Comparison

Marginalis vs Marginalia E

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

Head to head
About

Marginalis

This app helps you capture and organize highlights from physical books. It allows you to save quotes, ideas, and summaries, and track your reading habits. Enjoy private AI-powered book summaries and share your favorite passages.

Highlights
  • Capture highlights with Live Text
  • Organize books into custom lists
  • Five types of notes (quote, idea, etc.)
  • Share passages as image cards
  • Reading activity insights
  • On-device AI book summaries
  • Home Screen widget for quotes
Features
Read full description

Every great book leaves a mark. Marginalis makes sure you never lose it. A reading journal for physical book readers — capture highlights, organise your library, and revisit the passages that changed how you think. Capture quotes without the friction Point your camera at any page. iOS Live Text does the rest — your highlight is captured in seconds, no typing, no losing your place. Prefer to highlight in other apps? Send any selected text straight to Marginalis from Kindle, Apple Books, Safari, or anywhere with a share sheet. Five kinds of notes, because not every thought is the same Quote. Idea. Question. Reaction. Summary. Each note type gives your thinking room to breathe — and makes it easy to find exactly what you were looking for when you come back. Your library, the way you actually read Organise books across Reading, Up Next, Wishlist, and Finished. Browse by genre or reading status. Add any title by scanning its barcode, searching by name, or entering it manually. Cover images fetch automatically. Share the passages that moved you Turn any note into a beautiful image card — paper or editorial style, portrait or square. Edit inline, then share anywhere. Because some quotes deserve more than a screenshot. Explore your reading with AI Synthesis lets you have a real conversation with your reading. Select books or tags, then ask anything — what themes keep coming back, what tensions you noticed, what remains unresolved. Your reading assistant answers from your own notes, citing exactly where each idea came from. When something is worth keeping, save it as a permanent insight. On supported devices, Marginalis can also generate an intelligent summary of your notes for any book — powered by Apple Intelligence, processed entirely on your iPhone. Understand your reading life A heatmap of your annotation activity. Note type breakdowns. Most highlighted books. Favourite authors. A tag cloud built from your own words. Marginalis reflects your reading back to you in ways that are actually interesting. Your favourite quotes, on your Home Screen The Marginalis widget brings a daily highlight to your iPhone's Home Screen — a small reminder of why you read. Seamless iCloud sync Your library and notes sync automatically across your devices via iCloud. Private, seamless, requiring nothing beyond your Apple ID. Built for privacy, from the ground up No account required. No subscription. No analytics. No advertising SDKs. Your library, your notes, and your reading life belong entirely to you. Free to start. Yours forever. Marginalis is free to download. Up to 5 books, unlimited notes, every feature available to try. A one-time unlock gives you unlimited books, Markdown export, and full reading stats. No subscription. Ever. Reading that leaves a mark.

About

Marginalia E

Transform passive reading into active learning with this app. It functions as an EPUB and PDF reader with powerful note-taking and annotation tools, all stored locally for maximum privacy. Export your notes in Markdown format for seamless integration with other productivity tools.

Highlights
  • Personal EPUB and PDF library
  • Keyboard and stylus annotation
  • Multi-color highlighting
  • Smart book navigation
  • Customizable reading experience
  • Offline-first and privacy-focused
  • Markdown note exporting
Features
Read full description

Marginalia is an advanced note-taking app designed for you to take notes, highlight, and add handwritten annotations while reading your e-books. Key Features: - Support for EPUB and PDF files - Personalize your books with notes, highlights, and handwritten annotations - Voice dictation - take notes by speaking instead of typing - Full interface support in 8 languages - Organize and tag notes by page - Export your notes as Word, PDF, or Markdown - Dark/Light theme support - Unlock premium features with flexible subscriptions Rediscover reading with Marginalia — every page becomes your collaborative workspace. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Marginalis4 screens
Marginalia E4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Marginalia E at every 8 days against Marginalis's every 5 weeks. Marginalia E also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). Marginalis's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Marginalis sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Marginalia E sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Marginalis against 5.0 for Marginalia E. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Marginalis ships an update every 5 weeks, Marginalia E every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Marginalis versus Marginalia E: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMarginalisMarginalia E
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.5 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB42 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperTIAGO KHZOUZ SANCHEZFURKAN TURGUT

Customer experience

Marginalis

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Marginalia E

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Marginalis

One-time1
  • Marginalis Unlock$4.99
3 purchases

Marginalia E

Subscriptions2
  • Marginalia Pro - Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Marginalia Pro - Yearly$6.991 Year
One-time1
  • Marginalia Pro Life Time$9.99

Questions

Is Marginalis free?
Marginalis is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Marginalia E free?
Marginalia E is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Marginalis or Marginalia E?
Marginalis and Marginalia E are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Marginalis or Marginalia E have ads?
Neither Marginalis nor Marginalia E shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Marginalis or Marginalia E?
Marginalis ships an update every 5 weeks, and Marginalia E every 8 days. Most recently, Marginalis was updated on October 8, 2026 and Marginalia E on October 7, 2026.

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