Comparison

PDF Noted vs Elephant Folio

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

Head to head
About

PDF Noted

Features
Read full description

Effortlessly extract, view, and export highlights and notes from your PDFs. PDF Noted is a simple, focused utility that turns your annotations — highlights, underlines, and notes — into clean, readable text. Whether you're studying, reviewing research, or preparing summaries, PDF Noted helps you quickly capture what's important. Features: • Extract highlights, underlines, and notes from PDFs. • Export your annotations as plain text or RTF (styled text). • Extract annotations from PDFs in any app by using the Share menu. Full Version — one-time purchase ($7.99): • Unlock all features with no limitations.

About

Elephant Folio

This app automatically organizes your PDF documents using on-device AI. It intelligently files, tags, and categorizes PDFs from various sources, making them easily searchable. Your documents remain private and accessible across all your Apple devices.

Highlights
  • On-device AI for automatic filing
  • Intelligent tagging and categorization
  • Cross-device library sync via iCloud
  • Capture PDFs from Safari, Mail, and camera
  • Full-text search including document content
  • Offline-first functionality
  • Siri Shortcuts integration
Features
Read full description

Elephant Folio is a PDF organizer built for people who read papers. Bring a paper in from Safari, Mail, or anywhere on your device, and Elephant Folio files it for you; based on what's actually inside it, not just the filename. The folders get made. The tags get applied. You keep reading. Rules that organize for you Set a rule once and every matching document gets tagged automatically. Match on filename, file contents, author, and more. You can combine conditions with a simple any/all toggle. Rules run the moment a file arrives, and you can re-run them on any file in your whole library anytime. No more tagging one file at a time. Smart organizing, on by default: When Apple Intelligence is available on one of your devices, Elephant Folio can also read and tag documents on its own. Your documents stay yours: Everything stays on your devices. Nothing is uploaded anywhere. Capture from anywhere: The Share extension works across Safari, Mail, Files, and anything else that can hand off a PDF. Scan a physical page and it's filed before you put your phone down and your rules apply instantly. Search that actually reaches: Not just filenames. Not just folders. Text, tags, and document content, so the thing you're looking for turns up even when you don't remember what you called it. One library across all your devices: iCloud keeps Mac, iPad, and iPhone in sync — down to the exact page you left off on. Files live in your Documents folder and open in any app that reads PDFs. Siri Shortcuts let Elephant Folio fit inside whatever system you've already built for yourself. Import from anywhere (even from the browser on a Windows): As long as you can access your iCloud folder, you can drag your PDF documents to Elephant Folio and they will be imported next time you open the app. No internet? No problem: Elephant Folio is a privacy-centric, offline-first app. Capture, read, tag, and search anywhere. The only network requests this app makes are ones to Apple's servers for iCloud syncing or those to fetch metadata from CrossRef/ArXiv/Pubmed. The elephant never forgets. Now neither do you. By using this app you agree to Apple's standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

PDF Noted3 screens
Elephant Folio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: PDF Noted at 17.6 against Elephant Folio's 26.0. On price, ads, 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. PDF Noted sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Elephant Folio sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
PDF Noted versus Elephant Folio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPDF NotedElephant Folio
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequency—Every 2 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB95 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperReferencesOnTapBeroea Tech L.L.C

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PDF Noted

One-time1
  • Full Version$7.99
2 purchases

Elephant Folio

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly Subscription$4.001 Month
One-time1
  • Lifetime License$55.00

Questions

Is PDF Noted free?
PDF Noted is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Elephant Folio free?
Elephant Folio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PDF Noted or Elephant Folio have ads?
Neither PDF Noted nor Elephant Folio shows ads.

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