Samurai Search vs OpenCards
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Samurai Search
Efficiently search text and PDF files across your device, iCloud, and external storage. Preview matched files or open them in other applications. Supports advanced search options like regular expressions.
- Search text and PDF files
- iCloud and external storage support
- File preview
- Regular expression support
- Customizable file types
- Saved search locations
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Search your iOS device or iCloud for text, source code, plain text files, and PDFs. Find matches inside files and preview results instantly, or open any matched file in your favourite editing or viewing app. Flexible search options: whole word, case sensitive (all file types), and regular expressions (for text files). Choose which files to include by selecting standard or custom text file types, or by searching filenames that match a pattern. Select where to search from On My iPad, iCloud Drive, or external file providers such as SMB and USB folders. When possible, the app retains saved search selections so you can quickly repeat the same searches later. If you search selected folders in iCloud Drive, matching iCloud files are synced to your device before searching, ensuring fast local results. Searching plain text files is extremely fast and memory efficient. PDF search speed depends on the document content and can be slow. Note also that PDF search may consume large amounts of memory which can cause Samurai Search to crash.
OpenCards
Transform your Markdown notes into interactive knowledge cards. Organize, review, and access your information seamlessly across devices. Supports rich formatting, including math equations and code.
- Markdown cards with math and code highlighting
- Organize cards into sections
- Tags and likes with filtering
- Full-screen swipe navigation
- Global search
- iCloud sync
- GitHub Markdown import
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OpenCards — Organize Your Knowledge Turn your Markdown notes into beautiful, browsable knowledge cards. OpenCards helps you organize, review, and carry your knowledge everywhere. Organize Your Way Create sections to group your cards by topic — class notes, research papers, vocabulary, or anything you need. Browse cards in a smooth horizontal carousel or search across your entire collection instantly. Rich Markdown Rendering OpenCards renders full Markdown with support for math equations (KaTeX), syntax-highlighted code blocks, tables, and more. Your content looks great in both light and dark mode. Tag, Like & Filter Mark your favorite cards with a like. Add tags to categorize and find cards quickly. Filter any section by likes or tags to focus on what matters. Full-Screen Reading Tap any card to enter an immersive full-screen view. Swipe through cards one by one — perfect for studying and review. iCloud Sync Your cards sync automatically across all your devices via iCloud. Start on your iPhone, continue on your iPad. Import from GitHub Paste a GitHub folder URL to bulk-import Markdown files directly into any section. Great for pulling in shared notes, study materials, or documentation. Key Features - Markdown cards with math (KaTeX) and code highlighting - Organize cards into sections - Tags and likes with per-section filtering - Full-screen card feed with swipe navigation - Global search across all cards - iCloud sync across devices - GitHub Markdown import Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Samurai Search at none against OpenCards's 1. Samurai Search also leads on ratings volume (25 vs 1) and update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly). On price, rating, ads and device support 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. OpenCards sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per month. Samurai Search asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Samurai Search against 5.0 for OpenCards. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Samurai Search has 25 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Samurai Search ships an update every 5 days, OpenCards fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Samurai Search | OpenCards |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (25 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 25 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Michael Rourke | 礼 付 |
Customer experience
Samurai Search
OpenCards
In-app purchases
Samurai Search
No in-app purchases
OpenCards
- OpenCards Pro$0.991 Month
Questions
Is Samurai Search free?
Is OpenCards free?
Which has better reviews, Samurai Search or OpenCards?
Do Samurai Search or OpenCards have ads?
Which is updated more often, Samurai Search or OpenCards?
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