# Papyrus vs Handfull

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Papyrus at none against Handfull's 6. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Handfull sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Papyrus asks for nothing beyond the download.

Papyrus ships an update weekly, Handfull daily. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Papyrus | Handfull |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/papyrus-research-library/id6766133716/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **2** | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Weekly | **Daily** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 31 MB | 56 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **16.4** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Zhenda Fu](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896207907) | [sealMedia GmbH](https://appshunter.io/developer/642364002) |

## What reviewers say

### Papyrus

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

This app is a native research workspace designed for reading, annotating, organizing, and citing PDFs across iPad, iPhone, and Mac. It allows users to mark up documents, take notes, manage collections, and prepare manuscripts with integrated citation tools.

**Highlights:** Read and annotate PDFs, Write on pages with Apple Pencil, Take Markdown notes beside source, Organize papers with folders and tags, Search titles, authors, notes, and full text, Group papers into projects for manuscript writing, Import PDFs and BibTeX/RIS files

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

**In-app purchases:** none


### Handfull

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/handfull-adhd-habit-tracker/id6803895438)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Handful Plus (1 Monat) | $9.99 | per month |
| Handful Plus (12 Monate) | $44.99 | per year |
| Handful Plus (12 Monate) | $59.99 | per year |
| Handful Plus (12 Monate) | $79.99 | per year |
| Handful Plus Lifetime | $59.99 | one-time |
| Handful Plus Lifetime | $115.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Papyrus free?

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

### Is Handfull free?

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

### Do Papyrus or Handfull have ads?

Neither Papyrus nor Handfull shows ads.

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

Papyrus ships an update weekly, and Handfull daily. Most recently, Papyrus was updated on November 9, 2026 and Handfull on November 10, 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.*