GradApp. vs Folio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
GradApp.
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GradApp is your graduate school advisor. Upload your CV, and GradApp reads the whole thing, not just keywords, then matches you with professors whose research interests genuinely overlap with your work. Every match shows the proof: a line from your CV next to a real paper of theirs, so you know exactly why it's a fit. WHY GRADAPP ⢠Research interest matching: We match faculty by what they actually publish and are working on at their labs, then explain each match with evidence. No more guessing who to email. ⢠Requirements, country by country: GPA, tests, and deadlines for every school, clearly laid out for the US, UK, Canada, Europe, and beyond. ⢠Scholarships you can actually apply for: Funding matched to your profile, with eligibility and how to apply. ⢠One-tap outreach: Draft a thoughtful email to a professor, grounded in their real papers ā ready to personalize and send. ⢠Track everything (application management): Every application, deadline, and task in one place, so nothing slips. ⢠CV tools: Polish your CV and export a clean PDF. ⢠Built-in advisor: Ask questions and get guidance at any step. NEW TO ALL THIS? You don't need a finished CV or a chosen country to begin. GradApp helps you figure out where to apply, what you need, and who to reach, at your pace. HOW IT WORKS 1. Upload your CV. 2. Pick where you want to apply. 3. Get your matched professors, ranked, with the evidence behind each one. 4. Save your shortlist, draft outreach, and track every deadline through to submission, and manage all your applications on GradApp. GradApp is for anyone applying to a master's or PhD who wants a clearer, faster, more honest path to the right program, wherever in the world they're headed.
Folio
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Folio turns staying current with research into something you actually look forward to. Instead of cluttered tables and endless tabs, you get one paper per screen ā swipe up for the next, just like your favorite feed. Pulled live from the open-access world: arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, OpenAlex, Europe PMC, and Semantic Scholar. Whether you're a researcher, a grad student, or just science-curious, Folio meets you where your attention already is. WHY FOLIO ⢠One paper at a time - a calm, full-screen feed instead of noisy lists ⢠Real coverage - millions of preprints and papers across physics, biology, medicine, CS, and beyond ⢠Math that renders - equations display properly, not as broken symbols ⢠Save & tag - build your own library and organize it your way ⢠Tune your feed - pick the sources and topics you care about ⢠Fast and private - your library and settings live on your device, no account required OPTIONAL AI (BETA) Want a hand making sense of a paper? Folio's optional AI features can: ⢠Summarize at your level - explain-like-I'm-12, standard, or expert ⢠Ask the paper - get answers grounded in the abstract ⢠Translate - read papers in your language ⢠Synthesize - pull themes across a set of papers AI is completely optional and off by default. The whole app works without it. During the beta, AI runs on your own Anthropic Claude API key, stored only on your device ā there's no subscription and nothing to buy inside the app. NO ADS. NO TRACKING. NO ACCOUNT. Folio doesn't sell your data and doesn't show ads. Your saved papers, tags, and settings stay on your device. Science moves fast. Folio helps you keep up - one swipe at a time.
Screenshots
Verdict
GradApp. and Folio are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters ā price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them ā neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | GradApp. | Folio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | ā | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod ā better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 ā better |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 35 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daniel Owusu | Saksham Gupta |
In-app purchases
GradApp.
No in-app purchases
Folio
No in-app purchases









