# Papyrus vs Celestis

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Celestis at none against Papyrus's 2. Papyrus's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Papyrus sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Celestis asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Papyrus against 5.0 for Celestis. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively.

Papyrus ships an update weekly, Celestis every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Papyrus | Celestis |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/papyrus-research-library/id6766133716/reviews) | [5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/celestis/id6781116681/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 2 | **4** |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 2 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 29 MB | 3.0 GB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 26.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Zhenda Fu](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896207907) | [Celestis Ai Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/6781116683) |

## What reviewers say

### Papyrus

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/papyrus-research-library/id6766133716)

Organize, annotate, and cite research papers within a native Apple ecosystem. This workspace allows you to import PDFs and citation records, take notes, and manage your reading collections as structured projects. It offers local-first storage with optional cloud sync and various export formats.

**Highlights:** Read and annotate PDFs, Organize citation records, Take Markdown notes, Search entire library, Create structured projects, Local-first storage, Optional iCloud/WebDAV sync

**Features:** Safari Extension, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Papyrus Lifetime Unlock | $3.99 | one-time |
| Papyrus Lifetime Unlock | $5.99 | one-time |


### Celestis

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/celestis/id6781116681)

This AI assistant empowers professionals with private, on-device intelligence for document analysis and knowledge retrieval. It offers offline capabilities, custom AI models built from your data, and supports various AI providers for ultimate flexibility and data sovereignty.

**Highlights:** On-device AI with Apple Intelligence, Offline AI capabilities, Private Capsules for custom AI models, Support for multiple AI providers, Near 100% accurate, sourceable answers, Document ingestion from various formats

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Papyrus free?

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

### Is Celestis free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Papyrus or Celestis?

Papyrus and Celestis are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 4 ratings respectively.

### Do Papyrus or Celestis have ads?

Neither Papyrus nor Celestis shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Papyrus or Celestis?

Papyrus ships an update weekly, and Celestis every 2 weeks. Most recently, Papyrus was updated on October 24, 2026 and Celestis on October 23, 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.*