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 source code, plain text files and PDF files on your iOS device or in iCloud/USB/SMB, preview matched files. or open in your favourite editing/viewing app. Supports flexible search options, including regular expressions (for plain text files). Files searched can be selected from standard or custom text file types or a filename pattern may be specified. Search files and folders can be selected from On My iPad, iCloud Drive or external file providers (e.g SMB/USB folder). Saved search files and folders are retained by the app where possible. iCloud files in selected iCloud Drive folders that match the file type (file extension) criteria or pattern, will be synced to device prior to searching. Searching text files is extremely fast. PDF search speed depends on content. It can be slow.
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 update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (20 vs 1). 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 20 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 October 14, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Samurai Search | OpenCards |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (20 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 20 — 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








