PHD Helper vs Labline
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
PHD Helper
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PhD life is a lot: deadlines, reading lists, writing targets, supervisor meetings, and endless admin. PhD Helper is a completely free app designed to help you manage your research journey in one calm, organised place. Built by a PhD student for PhD students, PhD Helper helps you plan your timeline, capture what youβre reading, track your writing, and keep all the little tasks and notes from slipping through the cracks. Key features PhD Roadmap: Enter your start and target finish dates and get an auto-generated timeline. Customise it with tasks, track progress, see if youβre ahead/behind, and use a countdown to stay motivated. Share with your supervisor: Export your roadmap or share it through the app so your supervisor can view it. Reading Library: Add papers and documents, tag whatβs useful, take notes, and keep your sources organised. Automatic Harvard referencing: Generate Harvard references automatically and export a reference list. Writing Tracker: Time your writing sessions, add time manually if you forgot, and view stats like your top writing days and streaks. To-Dos (PhD admin included): Capture university tasks and classify them so you always know what they relate to. Brain Dump: Save ideas, paper titles, supervisor notes and more. Add images/screenshots, and capture voice notes with transcription. Profile & data control: Stay in control of your data and delete your account when youβre done. Pricing Free. No subscription required. If you want a clearer plan, a cleaner reading workflow, and a simple way to track your writing β PhD Helper is here to help.
Labline
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LabLine is a powerful scientific discovery explorer that lets you search and visualize research papers across time. Whether you are a student, researcher, educator, or simply curious about how science evolves, LabLine makes it easy to explore the timeline of scientific breakthroughs. LabLine helps you discover influential research papers, explore trends in scientific fields, and understand how discoveries build on each other over time. Instead of scrolling through endless lists of research papers, LabLine organizes discoveries visually by year so you can quickly see how science progresses. Explore decades of innovation in fields like physics, biology, medicine, engineering, and more. Key features Search scientific research papers Find research papers and discoveries by keyword, topic, author, or field of study. LabLine helps surface influential academic work quickly. Scientific discovery timeline View research results organized by year to understand how discoveries develop over time. Citation insights See citation counts and identify highly influential papers that shaped modern research. Research fields and filters Filter discoveries by scientific field, publication year, and research relevance to focus on what matters most to you. Detailed discovery pages Open any discovery to see authors, publication details, citations, DOI links, and additional metadata. Fast browsing experience Quickly explore research results with smooth navigation and optimized loading. Favorites and saved discoveries Bookmark interesting discoveries so you can revisit them later. Who LabLine is for Students researching scientific topics Teachers explaining the evolution of discoveries Researchers exploring related work Science enthusiasts interested in discovery history Anyone curious about how knowledge evolves From early foundational studies to modern breakthroughs, LabLine provides a simple and engaging way to explore the research that shapes our understanding of the world. Start exploring the timeline of science with LabLine.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Labline at none against PHD Helper's 1. Labline also leads on device support. PHD Helper's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). On price there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. PHD Helper sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Labline asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | PHD Helper | Labline |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | β | Every 5 months |
| Ads | β | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No β better |
| Devices | β | iPhone, iPad β better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 β better | 17.6 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 31 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lauren Gilman | Epic Genius LLC |
In-app purchases
PHD Helper
- Buy Me A Coffee$4.99
Labline
No in-app purchases









