# SciSpace vs ZiNote

The clearest difference is rating: ZiNote at 5.0 against SciSpace's 3.2. ZiNote also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). SciSpace's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. ZiNote sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. SciSpace asks for nothing beyond the download.

ZiNote holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SciSpace has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

SciSpace ships an update fortnightly, ZiNote every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SciSpace | ZiNote |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.2 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scispace/id6742434138/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zinote-research-paper-reader/id6756495932/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **6** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 12.5% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 78 MB | 74 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [PubGenius Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1798128342) | [小双 王](https://appshunter.io/developer/1860645573) |

## What reviewers say

### SciSpace

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scispace/id6742434138)

This AI-powered research companion helps academics, researchers, and students accelerate literature reviews. It allows users to search millions of papers using natural language, extract key insights from documents, and receive citation-backed answers to their queries.

**Highlights:** AI-powered semantic search, Instant paper insights extraction, Citation-backed answers, Access to 270+ million papers, Multilingual support

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


### ZiNote

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zinote-research-paper-reader/id6756495932)

Access and organize academic papers from top research databases. Get personalized daily feeds, AI summaries, and journal tracking. Save, share, and export citations for your research library.

**Highlights:** Personalized daily research feed, Swipe to discover papers, AI summaries with offline translation, Journal tracking for 4,000+ publications, Save, share, and export citations, Organize papers in a personal library

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Early Bird Pricing | $4.99 | per month |
| ZiNote Pro Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| ZiNote Pro Yearly | $29.99 | per year |
| Early Bird Yearly | $49.99 | per year |
| ZiNote Pro Lifetime | $69.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SciSpace free?

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

### Is ZiNote free?

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

### Which has better reviews, SciSpace or ZiNote?

ZiNote is rated higher. SciSpace averages 3.2 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while ZiNote averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do SciSpace or ZiNote have ads?

Neither SciSpace nor ZiNote shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SciSpace or ZiNote?

SciSpace ships an update fortnightly, and ZiNote every 3 months. Most recently, SciSpace was updated on October 9, 2026 and ZiNote on October 6, 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.*