Idea Threads vs Marginalist
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Idea Threads
Capture and organize your creative thoughts on the go using text, audio, or photos. Organize ideas into threads, search, and filter them easily. Sync with Plottr Pro for advanced project management and collaboration.
- Capture ideas via text, audio, or photo
- Organize ideas into threads
- Search and filter ideas
- Sync with Plottr Pro
- Cloud backup and collaboration
- View projects on the go
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If you are a creative person and you get sudden great ideas while you're not at your computer, this app is for you! Designed to quickly capture your ideas on the go, Idea Threads lets you either type out an idea, speak it, or take a picture. It keeps your ideas organized into threads (categories or projects) to find them easily later. You can search, filter by type (audio, picture, or text), zoom in and out to see lots all at once or the details of each. If you're a writer or you use Plottr for your creative projects, you can log into and subscribe to Plottr Pro (subscription required as in-app purchase) to sync your ideas with your projects and easily turn them into new scenes, characters, world building, and more. You'll also be able to view your projects on the go so you can keep the creative juices flowing on the back burner like all us creatives constantly do. All the base features are completely free: - Capture unlimited ideas - Capture them in audio, photo, or text - Organize them into unlimited threads - Search and filter - Ideas are stored on your device Idea Threads is available for free download. Some features require a subscription to Plottr Pro. This also ensures the continuous development of Idea Threads so that new and improved features can be added over time. Subscribe to Plottr Pro and unlock these features: - Ideas saved in the cloud & synced between devices - Read your Plottr Projects on the go - Send and use your ideas within Plottr - Plottr's web app (works on tablets!) - Real-time collaboration - Cloud backups (of ideas and Plottr files) PLOTTR PRO SUBSCRIPTION INFO: - Subscription length: monthly - Payment will be charged to your iCloud Account as soon as you confirm your purchase - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions auto-renew at the same cost, unless cancelled 24-hours in advance prior to the end of the current period - Subscriptions may be managed by going to your iCloud Account Settings after purchase. - You may manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Plottr does not collect personal data and the developer does not have access to the ideas you create in Idea Threads, nor your Plottr projects. Idea Threads does not track its users and there are no ads in the app. Privacy Policy: https://plottr.com/privacy-policy/ Terms of Service: https://plottr.com/terms-conditions/
Marginalist
Read and annotate long manuscripts with ease. This app supports Word and PDF imports, offers customizable reading environments, and includes AI-powered features for recaps and character indexing. Export your annotated documents with original formatting intact.
- Import Word (.docx) and PDF files
- Customizable reading environment
- Add and manage comments
- AI-powered recap and character index
- Read Aloud functionality
- Export with original formatting
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Marginalist is a focused manuscript reader (and text-to-speech/ manuscript audio player) for book editors, agents, publishers, professors, writing groups, friends-of-novelists, and anyone else who tackles reading long manuscripts. Open a MS Word document (.docx) or PDF, flow it into a beautiful reading experience, add and manage comments, and export back as the original document with all of your formatting intact. Our stay-out-of-the-way AI helps you keep track of your reading experience with three powerful features (Recap, Character Index, Ask) without generative nonsense. FEATURES: - Import MS Word (.docx) or PDF files (Files app, Dropbox, drag-and-drop and via share-sheet integration) - Adjust your perfect reading environment (font, theme, margins, etc) - Add comments with ease - or use one of our 'quick-action' comments - View your reading stats, search the manuscript, or connect an external keyboard - Three powerful non-generative AI features: - 'Remind me what happened' - get a recap of what's happened over the last handful of pages - 'Character index' - Marginalist automatically builds a character index with the associated passages so you never have to ask: 'Who is Robert again?' - Ask a question about the book - Read Aloud - Marginalist will read the manuscript to you - Author's Note - an in-app scratchpad / author's note can be optionally appended to the manuscript - Export the manuscript back into your workflow, with all of the original formatting intact - and all of your comments. Free to download and use. No account or signup needed. Upgrade to PRO for a few extra features. More info: https://marginalist.app Support & Contact https://marginalist.app/support
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Idea Threads at 5.0 against Marginalist's 4.4. Idea Threads also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 75%) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.6). Marginalist's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Idea Threads sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $14.99 per month and Marginalist sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Idea Threads holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Idea Threads's written reviews are positive against 75% of Marginalist's.
Idea Threads ships an update every 2 months, Marginalist weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Idea Threads | Marginalist |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better | 4.4 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 53 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fictional Devices LLC | Ben Parzybok |
Customer experience
Idea Threads
Marginalist
In-app purchases
Idea Threads
- Plottr Pro$14.991 Month
Marginalist
- Marginalist Pro (monthly)$2.991 Month
- Marginalist Pro (yearly)$17.991 Year
- Short Story Narration$3.99
- Novella Narration$9.99
- Novel Narration$23.99
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Novel Narration$29.99
- Long Novel Narration (PRO)$39.99
- Long Novel Narration$49.99
- Epic Narration (Pro)$54.99
- Epic Narration$69.99









