Comparison

Outliner vs xoFocus AI Highlighter

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Outliner

Organize your thoughts, tasks, and projects with a powerful outlining tool. Create structured lists, track project progress with visual indicators, and collaborate with others. Sync your work across devices and cloud storage for seamless access.

Highlights
  • Create structured outlines
  • Track project progress with pie charts
  • Sync with cloud storage (OneDrive, Dropbox)
  • Collaborate with other users
  • Drag and drop editing
  • Search and filter outlines
  • Archive old outlines
Features
Read full description

CarbonFin Outliner allows you to organize your thoughts, tasks, and projects. Easily create a todo list for today, or track an entire project anywhere you are. Share your outlines, edit them online, and collaborate with other Outliner users. Highlights • Create outlines full of notes, structured lists, tasks, or detailed projects • Sync your outlines automatically to Outliner Online, OneDrive, or Dropbox for web or desktop editing • Get a quick view of project progress - tasks with subtasks show a pie-chart indicating percent completed Organize • Search through all your outlines or an individual outline • Tag your outlines, and filter based on tag • Archive old outlines to hide them from view without deleting Easy-to-use Editor • Drag and drop to move items within an outline • Copy, paste • Undo, redo • Expand all, collapse all • Optional outline numbering • Zoom in to focus on a single subtree Outliner Online • Securely synchronize your outlines with Outliner Online • View and edit your outlines in any web browser • Import and export outlines as plain text or OPML • Keep all your devices synchronized • Share an outline with other Outliner users to collaborate OneDrive and Dropbox • Sync your outlines with OneDrive or Dropbox to allow quick import/export • Seamlessly access and edit across your iOS devices and PCs -= Recent version history =- Version 3.21 • iPhone Duo support • Bug fixes Version 3.20 • iOS 27 support • Updated Dropbox and OneDrive integrations • Bug fixes Version 3.19 • iOS 26 support and adoption of liquid glass Version 3.18 • iOS 18 support • Dark and tinted app icons Version 3.17 • Minor bug fixes Version 3.16 • Minor bug fixes • iOS 17 support Version 3.15 • Fixed Dropbox integration • Show a warning when unlinking Dropbox/OneDrive if there are unsynced outlines • iOS 16 support Version 3.12 • Dark mode • Added confirmation to "Delete Completed" • Changing "Archived" won't update the outline's modification time • iOS 13 support Version 3.11 • OneDrive sync support Version 3.10 • Sync the order of outlines across devices (CarbonFin outlines only) • iOS 12 support Version 3.9 • iPhone X support • iOS 11 support Version 3.8 • Open In... support • Ability to hide the outline list on iPad • Minor UI tweaks

About

xoFocus AI Highlighter

This AI-powered tool instantly identifies key sentences on web pages, helping you grasp core ideas quickly and read more intentionally. It's designed for readers, students, and researchers seeking enhanced focus without distractions.

Highlights
  • AI-powered smart highlights
  • Smart navigation between highlights
  • Focus on key sentences
  • Enhanced reading experience
  • No AI summaries, logins, or tracking
Features
Read full description

xoFocus is an AI-powered highlighter that helps you focus on what matters. xoFocus instantly identifies key sentences on pages you're reading - so you can quickly grasp core ideas, stay focused, and read more intentionally. Designed for readers, students, journalists, researchers, and anyone who wants more focus at their fingertips. Features: •Smart Highlights: xoFocus uses AI to highlight the most context-relevant sentences on any text-heavy page. •Smart Navigation: Quickly skip forward/backward through highlights with simple screen taps. How It Works: Enable xoFocus in Safari. When you open a webpage, highlight animations load instantly. Double-tap the top or bottom of your screen to move between highlights. xoFocus helps you cut through the noise: no AI-generated summaries, no logins, no tracking. Just an enhanced reading experience.

Screenshots

Outliner4 screens
xoFocus AI Highlighter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: xoFocus AI Highlighter at every 3 weeks against Outliner's every 4 months. xoFocus AI Highlighter also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and price ($1.99 vs $4.99). Outliner's advantage is ratings volume (89 vs 7) and chart position (#116 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Outliner costs $4.99 and xoFocus AI Highlighter $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

xoFocus AI Highlighter holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Outliner has 89 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Outliner's written reviews are positive against 100% of xoFocus AI Highlighter's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Outliner ships an update every 4 months, xoFocus AI Highlighter every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Outliner versus xoFocus AI Highlighter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOutlinerxoFocus AI Highlighter
Price$4.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.8 (89 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings89 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#116 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarbonFinKamron Saniee

Customer experience

Outliner

All ratings89 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral1.1%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews327 reviews
Positive86.5%
Neutral6.1%
Negative7.3%

xoFocus AI Highlighter

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Outliner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unexpected error: 500 when saving data
  • Pane that lists outlines won't go away or resize
  • Keyboard takes up too much screen space

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add due dates and priority levels for tasks
  • Improve export and sharing options (e.g., PDF, Word)
  • Implement better organization and search capabilities
  • Introduce a desktop companion app for easier editing
  • Add support for voice notes and other multimedia

xoFocus AI Highlighter

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Outliner

No in-app purchases

None

xoFocus AI Highlighter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Outliner free?
Outliner costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is xoFocus AI Highlighter free?
xoFocus AI Highlighter costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Outliner or xoFocus AI Highlighter?
xoFocus AI Highlighter is rated higher. Outliner averages 4.8 out of 5 from 89 ratings, while xoFocus AI Highlighter averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Outliner or xoFocus AI Highlighter have ads?
Neither Outliner nor xoFocus AI Highlighter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Outliner or xoFocus AI Highlighter?
Outliner ships an update every 4 months, and xoFocus AI Highlighter every 3 weeks. Most recently, Outliner was updated on November 10, 2026 and xoFocus AI Highlighter on November 5, 2026.

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