# Prime vs Research Notes

The clearest difference is rating: Prime at 4.8 against Research Notes's 4.0. Prime also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ads (none vs shown). Research Notes's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months). On price and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Research Notes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.49 per 6 months. Prime asks for nothing beyond the download.

Prime holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Prime has 694 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Prime's written reviews are positive against 71% of Research Notes's.

Prime ships an update every 4 months, Research Notes weekly. Both last shipped on October 27, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Prime | Research Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (694 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/prime-pubmed-journals-and-tools/id554157746/reviews)** | [4.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/research-notes/id1472037622/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **694** | 4 |
| Positive reviews | **83.8% of reviews** | 71.4% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 9 MB | 6 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 17+ | +4 |
| Developer | [Unbound Medicine, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/300420400) | [Omelette, Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/984352813) |

## What reviewers say

### Prime

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/prime-pubmed-journals-and-tools/id554157746)

Access up-to-date journal citations and abstracts from the complete PubMed database. Perform powerful searches, link to full-text articles, and utilize exclusive tools for visual exploration of research relationships and personalized discovery.

**Highlights:** PubMed database access, Keyword, author, journal search, Link to full-text articles, Bookmark and tag articles, Share articles via multiple platforms, Grapherence visual search, Personalized article feed

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great app for resources and information
- 🚀 Quick and easy access to PubMed database
- 🔍 Useful for research and staying up-to-date
- 💡 Helpful grapherence feature to track citations
- 👍 User-friendly interface and workflow

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or glitches
- 📱 Limited functionality on iPad (no PDF saving/sharing)
- 🔍 Difficulty performing complex searches
- 💾 No way to save or manage PDFs within the app

**Reported bugs**

- Abstracts cut off and unable to scroll
- Crashes on certain devices (iPad 3, iOS 8.4)
- Duplicate papers appearing in reading lists

**Requested features**

- Ability to open PDFs in external apps
- Option to delete irrelevant items from saved lists
- Faster article loading times
- Integration with Dropbox or other cloud storage
- Advanced search functionality (e.g., author + abstract)


### Research Notes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/research-notes/id1472037622)

Access RSS feeds from hundreds of scientific journals across various subject categories. Download PDFs and utilize a text-to-speech feature for articles. Organize your favorite journals and discover new ones.

**Highlights:** Hundreds of journal RSS feeds, Subject category filtering, PDF download functionality, Text-to-speech for articles, Favorite journals section, New journal additions

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PDF to Audio for 6 months | $7.49 | per 6 months |
| PDF to Audio for 12 Months | $11.99 | per year |
| Research Notes | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Prime free?

Prime is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Research Notes free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Prime or Research Notes?

Prime is rated higher. Prime averages 4.8 out of 5 from 694 ratings, while Research Notes averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.

### Do Prime or Research Notes have ads?

Research Notes shows ads; Prime does not.

### Which is updated more often, Prime or Research Notes?

Prime ships an update every 4 months, and Research Notes weekly. Most recently, Prime was updated on October 27, 2026 and Research Notes on October 27, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*