EndNote vs Highlights
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
EndNote
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.
- Sync research library across devices
- Search academic databases
- Annotate PDFs
- Import reference file formats
- Share references with collaborators
- Attach files from cloud storage
Read full descriptionHide full description
Collect, collaborate, create from anywhere with the EndNote app - the world's most popular research management tool. With flexible tools for searching, organizing, sharing research, and creating bibliographies, the EndNote app extends your ability to stay on top of cutting edge research and connect with your EndNote library on the go. EndNote enables you to easily view, edit, organize, and share research material on your iOS device. By syncing your research library across iOS, online, and desktop, you increase the power of EndNote by gaining seamless access to your reference library from multiple devices and platforms. The EndNote app includes: - Sign up for a free, EndNote online account or sign in to an existing account - Synchronize your library references, attachments, and PDF annotations to your online account and EndNote desktop - Built in web browser to search Clarivate Analytics Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, your library catalog, or any other database you choose - Built in PDF viewer with wide range of annotation features. Annotations made can be synced and edited online and on the EndNote desktop - Importing capabilities for .ris, .nbib, and other popular reference file formats - Email and copy options for sharing references and file attachments with collaborators - EndNote “temporary citation” format support - Attach files from Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive to your references (accounts available separately) - Viewing and editing options for references and file attachments - Sorting, searching, and grouping options for references and file attachments - Getting Started Guide documentation
Highlights
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.
- 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
Read full descriptionHide full description
"... an app that students, academics, and anyone who does substantial amounts of PDF-based research should try" - Macstories.net "It’s the novel approach to PDF annotation that makes this app a cut above the rest"- TapSmart.com *** "App of the Day" - App Store, US *** USE HIGHLIGHTS FOR FREE Highlights is a fast and lightweight PDF reader (under 10MB) packed with features to help you do your best research. Free users have access to standard PDF reader features including document browsing, reading and annotating. There are NO ADS, time limits or tracking. READ PDF DOCUMENTS • Open PDF documents from anywhere • Browse files using the familiar document browser • Open PDFs in Single Page or Two Page scroll mode • Double tap to Smart Zoom in on a paragraph or figure • Scrub smoothly to the desired page • Search the entire document in an instant • Navigate using any connected keyboard or mouse STORE YOUR FILES WHERE YOU WANT • Full support for "Open In Place" lets you make edits to the file where it is • Access your files from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or Box using the document browser • Or keep them privately on device only HIGHLIGHT AND ANNOTATE FASTER • Select text with your finger, Apple Pencil or mouse pointer • Highlight, underline, strikethrough text and make image selections • Add comments to annotations or as individual sticky notes • Annotate with fewer taps using context aware popovers • Default annotation colors prevents you from having to repeatedly setting the color for the same type of annotation every time TURN ANNOTATIONS INTO NOTES • As you markup text and images the contents are extracted and sorted into notes • Customize the formatting and contents of your notes • Sort the annotations chronologically or create your own color coding EXTRACT TABLE DATA AND RECOGNIZE TEXT • Convert images containing text or tables to actual text and tables using machine learning - letting you get to the underlying data with a single tap SMART COPY Copy annotations to the desired format with one tap: • Text markup as text • Image selections as images • Tables as CSV • Citations as BibTex LOOKUP CITATIONS • Highlights will fetch DOI-links and metadata • Markup any reference and tap the link icon to look it up • If you have read the work already or have it in your reference manager library, Highlights will link you to it EXPORT ANYWHERE • Save or share your notes as portable files: Markdown, TextBundle, HTML, WebArchive or PDF • Share them to your favorite notes app: Apple Notes, Bear, Craft, Evernote, DEVONThink, Keep It, MindNode, Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research or Ulysses • Or send them to a colleague via mail. It's your notes, you decide where they go MUCH MORE • Dark mode • Multi-window support on iPadOS • Keyboard shortcuts and navigation • Support for system Copy and Undo gestures • Alternative app icons • Custom accent colors • Apple Pencil double-tap gestures • Power annotation tools For a full list of features see: highlightsapp.net/features HIGHLIGHTS PRO The Highlights Pro subscription unlocks advanced features on your iPhone, iPad and Mac: • Export options for other apps and easily editable formats • Extract information using table and text recognition • Customize accent colors and alternative app icons • Power annotation tools • Citation lookups • Smart Copy Highlights Pro includes a 14-day free trial. You can cancel your subscription at any time. The subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off within 24-hour prior to the end of of the current period. Payments will be charged to your iTunes account and your account will be charged within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. For more information about Highlights Pro: highlightsapp.net/pro Privacy Policy: highlightsapp.net/privacy Terms of Use: highlightsapp.net/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Highlights at 4.5 against EndNote's 2.6. Highlights also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (53% vs 28%). EndNote's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price, ads, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. EndNote asks for nothing beyond the download.
Highlights holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Highlights has 1.6K ratings behind it against 165, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of EndNote's written reviews are positive against 53% of Highlights's.
EndNote ships an update every 4 months, Highlights fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | EndNote | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.6 (165 ratings) | 4.5 (1.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 27.8% of reviews | 53.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 165 | 1.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 91 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Clarivate Analytics (US) LLC | Jonas Myren Ribe |
Customer experience
EndNote
Highlights
User reviews
EndNote
From 165 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 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
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🔍 Clunky search and organization
- 📁 Sync issues and lost annotations
- 🔒 Incompatible with other cloud storage
- 🔧 Missing key features from desktop version
Highlights
From 1.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 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
Room to improve
- 💰 Subscription model is too expensive
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited search functionality
- 🔒 Lack of customization options
- 🔧 Poor customer support and unresponsive developers
Bugs and requests
EndNote
Reported bugs
5 issues- 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
5 requests- 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
Highlights
Reported bugs
5 issues- 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
5 requests- 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
In-app purchases
EndNote
No in-app purchases
Highlights
- Highlights Pro: Monthly$4.991 Month
- Highlights Pro14 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Highlights Pro: Legacy Upgrade1 Year trial$29.991 Year








