With 2-up pages and new iPhone Duo support, Marginalist has never looked better.
Marginalist is a focused manuscript reader (and text-to-speech/ manuscript audio player) for book editors, agents, publishers, professors, writing groups, friends-of-novelists, and anyone else who tackles reading long manuscripts.
Open a MS Word document (.docx) or PDF, flow it into a beautiful reading experience, add and manage comments, and export back as the original document with all of your formatting intact. Our stay-out-of-the-way AI helps you keep track of your reading experience with three powerful features (Recap, Character Index, Ask) without generative nonsense.
FEATURES:
- Import MS Word (.docx) or PDF files (Files app, Dropbox, drag-and-drop and via share-sheet integration)
- Adjust your perfect reading environment (font, theme, margins, etc)
- Add comments with ease - or use one of our 'quick-action' comments
- View your reading stats, search the manuscript, or connect an external keyboard
- Three powerful non-generative AI features:
- 'Remind me what happened' - get a recap of what's happened over the last handful of pages
- 'Character index' - Marginalist automatically builds a character index with the associated passages so you never have to ask: 'Who is Robert again?'
- Ask a question about the book
- Read Aloud - Marginalist will read the manuscript to you
- Author's Note - an in-app scratchpad / author's note can be optionally appended to the manuscript
- Export the manuscript back into your workflow, with all of the original formatting intact - and all of your comments.
Free to download and use. No account or signup needed.
Upgrade to PRO for a few extra features.
More info:
https://marginalist.app
Support & Contact
https://marginalist.app/support
The thought and care put into the interface really allows this app to shine. Also the ability to listen to my work similar to a podcast really allows me to review via a different lens when I’m not behind the screen.
Great Tool
Shampoodog #2
Hearing my work read aloud has made a big difference in the pace and word use of my writing. I can note exactly what and where I need a change. Great tool to improve writing.
Developer Response
Thank you - glad you are enjoying it!
For student manuscripts it’s perfect
Bones Moulton
I use this tool to read the manuscripts of my non-fiction students. The reading experience is very clean and pretty, and when I’m finished I send it back directly, comments attached. The other thing I’ve been loving is listening to my own work played back via the audio narration. It’s easy to pause to add a comment and then restart. The system voices are pretty good on iOS 26, though not perfect. Otherwise, great app.
Lost my work
Ratlas_
Lovely interface, but lost all my comments on a ten page MS sample when I went away from the app. It didn’t save anything. I’m only thankful I didn’t trust it with an entire manuscript worth of work. Now I’m not sure I’ll ever want to take that risk. Too bad, as I had been waiting for something like this.
Developer Response
Hi there - this issue is fixed in the 2.6 release. I’m sorry this happened. Let me know how it goes - marginalist.app@gmail.com or if we can help any other way.
** Big reading improvements
- Read like a book. In Pages mode, Mac, iPad in landscape and iPhone Duo now show two facing pages. A new page slider in the toolbar takes you anywhere
in the manuscript. To start, choose Pages in Settings (AA) › Reading.
- Justified text
Even right edges, with hyphenation. Turn it on in Settings (AA).
* Easier to find things
Search matches now stand out more clearly.
Lots of quality-of-life improvements
Previously in version 2.8:
- New: Marginalist for Mac. Download our native Mac app to keep editing manuscripts when you're at your desk.
- New: Pages. Read a page at a time instead of scrolling. Swipe or tap the edges to turn the page. Swipe up/down to show or hide the controls. Turn on in settings.
Version 2.9.0
The developer, Ben Parzybok, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
User Content
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
