Comparison

MarkNote 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

MarkNote

Create and manage markdown notes with rich formatting, image embedding, and code snippets. Sync across Apple devices via iCloud and access notes from any web browser. Publish notes as blog posts or share them easily.

Highlights
  • Markdown editing with live preview
  • Embed photos, images, and code snippets
  • iCloud synchronization across devices
  • Web browser access for notes
  • Publish notes as blog posts
  • Graph view for note relations
Features
Read full description

Take notes with markdown. Sync notes into iCloud. Access your documents with any of your mac or iOS devices. Share your notes with your friend. You can easily embed photos, format text, create tables, send rich formatted mail message, and share and edit notes from any devices. FEATURES - Embed photos and images into note - Live preview while writing - Auto save - Send mail with rich format - Swipe to delete a note - Syntax highlighting - Embed code snippets and mathematics formulas - Click to update the task status in todo list - Review and edit your notes from any web browsers or smart devices - Sync your notes into iCloud drive, and share with all your devices. You can read and edit your notes with marknote app on iPhone/iPad or marknotes on mac - Publish your note as blog posts - Import web page shared from apps like mobile safari, save in markdown format, so that you can read it later or edit it later - graph view, visualize notes relations You have complete control to your data. SUPPORT If you have any feedback or questions, reach us by mail at marknote@aliyun.com

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

MarkNote4 screens
MarginNote 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MarginNote 3 at Free against MarkNote's $1.99. MarginNote 3 also leads on ratings volume (5K vs 5) and iOS requirement (11.2 vs 16.0). MarkNote's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and review sentiment (86% vs 75%). On rating, 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

MarginNote 3 is free to download; MarkNote costs $1.99 up front. MarginNote 3 sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. MarkNote asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for MarkNote against 4.7 for MarginNote 3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MarginNote 3 has 5K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of MarkNote's written reviews are positive against 75% of MarginNote 3's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MarkNote ships an update every 3 weeks, MarginNote 3 every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
MarkNote versus MarginNote 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMarkNoteMarginNote 3
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (5 ratings) — better4.7 (5K ratings)
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews — better74.6% of reviews
Number of ratings55K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.011.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB392 MB
Age rating4+17+
Developer淑敏 孙Beijing Yunsi Software Technology Co., Ltd

Customer experience

MarkNote

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

MarginNote 3

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

Bugs and requests

MarkNote

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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

MarkNote

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 MarkNote free?
MarkNote costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is MarginNote 3 free?
MarginNote 3 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MarkNote or MarginNote 3?
MarkNote is rated higher. MarkNote averages 4.8 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while MarginNote 3 averages 4.7 from 5K ratings.
Do MarkNote or MarginNote 3 have ads?
Neither MarkNote nor MarginNote 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MarkNote or MarginNote 3?
MarkNote ships an update every 3 weeks, and MarginNote 3 every 6 weeks. Most recently, MarkNote was updated on September 18, 2026 and MarginNote 3 on September 24, 2026.

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