 100% against Highlights's 53%. MiniNote also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3). Highlights's advantage is price (Free vs $0.99) and device support (4 vs 2). On update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

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

Highlights ships an update fortnightly, MiniNote every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Highlights | MiniNote |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $0.99 |
| Rating | **[4.5 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **1.6K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 53.2% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | **Every 11 days** |
| Monetization | **Freemium** | Paid |
| Size | 37 MB | 1 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Jonas Myren Ribe](https://appshunter.io/developer/794854096) | [frederic Tourrou](https://appshunter.io/developer/1871195365) |

## 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


### MiniNote

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mininote/id6771018985)

Capture ideas with free text, photos, voice memos, and checklists all in one organized note. Enjoy a distraction-free writing experience with a monospace font and dark mode. The app offers a unique interface inspired by receipt tickets.

**Highlights:** Free text notes, Photo integration, Voice memo recording, Checklist creation, Distraction-free writing, Unique receipt-inspired interface

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Highlights free?

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

### Is MiniNote free?

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

### Do Highlights or MiniNote have ads?

Neither Highlights nor MiniNote shows ads.

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

Highlights ships an update fortnightly, and MiniNote every 11 days. Most recently, Highlights was updated on October 14, 2026 and MiniNote on October 8, 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.*