# EndNote vs Paperpile

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Paperpile at 72% against EndNote's 28%. Paperpile also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.6) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Paperpile holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 165 and 129 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of EndNote's written reviews are positive against 72% of Paperpile's.

EndNote ships an update every 4 months, Paperpile every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | EndNote | Paperpile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [2.6 (165 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/endnote/id593994211/reviews) | **[4.5 (129 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paperpile/id1187562736/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **165** | 129 |
| Positive reviews | 27.6% of reviews | **71.6% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 91 MB | 242 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Clarivate Analytics (US) LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1291059975) | [Paperpile LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1187562735) |

## What reviewers say

### EndNote

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/endnote/id593994211)

Manage your research from anywhere with this popular tool. Organize, search, and share academic papers and bibliographies seamlessly across devices. Sync your library and annotate PDFs on the go.

**Highlights:** Sync research library across devices, Search academic databases, Annotate PDFs, Import reference file formats, Share references with collaborators, Attach files from cloud storage

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Syncs well with desktop version
- 📚 Convenient for reading and annotating papers
- 💻 Good companion to desktop app
- 🔍 Useful for managing references on the go
- 🖋️ Annotation tools work well with Apple Pencil

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🔍 Clunky search and organization
- 📁 Sync issues and lost annotations
- 🔒 Incompatible with other cloud storage
- 🔧 Missing key features from desktop version

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when editing references
- Indexing issues and lost library data
- Compatibility problems with iOS updates
- PDF viewer issues (e.g. no rotation, lost page position)
- Login and authentication problems

**Requested features**

- Cite while you write functionality
- Better PDF annotation tools (e.g. eraser, text notes)
- Support for group sets and nested folders
- Automatic citation data population from PDFs
- Improved syncing and offline access


### Paperpile

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paperpile/id1187562736)

Organize and manage your research papers effortlessly. Collect, read, and annotate PDFs from millions of academic journals. Beat paper chaos with a tidy digital library.

**Highlights:** Search millions of academic papers, Collect PDFs with one tap, Organize with folders and labels, Read and annotate PDFs, Highlight and add notes, Browser integration for saving

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Excellent reference library management
- 🔄 Seamless cross-device synchronization
- ✍️ Intuitive PDF annotation and highlighting
- 🎨 Clean and minimalist user interface
- 📱 Strong iPad and mobile integration

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and instability
- ⏱️ Lack of updates for extended periods
- 📱 Mobile app significantly behind web version features
- 🔋 High battery drain on iPad
- 🌙 No dark mode support

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes frequently on iPad and iOS devices
- Highlighting disappears when revisiting papers
- Overlapping annotations delete together when removing one
- Sync failures requiring logout/login cycles
- Annotations not syncing between iPad and web versions

**Requested features**

- Dark mode implementation
- Edit citation metadata on mobile app
- Change PDF file functionality
- Save to downloads feature
- Dictionary/lookup function for reading


## Frequently asked questions

### Is EndNote free?

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

### Is Paperpile free?

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

### Which has better reviews, EndNote or Paperpile?

Paperpile is rated higher. EndNote averages 2.6 out of 5 from 165 ratings, while Paperpile averages 4.5 from 129 ratings.

### Do EndNote or Paperpile have ads?

Neither EndNote nor Paperpile shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, EndNote or Paperpile?

EndNote ships an update every 4 months, and Paperpile every 2 months. Most recently, EndNote was updated on September 22, 2026 and Paperpile on September 21, 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.*