# Paint Professional HD... vs Highlights

The clearest difference is rating: Highlights at 4.5 against Paint Professional HD...'s 1.7. Highlights also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 15 months) and ratings volume (1.6K vs 3). Paint Professional HD...'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Highlights sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Paint Professional HD... asks for nothing beyond the download.

Highlights holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Highlights has 1.6K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of Paint Professional HD...'s written reviews are positive against 53% of Highlights's.

Paint Professional HD... ships an update every 15 months, Highlights fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Paint Professional HD... | Highlights |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [1.7 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paint-professional-hd/id796986685/reviews) | **[4.5 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 3 | **1.6K** |
| Positive reviews | 48.5% of reviews | **53.2% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 15 months | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 56 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | **9.0** | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Evgeny EGOROV](https://appshunter.io/developer/656113326) | [Jonas Myren Ribe](https://appshunter.io/developer/794854096) |

## What reviewers say

### Paint Professional HD...

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paint-professional-hd/id796986685)

Create detailed digital artwork with a wide range of brushes, layers, and advanced editing tools. Seamlessly import and export files, and utilize stylus support for precise control.  Save your progress automatically and share your creations across devices.

**Highlights:** Unlimited undo/redo, Bluetooth stylus support, Layer management, Import/export Photoshop files, Dropbox integration, Record and replay paintings, Advanced gestures for zoom and tools

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


### Highlights

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/highlights-pdf-reader-and-notes/id1498912833)

This app is a fast and lightweight PDF reader designed for research. It allows users to read, highlight, and annotate documents, and then extract this information into organized notes. Advanced features include table data extraction, text recognition, and smart copying of annotations into various formats.

**Highlights:** Read and browse PDF documents, Highlight, underline, and strikethrough text, Add comments and sticky notes, Extract annotations into organized notes, Convert table data and recognize text, Smart copy annotations to various formats (CSV, BibTex), Lookup citation metadata and DOI links

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Highlights Pro: Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Highlights Pro | $29.99 | per year |
| Highlights Pro: Legacy Upgrade | $29.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great for highlighting and annotating PDFs
- 🔍 Effective for research and note-taking
- 📚 Useful for academic and professional work
- 👍 Clean and intuitive user interface
- 🔗 Good integration with other apps and cloud storage

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Subscription model is too expensive
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited search functionality
- 🔒 Lack of customization options
- 🔧 Poor customer support and unresponsive developers

**Reported bugs**

- Highlights and annotations randomly disappearing
- Text selection issues, especially with footnotes
- Compatibility problems with certain PDF files
- Syncing issues across devices
- Export functionality not working as expected

**Requested features**

- Add handwriting and freeform annotation support
- Implement a table of contents or bookmarking feature
- Allow editing of notes directly in the app
- Provide a one-time purchase option instead of subscription
- Improve search capabilities with visual results and navigation


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Paint Professional HD... free?

Paint Professional HD... is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Highlights free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Paint Professional HD... or Highlights?

Highlights is rated higher. Paint Professional HD... averages 1.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Highlights averages 4.5 from 1.6K ratings.

### Do Paint Professional HD... or Highlights have ads?

Neither Paint Professional HD... nor Highlights shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Paint Professional HD... or Highlights?

Paint Professional HD... ships an update every 15 months, and Highlights fortnightly. Most recently, Paint Professional HD... was updated on October 15, 2026 and Highlights on October 17, 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.*