Papers by ReadCube vs MarginNote 4
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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!
MarginNote 4
This app integrates reading, note-taking, mind mapping, and flashcards into a unified study environment. It supports active learning with features like study sets, book compilation, and dual-article views. Enhance your understanding with visual learning tools and AI-powered content extraction for long-term memory retention.
- Integrated reading, note-taking, mind mapping, and flashcards
- Quick Extend Note and Handwriting Layers for annotation
- Study Set for organizing PDFs, EPUBs, videos, and audio
- Mind Map and Concept Diagram for visual learning
- AI Content Detection for formula and chart extraction
- FSRS spaced-repetition algorithm for reviews
- iCloud sync across Apple devices
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MarginNote is the PDF study tool for deep readers. One excerpt is a PDF highlight, a mind map node, and a flashcard — one capture, three places. This is the Card Axis architecture, so you stop ferrying content between a PDF reader, a notes app, and a flashcard tool. A decade of iteration. 188K+ App Store ratings. 【Four Featured Mechanics】 ▸ Card Axis — One excerpt, three renders. Document highlight, mind map node, and flashcard are the same card seen from three angles. ▸ Title Link — Old notes auto-surface in new documents. When a familiar concept appears in what you're reading, your past annotation lights up on the page. ▸ Extended Note — Long-press anywhere on a PDF to open writing space. No anchored text required; three display modes (inline / margin / collapsed). ▸ Immersive Mode (4.4) — Three-state toggle: Read / Write / Recall. UI folds away. Recall blurs excerpts with Gaussian blur — tap to reveal only after you've actually recalled. 【AI Capabilities (introduced in 4.2)】 AI book breakdown · AI OCR templates · AI translation · AI Q&A · AI flashcard generation Our stance is AI as assistant, not replacement — every suggestion can be saved as your own thinking node, never thinking for you. 【Apple Intelligence (iOS 26+)】 Recall Mode hints can run on-device via Apple Intelligence — pick "Apple AI" or "cloud LLM" in Settings. With Apple AI selected, three tiers of help — Neighbor Coordinate · Reasoning Prompt · Key Distinction — are generated by Apple Foundation Models right on your device: no network calls, no AI credits used, your notes never leave your device. Even if you've selected cloud LLM, going offline auto-falls back to Apple Intelligence (provided your device supports it) — so libraries, planes, and exam-day silent rooms never break your hint loop. 【Full Workflow】 Fast OCR · Study Sets (PDF / EPUB / video / audio) · direct read from Zotero / cloud drives / USB · 10 mind map styles · book recomposition · dual-document compare · concept maps · handwriting layers 【FSRS Spaced Repetition】 Built on the open-spaced-repetition project's algorithm (paper accepted by ACM SIGKDD; Anki has used FSRS as its default scheduler since v23.10). Push short-term memory into long-term. 【Built For】 Anyone re-reading a single document until it sticks — med school (USMLE / MCAT) · law school (LSAT / bar exam) · grad prep (GRE / GMAT / CFA) · researchers · language learners (IELTS / TOEFL) · serious readers. 【All Apple Platforms】 iPhone + iPad + Mac under one Apple ID. iCloud syncs Study Sets, notes, and review progress. Native Apple Pencil support on iPad. — Questions? Email service@marginnote.com Terms: https://dist.marginnote.com/MarginNote_Terms_and_Conditions.pdf Privacy: https://dist.marginnote.com/MarginNote_Privacy_Policy.pdf
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Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MarginNote 4 at 4.5 against Papers by ReadCube's 3.7. MarginNote 4 also leads on review sentiment (58% vs 41%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Papers by ReadCube's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. MarginNote 4 sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Papers by ReadCube asks for nothing beyond the download.
MarginNote 4 holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 555 and 716 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Papers by ReadCube's written reviews are positive against 58% of MarginNote 4's.
Papers by ReadCube ships an update every 2 months, MarginNote 4 every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.
| Parameter | Papers by ReadCube | MarginNote 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (555 ratings) | 4.5 (716 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 41.0% of reviews | 58.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 555 | 716 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 79 MB | 330 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Digital Science & Research Solutions Inc. | Beijing Yunsi Software Technology Co., Ltd |
Customer experience
Papers by ReadCube
MarginNote 4
User reviews
Papers by ReadCube
From 555 App Store ratingsWhat 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 4
From 716 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful features
- 📚 Great for academic/research use
- 👍 Useful note-taking and organization
- 🖊️ Improved handwriting and annotation
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
- 🕰️ Slow and laggy sync between devices
- 🤯 Steep learning curve, poor documentation
- 💰 Expensive upgrade from previous version
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 4
Reported bugs
3 issues- Disappearing annotations when using extend function
- Inability to restore accidentally deleted mind maps
- Inconsistent behavior with PDF file management
Requested features
4 requests- Improved iCloud/cloud sync reliability
- More intuitive and user-friendly interface
- Better support for external document libraries
- Ability to disable auto-excerpt selection
In-app purchases
Papers by ReadCube
No in-app purchases
MarginNote 4
- Subscription to MAX (Monthly)7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Subscription to MAX (3 months)7 Days trial$4.993 Months
- Subscription to MAX (6 months)7 Days trial$7.996 Months
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- Subscription to MAX (Annually)1 Month trial$12.991 Year
- MarginNote Max Annual1 Month trial$16.991 Year
- 14 days Free Trial2 variantsFree
- Upgrade to PRO from MN3(iOS)$4.99
- Unlock PRO Forever (New)$12.99
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- Upgrade to MAX from MN3(macOS)$19.99
- Unlock MAX based on PRO$39.99
- Unlock MAX based on PRO (New)$40.00
- Unlock MAX Forever (New)$51.99









