Comparison

Papyrus vs Reader Ink

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

Head to head
About

Papyrus

Features
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Is your current note app slow? Meet a truly lightweight note app. - It's free β€” with no stingy limit on the number of notes. - Trimmed of every bit of bloat, yet complete with the features you actually need. - Open as many notes as you like with no slowdown, and PDFs load blazingly fast. - Import and edit notes from another popular note app. - Import by the folder β€” the hierarchy is preserved. [GoodNotes Import] Import .goodnotes files. Strokes, images, shapes, and masks are reproduced almost perfectly. [Handwriting] A custom vector drawing engine delivers extremely lightweight, high-precision ink. Five tools are built in: Pen, Highlighter, Eraser, Lasso, and Mask. Anything selected with the Lasso can be copied, moved, deleted, or duplicated. Mask is a study aid β€” cover what you want to memorize with the pen, then tap to peek underneath. Straight-line snapping and shape recognition (rectangles, circles, lines, and more) are also supported. [PDF Import & Annotation] Import a PDF and write directly on its pages. Switch between four page layouts: continuous scroll, single page, horizontal, and two-page spread. [File Organization] Organize your notes with a Finder-like file browser, creating folders freely. Switch between list and grid views, and move files and folders by drag and drop. A Trash lets you restore notes you deleted by mistake. [Tabs & Split View (iPad)] Open multiple notes at once in tabs. On iPad, split the screen to view and edit two notes side by side (Split View). [Page Sidebar] Swipe in from the left edge to reveal page thumbnails. Press and hold a thumbnail to reorder pages, and select multiple pages to delete, copy, and paste. [Images] Paste images from Photos, Files, or the clipboard. [Export] Export notes and PDFs as a "PDF for submission/printing," a "fast annotation PDF" (PDF annotations only), or a "Papyrus Archive" (.papyrus). [Apple Pencil] - iPad: draw with Apple Pencil only; pan and zoom with your finger. - iPhone: draw with your finger while the compact ink palette is open; otherwise pan and zoom. - With Apple Pencil Pro, use the squeeze gesture to bring up the hover palette. About Papyrus Sync (Subscription) iCloud sync and sharing are available through the "Papyrus Sync" subscription (monthly or yearly, auto-renewing). All core features β€” note-taking, PDF annotation, and more β€” are completely free. - Payment will be charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. - The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. - You can manage your subscription or turn off auto-renewal in your Apple Account settings after purchase. - Prices are shown in the app and may vary by region. Terms of Use (EULA): https://coremedica.jp/pages/legal/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://coremedica.jp/pages/legal/privacy-policy

About

Reader Ink

Features
Read full description

Reader Ink is a fast, focused PDF app for iPhone and iPad. Read comfortably, mark up with Apple Pencil, fill and sign forms, and listen to any document β€” all in one calm, native app. READING THAT FEELS RIGHT β€’ Three reading tones β€” light, warm sepia, and a true dark mode that inverts the page while keeping photos, charts, and colored diagrams intact. β€’ Full-width pages, fluid scrolling, and instant open even for very large documents. β€’ Continuous or single-page layouts, pinch to zoom, and fit-to-width in one tap. β€’ Move fast with a thumbnail grid, the document outline (table of contents), and your own bookmarks. β€’ Open several documents at once as tabs, and keep your place across sessions. FIND ANYTHING INSTANTLY β€’ One fast search with results grouped by page and the current match clearly emphasized. β€’ Match case and whole-words options; full keyboard shortcuts on iPad and Mac. MARK UP WITH APPLE PENCIL β€” OR YOUR FINGER β€’ Apple’s own tool palette floats right on the live page: pen, highlighter, marker, eraser, and ruler. β€’ Highlight, underline, and strike through text that snaps to the lines. β€’ Add shapes, stamps (Approved, Confidential, Draft, date), and sticky notes. β€’ Everything is written as standard PDF annotations, so your work opens correctly in Preview, Acrobat, and everywhere else. β€’ See every highlight and note in one list β€” search it, filter by type and color, tap to jump, edit in place. β€’ Share a flattened copy or a clean, unmarked copy; your original is never changed. FILL & SIGN β€’ Tap form fields and type; move through them with next and previous. β€’ Create your signature once β€” draw it, type it, or capture it from a photo β€” store it securely on device, and reuse it anytime. β€’ Add a date stamp, then share a flattened, signed copy. The original document stays untouched. LISTEN TO ANY DOCUMENT β€’ Read aloud sentence by sentence, with the spoken sentence highlighted on the page. β€’ Choose the voice and speed; the page language is detected automatically. β€’ Control playback from the Lock Screen and headphones. LOOK UP & TRANSLATE β€’ Select text to look up definitions, translate, or search the web β€” right from the page. NEVER LOSE YOUR WORK β€’ Local version history keeps earlier versions of every document; go back anytime without losing anything. β€’ Automatic recovery restores your document if the app is interrupted. WORKS WITH YOUR FILES β€’ Edit documents in place in the Files app and iCloud Drive β€” no importing, no separate library. DESIGNED FOR EVERYONE β€’ Built with VoiceOver document structure, Dynamic Type, Reduce Transparency, Reduce Motion, and Differentiate Without Color. β€’ Fully localized in 23 languages. Reader Ink brings reading, annotation, forms, signatures, and read-aloud together in one place β€” precise, quiet, and right at home on Apple devices. PDF viewer, PDF editor, PDF converter and PDF scanner β€” all in one app. Convert PDF to Word, PDF to Excel, PDF to PowerPoint and PDF to JPG. Scan to PDF with OCR. Merge PDF, split PDF and compress PDF. Sign PDF and fill PDF forms. As your PDF viewer and PDF editor, Reader Ink lets you annotate PDF, highlight PDF and read PDF aloud. PDF reader, PDF editor, PDF converter, PDF scanner, PDF signer β€” Reader Ink. Ready for Apple Duo, Apple's foldable phone β€” more room to read PDF, annotate PDF and sign PDF. Privacy Policy: https://60studio.net/apps/reader-ink/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Papyrus4 screens
Reader Ink4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Papyrus at every 4 days against Reader Ink's every 11 days. Reader Ink's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Papyrus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Reader Ink sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Papyrus ships an update every 4 days, Reader Ink every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Papyrus versus Reader Ink: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPapyrusReader Ink
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 days β€” betterEvery 11 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size11 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerwaraku kobayashiILKER YILDIRIM

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Papyrus

Subscriptions2
  • Papyrus Sync Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Papyrus Sync Yearly$9.991 Year
3 purchases

Reader Ink

Subscriptions2
  • Reader Ink Pro (Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Reader Ink Pro (Yearly)$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is Papyrus free?
Papyrus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Reader Ink free?
Reader Ink is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Papyrus or Reader Ink have ads?
Neither Papyrus nor Reader Ink shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Papyrus or Reader Ink?
Papyrus ships an update every 4 days, and Reader Ink every 11 days. Most recently, Papyrus was updated on October 13, 2026 and Reader Ink on October 8, 2026.

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