Comparison

PN Review vs ProtagonistLit

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

Head to head
About

PN Review

Explore the dynamic world of poetry with this literary journal. Access new poems, interviews, essays, and reviews. Subscribers can delve into a rich digital archive of past issues and sync them for offline reading.

Highlights
  • Discover new poems and translations
  • Read interviews, essays, and reviews
  • Access a searchable digital archive
  • Sync back issues for offline reading
  • Zoom and navigate pages easily
  • Share content via social media
Features
Read full description

Welcome to PN Review, one of the outstanding literary magazines of our time. Keep up with the many worlds of poetry in this independent and always stimulating journal. For four decades PN Review has been a place to discover new poems in English and in translation as well as interviews, news, essays, reviews and reports from around the world. Subscribers can explore the uniquely rich digital archive. PN Review is published every two months and the iPad/iPhone edition brings you selected pages from the latest issue as soon as it is available. You can subscribe within the application for full access, which brings you every page of the issue and a searchable archive of all back issues. Issues are not sold individually - for the duration of your subscription you have access to every issue in this archive. During your subscription you can sync back issues to your device. These will remain in place if your subscription expires, unless your device removes them (for example when running low on disk space). Re-downloading issues requires a current subscription. • Swipe or tap the page edges to flip to next/previous page. • Use the animated thumbnail view to flick through the pages. • Pinch or double-tap pages to zoom. • Switch between single or double-page view. • Search the current issue or the archive. • Tap any page links to web sites, email addresses, phone numbers or maps. • Tap contents-page links to jump to a particular article. • Sync back issues to your device for offline reading (requires wi-fi). • Network connection required otherwise. • Social media sharing feature allowing you to share pages with friends. • If your institution has a magazine subscription, you can access it directly from within your registered IP range. We recommend first running the app within a wi-fi area so it can sync the latest issue to your device - after that you can use it anywhere. Subscribers will receive new issues automatically. Subscriptions are available within the app at the following prices: £2.99 per month £24.99 per year In addition, please note the following standard features of auto-renewable subscriptions: • Your payment will be charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscriptions will renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. • You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Apple Account Settings after purchase. • No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. You can find our privacy policy here: https://exacteditions.com/about/privacy and our terms of service here: https://exacteditions.com/about/tos

About

ProtagonistLit

Discover new short reads like stories, poems, and essays from independent publishers. Search by genre, writer, or publication, and explore curated lists. This app offers an easy-to-use interface for a community of readers, writers, and editors.

Highlights
  • Discover short stories, poems, and essays
  • Search by genre, writer, and publication
  • Explore curated reading lists
  • Content curated by editors
  • Community of readers, writers, and editors
  • Independent publisher content
Read full description

We can’t read your mind but we can mind your read. Stories, poems, essays, interviews, and more—discover your new favorite short read right on your phone. Search by genre, writer, publication, and more. Flip through our curated lists. Easy to use and easy on the eyes. A community of readers, writers, and editors. Reading is for everyone. The best independent publishers in one place, Protagonist's content is 100% curated by editors. From the most celebrated creative magazines to the most current ones. Read into Protagonist. Change the way you read—change the way you see the world.

Screenshots

PN Review4 screens
ProtagonistLit3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ProtagonistLit at 5.0 against PN Review's 4.0. ProtagonistLit also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months). PN Review's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. PN Review sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and ProtagonistLit sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ProtagonistLit holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PN Review ships an update every 6 months, ProtagonistLit monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
PN Review versus ProtagonistLit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPN ReviewProtagonistLit
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.616.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB21 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperCarcanet Press LimitedProtagonist Lit, LLC

Customer experience

PN Review

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ProtagonistLit

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

PN Review

Subscriptions2
  • PN Review$3.991 Month
  • PN Review$32.991 Year
2 purchases

ProtagonistLit

Subscriptions2
  • Super Reader Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Super Reader Yearly$99.991 Year

Questions

Is PN Review free?
PN Review is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ProtagonistLit free?
ProtagonistLit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PN Review or ProtagonistLit?
ProtagonistLit is rated higher. PN Review averages 4.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while ProtagonistLit averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do PN Review or ProtagonistLit have ads?
ProtagonistLit shows ads; PN Review does not.
Which is updated more often, PN Review or ProtagonistLit?
PN Review ships an update every 6 months, and ProtagonistLit monthly. Most recently, PN Review was updated on November 6, 2026 and ProtagonistLit on November 3, 2026.

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