Comparison

DEVONthink To Go 4 vs MarkLift

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

Head to head
About

DEVONthink To Go 4

Manage your entire knowledge library on your iPad and iPhone. Organize, edit, and annotate documents, notes, and more. Leverage generative AI for summaries, content creation, and advanced search. Syncs privately and securely across devices.

Highlights
  • Document organization and management
  • AI-powered summaries and content creation
  • PDF annotation and editing
  • On-device OCR for searchable documents
  • Cross-device secure synchronization
  • Custom metadata and tagging
  • Shortcuts automation
Features
Read full description

Your entire knowledge library. Always with you. Always private. DEVONthink To Go is your document repository when you're not at your Mac. Collect, organize, edit, and annotate. Use generative AI to work with your stored knowledge or create new documents. Automate with Shortcuts. Our time-tested technology keeps all your data in sync between your Mac, iPad, and iPhone, privately and securely. The professional document and information manager for iPad and iPhone. From DEVONtechnologies, driving innovation since 2002. - Students: Annotate research papers with AI-powered summaries - Teachers: Organize your materials, use AI to create handouts and tests - Researchers: Have your data with you in a robust, powerful knowledge manager - Lawyers: Keep all case files organized and encrypted Have your important documents with you at all times: - Never lose an important document again, keep everything organized - Store PDFs, notes, images, bookmarks, just about any type - File your documents in groups, even more than one group at a time - Use tags, mark documents with flags or as unread, give them a star rating - Versioning lets you return to a previous state of a document - Revision-proof databases prevent edits to documents with special requirements - Sync your data between Macs, iPads, and iPhones, securely and privately Work with your documents: - Edit texts, Markdown files, or rich text documents - Annotate and edit PDFs with common tools - Make scans, scanned PDFs, or images searchable with the built-in, on-device OCR - Add custom, searchable metadata fields to enrich your documents Use generative AI: - Work with your favorite provider and model - Chat with your documents, analyze or summarize them - Transform text or extract text from images and even handwritten notes - Create new images from your data - Find documents using natural language with the AI-powered search assistant - Let the AI make order from chaos, rename documents, add tags, or label or rate them DEVONthink To Go is well-integrated with other apps: - Link to your documents from other apps with universal links - Access all your documents also through the Files app - Clip data from almost any app with the Clip to DEVONthink extension - Use drag-and-drop, inside DEVONthink To Go or between apps - Automate repetitive tasks with Shortcuts actions DEVONthink To Go is great standalone but also works perfectly with DEVONthink for Mac and across multiple devices. Synchronize your databases securely and privately over the local network or through a cloud service of your choice. You decide what data is synced, when, and where. Strong encryption makes sure that your data belongs to you, not to your service provider or us. Privacy policy: https://www.devontechnologies.com/r/privacy End user license agreement: https://www.devontechnologies.com/r/eula

About

MarkLift

Features
Read full description

MarkLift turns any document on your iPhone into clean markdown. PDFs, images, Word documents, web pages, CSV and JSON — converted in two taps and ready to paste into ChatGPT, Claude, Obsidian, Bear, Drafts, or your notes. Your documents are converted entirely on your device. The files you convert never leave your phone. WHAT IT CONVERTS - PDF, including scanned pages read with on-device text recognition - Photos and screenshots, with text pulled out automatically - Word documents (.docx), with headings, bold, italics, lists and tables - Web pages — paste a link or share from Safari - CSV to markdown tables, JSON and XML, plain text and markdown AI ENHANCED CLEANUP Apple Intelligence restructures messy text into clean markdown: it fixes broken line wraps, rebuilds tables, removes page numbers and headers, and infers heading levels. Cleanup is optional and reversible — the raw conversion is always kept, so you can switch back with one tap. SHARE SHEET ANYWHERE MarkLift lives in the share sheet. Convert from Safari, Files, or Mail without opening the app. Copy the result, save it as a .md file, or open it straight in your markdown editor. SIMPLE PRICING Three conversions a day are free, in every format. Need more? Watch a short ad for one extra conversion, or unlock unlimited conversions and your full history with a single $4.99 purchase. No subscription. Apple Intelligence cleanup requires a supported device. Conversions work without it. Privacy Policy: https://embay.dev/marklift/privacy Terms of Use: https://embay.dev/marklift/terms

Screenshots

DEVONthink To Go 44 screens
MarkLift3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: DEVONthink To Go 4 at none against MarkLift's shown. DEVONthink To Go 4 also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). MarkLift's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, 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. DEVONthink To Go 4 sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and MarkLift sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DEVONthink To Go 4 ships an update every 3 weeks, MarkLift every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
DEVONthink To Go 4 versus MarkLift: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDEVONthink To Go 4MarkLift
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (260 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews39.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings260 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size193 MB10 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperDEVONtechnologies, LLCEmbay, LLC

In-app purchases

2 purchases

DEVONthink To Go 4

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly1 Month trial$19.991 Year
1 purchases

MarkLift

One-time1
  • MarkLift Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is DEVONthink To Go 4 free?
DEVONthink To Go 4 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MarkLift free?
MarkLift is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do DEVONthink To Go 4 or MarkLift have ads?
MarkLift shows ads; DEVONthink To Go 4 does not.
Which is updated more often, DEVONthink To Go 4 or MarkLift?
DEVONthink To Go 4 ships an update every 3 weeks, and MarkLift every 2 months. Most recently, DEVONthink To Go 4 was updated on November 8, 2026 and MarkLift on October 31, 2026.

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