Papers by ReadCube vs LiquidText
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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Papers by ReadCube is the simplest way to read, manage and discover research literature. Papers on your iPhone and iPad are the perfect companions to the Papers 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 Papers 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 Papers 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 Papers desktop and web apps or your other mobile devices Simplify your research life – try Papers for free on your iPhone, iPad, and computer. We love feedback from our users - please email support@papersapp.com with any suggestions or issues. Thanks for using Papers!
LiquidText
This app provides a dynamic workspace for reviewing and organizing information from documents and webpages. It allows users to extract key facts, connect ideas across different sources, and annotate content for research, writing, or study.
- Import documents and webpages
- Extract and organize excerpts
- Connect ideas with ink links
- Compare document sections
- Annotate PDFs, Word, and PowerPoint
- Search across all documents
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*** Named “Most Innovative iPad App of the Year” by Apple App Store *** LiquidText offers a fast, natural way to review, gather, and organize information across all your documents and webpages—then apply the results to writing reports, meeting prep, or simply studying. Pull out key facts and connect them together, squeeze a document to compare sections, draw a line to connect ideas in different documents, comment on multiple pages at once, build upon your thoughts, and much more. ► WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: * "If you want to experience the power of going beyond paper, you can download LiquidText" – Cult of Mac * One of Macworld’s Top 24 Apps for iPad Pro * One of Time Magazine's Ten Best apps for iPad Pro * * "There's a better way to organize your research, and the app is it." – iMore, Serenity Caldwell * “All you need for deep research projects.” – Macworld, Jackie Dove * "The world changed with...LiquidText" – Law360, Paul Kiesel * "LiquidText may just be *the* app for reviewing and annotating PDFs using Apple's tablet and stylus." – CIO Magazine, James Martin * “One of the most powerful, original iPad apps I've tried in years” – Federico Viticci, MacStories.net ► LIQUIDTEXT’S COMPLETE FEATURE SET INCLUDES: (Features with * require a paid upgrade.) Import • Create a workspace and import all the documents and web pages you need • Compatible with PDF, Word, and PowerPoint document types • Import from Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Box, email, and more • Import content from webpage or send to LiquidText directly from Safari • Instant OCR to select text in scanned documents; do a full document-OCR to search as well!* • Import documents & metadata directly from reference managers (supports Zotero and Mendeley)* Interact • Pull excerpts from all the documents in your project into the Workspace area • Add your own notes (typed or written) to the Workspace area • Freely draw on your notes, or on the workspace itself* • Organize excerpts and notes into groups • Connect anything - draw live “ink links” that span pages, documents, notes, and more* • Create mind-maps by drawing “ink links” connecting your excerpts/notes to one another * • Get context - tap notes and excerpts to find original source Compare • Pinch a document to compare different distant pages side by side • Collapse text to see annotated parts side-by-side • Collapse text to view search results(s) side-by-side • Import unlimited number of documents into a project, view up to 3 at once* Annotate • Freely draw* or highlight on your document, notes, or the workspace itself • Add margin notes/comments to text, images, notes, and excerpts • Comment on two or more selections simultaneously • Replace document with a newer version (and annotations are brought to new doc)* Search • Search for keywords across all your LiquidText documents • Find keywords in title or text of your documents* • Bulk highlight, tag, or link to your search results* Realtime Collaboration • Invite colleagues into your shared projects and work together in near realtime* • Leave comments and notifications for your collaborators* • Privacy controls: set whether each workspace & document in your project is shared or private* Easy Export • Export your project as a PDF (includes your Workspace and documents) • Export your project as a Word file (converts your notes/excerpts into a linear document) • Send a full LiquidText file for those with the app. • Send files by email or to Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Zotero, and more* Sync & Backup* • Real-time, cross-platform sync • Continuous cloud backup • Multi-device display: • Use your desktop or tablet as additional display for your other device • Use your tablet for freehand inking while viewing and keyboarding on your desktop See our terms of use at https://www.liquidtext.net/terms-of-use Learn more at LiquidText.net | Better Than Paper
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: LiquidText at 4.6 against Papers by ReadCube's 3.7. LiquidText also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (6.4K vs 551). Papers by ReadCube's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.6). On price, 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. LiquidText sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $5.49 per month. Papers by ReadCube asks for nothing beyond the download.
LiquidText holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LiquidText has 6.4K ratings behind it against 551, 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 50% of LiquidText's.
Papers by ReadCube ships an update every 2 months, LiquidText every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Papers by ReadCube | LiquidText |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (551 ratings) | 4.6 (6.4K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 41.2% of reviews | 49.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 551 | 6.4K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 77 MB | 317 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Digital Science & Research Solutions Inc. | LiquidText, Inc. |
Customer experience
Papers by ReadCube
LiquidText
User reviews
Papers by ReadCube
From 551 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
LiquidText
From 6.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful annotation and organization features
- 📚 Excellent for academic and research work
- 💡 Innovative concept and workflow
- 🤖 Responsive and helpful customer support
- 🖼️ Smooth integration with Apple Pencil
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive, especially for the subscription model
- 🐛 Buggy and unstable at times
- 🤯 Steep learning curve and unintuitive interface
- 🔗 Lack of seamless cross-device sync and integration
- 🔍 Navigation and file management issues
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
LiquidText
Reported bugs
5 issues- Frequent crashes and data loss issues
- Inconsistent behavior with Apple Pencil
- Text selection and highlighting problems
- Sync issues between iPad and Mac versions
- Unexpected changes to existing annotations
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Improved palm rejection and writing experience
- Better export and sharing options
- Thumbnail/outline view for easier navigation
- Ability to rotate and resize text/image annotations
In-app purchases
Papers by ReadCube
No in-app purchases
LiquidText
- LiquidText Live, Monthly, Stu7 Days trial$5.491 Month
- LiquidText Live, Monthly, StPr7 Days trial$5.491 Month
- LiquidText Unlimited, Mo, Stu7 Days trial$10.901 Month
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- LiquidText Live, Monthly7 Days trial$10.901 Month
- LiquidText Live, Monthly, Upg7 Days trial$10.901 Month
- LiquidText Unlimited, Yr, Stu7 Days trial$19.001 Month
- LiquidText Live, Yearly, Stu7 Days trial$54.901 Year
- LiquidText Live, Yearly7 Days trial$99.991 Year
- LiquidText Live, Yearly, Upg7 Days trial$99.991 Year
- LiquidText Unlimited, Yr7 Days trial$189.991 Year
- LT Pro - For Students$19.99
- LiquidText Pro$29.99
- LiquidText Pro II$89.99









