# LiquidText vs References

The clearest difference is price: LiquidText at Free against References's $4.99. LiquidText also leads on ratings volume (6.4K vs 25) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). References's advantage is review sentiment (88% vs 50%) and in-app purchases (none vs 13). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

LiquidText is free to download; References costs $4.99 up front. LiquidText sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $5.49 per month. References asks for nothing beyond the download.

References holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LiquidText has 6.4K ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of LiquidText's written reviews are positive against 88% of References's.

LiquidText ships an update every 2 weeks, References monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | LiquidText | References |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $4.99 |
| Rating | [4.6 (6.4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/liquidtext/id922765270/reviews) | **[4.9 (25 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/references/id1481843213/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **6.4K** | 25 |
| Positive reviews | 49.6% of reviews | **87.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Monthly |
| Monetization | **Free with in-app purchases** | Paid |
| Size | 317 MB | 55 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.6** | 18.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [LiquidText, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/922765269) | [Benjamin Burton](https://appshunter.io/developer/687735578) |

## What reviewers say

### LiquidText

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/liquidtext/id922765270)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (13)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| LiquidText Live, Monthly, Stu | $5.49 | per month |
| LiquidText Live, Monthly, StPr | $5.49 | per month |
| LiquidText Unlimited, Mo, Stu | $10.90 | per month |
| LiquidText Live, Monthly | $10.90 | per month |
| LiquidText Live, Monthly, Upg | $10.90 | per month |
| LiquidText Unlimited, Yr, Stu | $19.00 | per month |
| LiquidText Live, Yearly, Stu | $54.90 | per year |
| LiquidText Live, Yearly | $99.99 | per year |
| LiquidText Live, Yearly, Upg | $99.99 | per year |
| LiquidText Unlimited, Yr | $189.99 | per year |
| LT Pro - For Students | $19.99 | one-time |
| LiquidText Pro | $29.99 | one-time |
| LiquidText Pro II | $89.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 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

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### References

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/references/id1481843213)

Browse and interact with your BibTeX libraries on your mobile device. View references, follow links, and access file attachments like PDFs. Supports both classic BibTeX and BibLaTeX formats.

**Highlights:** Browse BibTeX libraries, Search references, Follow links (DOIs, URLs), View file attachments (PDFs), Supports BibLaTeX, Group by keywords

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is LiquidText free?

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

### Is References free?

References costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, LiquidText or References?

References is rated higher. LiquidText averages 4.6 out of 5 from 6.4K ratings, while References averages 4.9 from 25 ratings.

### Do LiquidText or References have ads?

Neither LiquidText nor References shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, LiquidText or References?

LiquidText ships an update every 2 weeks, and References monthly. Most recently, LiquidText was updated on September 28, 2026 and References on September 23, 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.*