ScholArxiv
An open-source Android app to search, read and bookmark arXiv research papers, with AI summaries
Android app Rated 7 Oct 2026
- Built by
Dagmawi Babi 🇪🇹
Float
311/500Where it landed on the scale
0
300
400
Summary
A full, working, GPL-licensed Android app that has shipped steadily for over two years and has grown into a subscription-funded web platform with an API, a Telegram bot and a mobile app. The app itself is free and has no payment or legal pages, and its main edge is execution. The paid web product, the hosted 3M-paper index and the team behind it are what make the project sustainable.
Float · Real and alive, but nothing stops a copy yet.
Breakdown
Five measures, 100 points each. Open the receipts under any of them to see the posts and pages behind the points.
Viability
Is there a real problem, someone who would pay, and a market this builder can actually reach?
Researchers need a better way to read and query arXiv, and the web product shows a believable way to charge for it, with subscribers reported. The Android app itself is free and open source, and nothing shows the model is tuned to the local Ethiopian market.
58/100
Rubric 41–60Plausible users and a believable way to charge them. Not yet shown to work.
Receipts (4)
Says people bought subscriptions and used the health product, which is a sign of paying users on the wider platform.
“Almost everyone that bought our subscriptions and tried the health product really loved it. People have used it to track their symptoms, navigate their prescriptions, ask it really niche health questions, connected their AI agents with it to manage their health and fitness, and so much more! I don't only want you to take my word for it, I want you to actually experience ScholarXIV Health, and if”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 24 Sept 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Refers to Pro subscribers, so a paid tier exists.
“GPT 6 Sol & Luna, Opus 5.5, Grok 4.6 are all available for our Pro subscribers of ScholarXIV. Enjoy the latest model releases to do your research, navigate your health and so much more!”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 22 Sept 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
The Papers API addresses a concrete pain point: arXiv's rate limit of one query per 3 seconds.
“Introducing Papers API • scholarxiv.com/developers We hosted 3,032,697+ (3M+) papers so you don't have to explore research at the rate of one query per 3 seconds (arXiv's API limits) — instead you can explore research at 3,600 queries per hour. That's one query every single second, everyday! With that kind of rate you can imagine what kind of research agents and products you can build! Filter”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 16 Jun 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
The Android app is committed to staying completely free and open source, so it does not earn money itself.
“Been excited all week for the release of the updated OpenScholarXIV app. For the past two years the project was on my personal GitHub but the expansion the app needed had to be done on the web so I had to focus there. Now that ScholarXIV.com is released we can put efforts into updating and maintaining this app. We've started by • Updating all project dependencies • Fixing issues and bugs file”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 28 May 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Moat
What stops someone copying it?
The Android app is a GPL front end over arXiv and Gemini that others could rebuild, so its edge is execution and polish. The hosted 3M-paper index with weekly sync, the developer API and the sandbox tooling add some effort to copy but are not yet compounding.
32/100
Rubric 21–40The only edge is execution, or being first.
Receipts (4)
The app is GPL-licensed, so anyone may fork it as long as they keep it open source.
“Remember ScholArxiv is open source and it's GPL licensed. You can do whatever you like with the project as long as the products you release are also open source. Some of the ways you can help improve the project is by thoroughly testing it and reporting bugs, requesting new features, and making more marketing materials and promoting it. Star the repo or Contribute ✨ • github.com/dagmawibabi/Sc”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 6 Aug 2024 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
The AI chat depends on the user's own Gemini API key, so the app adds little proprietary technology.
“📚 ScholArxiv Version 3 Is Released 🥳 🔗Download the latest here 🌐 🔗Or from GitHub Releases 🌐 I'm super excited to announce the latest release of ScholArxiv comes with a powerful new feature - AI Chat! ✨ Get your Gemini API key from AI studio and set it up in the app and that's it! You can enjoy talking to the AI about the research papers you're exploring to help you understand better and ”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 25 Aug 2024 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
A hosted copy of 3M+ papers with a higher-rate API is a modest infrastructure advantage.
“Introducing Papers API • scholarxiv.com/developers We hosted 3,032,697+ (3M+) papers so you don't have to explore research at the rate of one query per 3 seconds (arXiv's API limits) — instead you can explore research at 3,600 queries per hour. That's one query every single second, everyday! With that kind of rate you can imagine what kind of research agents and products you can build! Filter”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 16 Jun 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Maintaining weekly syncs of the full corpus is ongoing operational work that a copycat would have to repeat.
“arXiv fot a multi-year support that's around $17m - which is good, I really hope they bump up their servers and improve their API soon so we (@ScholarXIV) can stop hosting over 3 million papers, syncing every week 😭 #Arxiv @Dagmawi_Babi”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 24 Sept 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Momentum
Did the updates keep coming?
Worked on across 26 months with updates in 20 of 27, from the first release in August 2024 through a major platform expansion and an app update in 2026. The sustained cadence continues up to the day before the dossier date.
90/100
- Sustained shipping60/60
Worked on across 26 months.
- Consistency30/40
Updates in 20 of 27 months.
Receipts (2)
Earliest post about it.
“📚 ScholArxiv ScholArxiv is an open-source, aesthetic and minimal app that allows users to search, read, bookmark, share, download and view summaries of academic papers from the arXiv repository. 🥳 Download here • https://t.me/Dagmawi_Babi/22592 Features • Read Papers: Read entire papers in detail within the app. • Bookmarks: Save your favorite papers for quick access. • Summaries: View and li”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 5 Aug 2024 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Most recent post about it.
“Research on @ScholarXIV, build billing on VerifyET or BirrJS, host on @EthioDeploy, launch on @Launch_et and Stark.et, then fundraise on LaunchPot. Super fun times bro!”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 6 Oct 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Infrastructure
Does a real, working product exist?
A real, full-featured app exists, with a downloadable APK, 12 releases and an active repository, and it has grown a web platform, an API and a bot. There is no privacy policy, terms or support contact found on the app's own pages.
90/100
- It's live20/20
https://github.com/dagmawibabi/ScholArxiv responded when checked.
- HTTPS5/5
Hosted on a platform (store, GitHub or Telegram) — HTTPS is the platform's.
- Real product35/35
A complete working app with search, reading, bookmarks, downloads, audio summaries, AI chat, LaTeX rendering and themes, installable from a public APK. Twelve releases back it up, and the web platform and mobile app add more.
- Own home0/10
No home found.
- Maintained15/15
Last sign of shipping 2026-10-06.
- Operations15/15
Operations go well beyond the app: a developer platform with API keys, usage tracking, a playground and docs, plus a web app, a Telegram bot, a mobile app, sandboxed code execution and a blog.
Receipts (5)
https://github.com/dagmawibabi/ScholArxiv responded when checked.
Checked 7 Oct 2026 · github.com/dagmawibabi/ScholArxiv (opens in a new tab)
Version 3 shipped AI chat, LaTeX and Markdown support, and a refactor.
“📚 ScholArxiv Version 3 Is Released 🥳 🔗Download the latest here 🌐 🔗Or from GitHub Releases 🌐 I'm super excited to announce the latest release of ScholArxiv comes with a powerful new feature - AI Chat! ✨ Get your Gemini API key from AI studio and set it up in the app and that's it! You can enjoy talking to the AI about the research papers you're exploring to help you understand better and ”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 25 Aug 2024 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Shipped themes and expanded full-screen summaries in response to user requests.
“📚 ScholArxiv Update So over at hacker news, reddit and GitHub issues there were two most requested features and the new update has them both. These new features are quality of life improvements. Hope it makes exploring and discovering papers even more comfortable. New Features • Themes — now you can browse around with three themes. Light mode, dark mode and mixed mode. • Expanded Summaries ”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 11 Aug 2024 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
The repo has 12 releases from 2024 to 2026 and is not archived.
Checked 7 Oct 2026 · github.com/dagmawibabi/ScholArxiv (opens in a new tab)
Developers platform with API keys, usage tracking, a playground and documentation.
“Introducing Papers API • scholarxiv.com/developers We hosted 3,032,697+ (3M+) papers so you don't have to explore research at the rate of one query per 3 seconds (arXiv's API limits) — instead you can explore research at 3,600 queries per hour. That's one query every single second, everyday! With that kind of rate you can imagine what kind of research agents and products you can build! Filter”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 16 Jun 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Sustainability
Is it being set up to last?
Distribution is solid through GitHub releases and Telegram channels, and the wider platform has paying subscribers, a team and a possible investor. The Android app itself earns nothing and has no payment, legal or support pages, so its future depends on the web business.
41/100
- Distribution10/30
Versioned downloadable releases (12 on GitHub).
- Payments0/15
No payment provider found.
- Pricing0/10
No pricing found on the site.
- Revenue5/5
The creator's posts say customers bought subscriptions, mention Pro subscribers, and talk about MRR and discounting packages. These refer to the ScholarXIV platform rather than the Android app itself.
- Privacy policy0/7
No privacy policy found.
- Terms0/5
No terms of service found.
- Support8/8
Posts point users to a support channel.
- Commitment18/20
There is a co-founder and a dedicated designer, a dedicated project channel and bot, steady shipping for years, and a deferred angel investment offer, along with an active fundraise. Two years of releases show the roadmap being kept.
Receipts (5)
Versioned downloadable releases (12 on GitHub).
Checked 7 Oct 2026 · github.com/dagmawibabi/ScholArxiv (opens in a new tab)
States that almost everyone who bought subscriptions loved the health product.
“Almost everyone that bought our subscriptions and tried the health product really loved it. People have used it to track their symptoms, navigate their prescriptions, ask it really niche health questions, connected their AI agents with it to manage their health and fitness, and so much more! I don't only want you to take my word for it, I want you to actually experience ScholarXIV Health, and if”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 24 Sept 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Pro subscribers get access to the latest models.
“GPT 6 Sol & Luna, Opus 5.5, Grok 4.6 are all available for our Pro subscribers of ScholarXIV. Enjoy the latest model releases to do your research, navigate your health and so much more!”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 22 Sept 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Hopes to have the MRR needed to run the domain, so revenue is being tracked.
“We've renewed our ScholarXIV.com domain for a year, may we have all the MRR needed to run it :)”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 1 Oct 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)
Describes bringing on a co-founder and then a dedicated designer.
“A little backstory I made the ScholarXIV mobile app two years ago just for me, so I can read papers on the go. I made it open-source and it went viral for a bit, even making it on a popular android app's channel. People kept submitting feature requests and issues and I tried to keep up but seeing further ahead, the perfect app wasn't what was going to solve the issues, it had to be a web app. S”
Post · @Dagmawi_Babi · 16 May 2026 · open on Telegram (opens in a new tab)