Comparison

Papers by ReadCube vs MarginNote 3

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

Head to head
About

Papers by ReadCube

Manage, read, and discover research literature on your mobile devices. Annotate PDFs, organize your library with custom lists and tags, and receive personalized recommendations for new papers. Syncs seamlessly with desktop and web applications.

Highlights
  • Read and manage research papers
  • Annotate PDFs with notes and highlights
  • Organize library with custom lists and tags
  • Discover new research with personalized recommendations
  • Search and download articles
  • Sync across devices
Features
Read full description

ReadCube is the simplest way to read, manage and discover research literature. ReadCube on your iPhone and iPad are the perfect companions to the ReadCube web and desktop software, enabling you to access your papers anywhere – read on the go, organize your library, and annotate PDFs with notes and highlights. Enhanced PDF: • Tap-able inline citations, reference lists, and author names so you can quickly find cited articles and related information • Supplements are automatically attached where available • Fullscreen or double-page PDF viewing plus multi-touch zoom/navigation for an optimal reading experience • Multi-color highlighting and note taking tools Easily find new papers: • Search the ReadCube databases within the app • Quickly download new articles with a single tap when you’re on campus or with your institutional proxy • Import directly from Safari, email attachments, and other apps • In your preferred browser, use any search engine to find article PDFs • Use the “Open In…” option from the browser or any app to add PDFs to your ReadCube library • Metadata is automatically resolved - no more guessing with cryptic file names Personalized Recommendations: • Discover relevant new papers based on your library or lists – you’ll never miss another important paper again! Stay organized: • Create custom lists and sort articles into one or multiple lists • Quickly search your entire library (and all annotations) • Add any number of #tags to further customize your library organization • Sync everything – papers, notes, highlights – between the ReadCube desktop and web apps or your other mobile devices Simplify your research life – try ReadCube for free on your iPhone, iPad, and computer. We love feedback from our users - please email support@readcube.com with any suggestions or issues. Thanks for using ReadCube!

About

MarginNote 3

This app redefines studying by integrating e-reading with powerful annotation, mind mapping, and flashcard tools. Organize knowledge, connect ideas with hashtags, and enhance memory retention through spaced repetition. It offers a seamless workflow across multiple documents and devices.

Highlights
  • Integrated PDF/EPUB reader
  • Advanced annotation tools
  • Mind mapping and outline organization
  • Flashcard creation and Anki export
  • Multi-document support
  • Handwriting and Apple Pencil support
  • OCR for scanned PDFs
Features
Read full description

MarginNote 3, all brand new e-reader to better study and digest your books Integrating powerful tools for book annotation, mindmapping, flashcards and more, to build up your reading notes as never before. ============================================ Welcome to MarginNote. This is a highly powerful reading and study software and is applicable to Mac, iPad, and iPhone. By integrating the PDF/EPUB reader and multiple powerful study tools, MarginNote will enable learners to reorganize and connect knowledge from different aspects, then memorize and grasp it accordingly. Whatever your profession, such as student, educator, researcher, lawyer, or life-long learner, you may annotate and take notes through MarginNote, organize notes via Mindmap and Outline, connect knowledge horizontally via Hashtag and raise memory effect via the Flashcards. You will discover what MarginNote does is not to simply integrate these tools. Instead, it combines them deeply and skillfully, which makes it easier for users to toggle between different tools. What's New in MarginNote 3 * New and Clean UI Completely redesigned. * Improved performance and Running more smoothly * Support both Document Reading mode & Study Reading mode. * Excerpts & Note-taking * Enhanced Handwriting & apple-pencil support. * Support TextBox on PDF. * Support direct text-typing & sketching when editing note cards. * Support Auto OCR when excerpting on scanned PDFs. * Emphasis & Cloze * Support direct emphasis in powerful Emphasis mode both on PDF or Outline. * Support auto convert emphasis to Cloze in CardDeck. * Support creating Image-Occlusion flashcards. * Multi-Documents * Support both document tabs & split views to switch between documents. * MindMap * Auto grouping new excerpts by Document Table of Contents. * Support new brach display mode: Framework. * Swipe/Drag gestures to slide in/out Outline & Documents in Study mode. * Enhanced grouped cut/paste, drag to merge,.. etc. * Outline * Improved search and displaying keywords in results. * Improved styles. * CardDeck: * View Flashcards in MindMap mode and Document mode. * Enhanced Anki Export: Card styles, Image occlusions, Cloze * Enhanced Research web browser. * iCloud Sync * Fixed several design issue in previous versions. * More stable & improved performance. * Categories * Separate categories for Document, Study and Review. * Trash * Recover data from Trash and make data more safe. * Trial * 14-days free trial. MarginNote 2 features: Reading: - Support PDF and EPUB format; Annotating and NoteTaking: - Support text highlight and rectangular highlight; - Add notes directly at the page margin; the note editing area will not overlap with the book content at all; - Text, voice, picture, sketching and many other forms of comments in note; - Add hashtags to notes to facilitate the connection of notes; Outline and Mindmap: - Outline and Mindmap in one view; - Create Outline tree by swipe gestures; - Multi-selection editing such as group, merge, clone, etc; - Quick searching and filtering according to colors, hashtags, books. Flashcard: - Highlights and notes can be automatically turned into flashcards for review; - Spaced repetition adopting the Anki-based algorithm; - Switch to the linking book page at any time; iPad Pro & Apple pencil: - Split View of multiple tasks; - High-precision drawing by Apple pencil; - Fine tuned for Apple pencil; - Keyboard shortcuts; Import, Export and Sync: - Import webpages and notes from Evernote; - Export flashcards to Anki; - Export Outline to OmniOutliner; - Export Mindmap to iThoughts or MindManager; - Export to Evernote; - Export all the margin notes, MindManager, Outline and Pages to a printable PDF; - Sync books & notes with iCloud; Terms of Use: https://www.marginnote.com/press/marginnote-3-term-of-use Privacy Policy: https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/92678020

Screenshots

Papers by ReadCube4 screens
MarginNote 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: MarginNote 3 at 4.7 against Papers by ReadCube's 3.7. MarginNote 3 also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 41%) and ratings volume (5K vs 555). Papers by ReadCube's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. MarginNote 3 sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Papers by ReadCube asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MarginNote 3 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MarginNote 3 has 5K ratings behind it against 555, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Papers by ReadCube's written reviews are positive against 75% of MarginNote 3's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Papers by ReadCube ships an update every 2 months, MarginNote 3 every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Papers by ReadCube versus MarginNote 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPapers by ReadCubeMarginNote 3
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (555 ratings)4.7 (5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews41.0% of reviews74.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5555K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.011.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size79 MB392 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperDigital Science & Research Solutions Inc.Beijing Yunsi Software Technology Co., Ltd

Customer experience

Papers by ReadCube

All ratings555 ratings
Positive65.9%
Neutral10.3%
Negative23.8%
Written reviews183 reviews
Positive41.0%
Neutral18.0%
Negative41.0%

MarginNote 3

All ratings5,043 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral2.6%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews983 reviews
Positive74.6%
Neutral11.5%
Negative13.9%

User reviews

Papers by ReadCube

From 555 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Seamless syncing across devices
  • 📚 Excellent for organizing and managing research papers
  • 🔍 Helpful search and discovery features
  • 💻 Good integration with desktop and web versions
  • 📝 Useful annotation and highlighting tools

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy annotation and handwriting tools
  • 🔍 Inconsistent search and metadata retrieval
  • 💾 Unreliable cloud sync and data loss issues
  • 🖍️ Limited annotation features compared to competitors
  • 🕰️ Slow development and lack of updates

MarginNote 3

From 5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful and efficient for studying and research
  • 👍 Excellent mind mapping and note-taking features
  • 💡 Unique and innovative functionality like video annotation
  • 🚀 Handles large volumes of documents and notes well
  • 👍 Useful for organizing and synthesizing information from multiple sources

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 👎 Steep learning curve and lack of comprehensive documentation
  • 👎 Unreliable cloud syncing between devices
  • 👎 Cluttered and unintuitive user interface in some areas
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches with certain features like handwriting and OCR

Bugs and requests

Papers by ReadCube

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • Sync issues causing data loss and duplication
  • Unreliable PDF downloads and access
  • Inconsistent behavior of annotation tools
  • Compatibility problems with newer devices and OS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add eraser tool for handwritten annotations
  • Improve PDF viewing and navigation experience
  • Implement better organization and folder management
  • Integrate citation and bibliography tools
  • Provide more customization options

MarginNote 3

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Syncing issues causing data loss across devices
  • Crashes and freezes when working with large documents
  • Inconsistent behavior with highlighting, erasing, and text formatting
  • OCR not functioning reliably for non-Latin scripts
  • Difficulty managing and organizing large document libraries

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved export options and ability to share projects
  • Better integration with other productivity apps like Anki
  • More customization options for mind maps and annotations
  • Smoother handwriting experience and better palm rejection
  • Support for more file formats like PowerPoint

In-app purchases

None

Papers by ReadCube

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

MarginNote 3

Subscriptions2
  • OCR Pro (Monthly)3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • OCR Pro (Annually)3 Days trial$9.491 Year
One-time3
  • 14 days Free TrialFree
  • Unlock Full$12.99
  • Upgrade to Full$12.99

Questions

Is Papers by ReadCube free?
Papers by ReadCube is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MarginNote 3 free?
MarginNote 3 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Papers by ReadCube or MarginNote 3?
MarginNote 3 is rated higher. Papers by ReadCube averages 3.7 out of 5 from 555 ratings, while MarginNote 3 averages 4.7 from 5K ratings.
Do Papers by ReadCube or MarginNote 3 have ads?
Neither Papers by ReadCube nor MarginNote 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Papers by ReadCube or MarginNote 3?
Papers by ReadCube ships an update every 2 months, and MarginNote 3 every 6 weeks. Most recently, Papers by ReadCube was updated on October 19, 2026 and MarginNote 3 on October 23, 2026.

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