# PDF Max vs Highlights

PDF Max and Highlights both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 53% of Highlights's written reviews are positive against 35% of PDF Max's. Highlights also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PDF Max sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for PDF Max against 4.5 for Highlights. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.2K and 1.6K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 35% of PDF Max's written reviews are positive against 53% of Highlights's.

PDF Max ships an update monthly, Highlights fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | PDF Max | Highlights |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.5 (1.2K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-max-edit-sign-pdfs/id540572073/reviews) | [4.5 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1.2K | **1.6K** |
| Positive reviews | 35.4% of reviews | **53.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Size | 266 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Mobeera](https://appshunter.io/developer/540572076) | [Jonas Myren Ribe](https://appshunter.io/developer/794854096) |

## What reviewers say

### PDF Max

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pdf-max-edit-sign-pdfs/id540572073)

This app allows you to read, annotate, and sign PDF documents on your mobile device. You can mark up text, add handwritten notes, insert stamps, fill out forms, and manage PDF pages. It also offers robust file management and cloud integration for seamless access to your documents.

**Highlights:** Read and annotate PDFs, Fill and sign PDF forms, Handwriting and text markup, Manage PDF pages, Cloud storage integration, Voice annotations

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Subscription (1 week) | $1.99 | per 7 days |
| One year premium | $34.99 | per year |
| Yearly Onboarding Offer | $34.99 | per year |
| Standard Annotating Package | $0.99 | one-time |
| Cloud Access Package | $1.99 | one-time |
| Advanced Annotating Package | $3.99 | one-time |
| Form Filling Package | $3.99 | one-time |
| Pro Package | $4.99 | one-time |
| Premium Package (Update) | $4.99 | one-time |
| Premium Package (New User) | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Helpful for studies and work
- 🚀 Fast and efficient
- 👍 Great for annotating PDFs

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🔒 Unreliable cloud sync
- 💰 Paywall for basic features
- 🐛 Buggy updates
- 👎 Poor customer support

**Reported bugs**

- Disappearing documents and annotations
- Incompatibility with newer devices
- Crashes on launch
- Unreliable file saving

**Requested features**

- Dark mode option
- Ability to edit/delete annotations
- Better integration with cloud storage
- Split-screen viewing for PDFs
- Improved handwriting recognition


### 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


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PDF Max free?

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

### Is Highlights free?

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

### Which has better reviews, PDF Max or Highlights?

PDF Max and Highlights are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.2K and 1.6K ratings respectively.

### Do PDF Max or Highlights have ads?

Neither PDF Max nor Highlights shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, PDF Max or Highlights?

PDF Max ships an update monthly, and Highlights fortnightly. Most recently, PDF Max was updated on October 17, 2026 and Highlights on October 18, 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.*