• Reference Manager Comparison

    PetalPetal
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    Price
    Free
    For 1 GB storage and 60 compute minutes per day (for NLP tasks)
    Free for 300 MB storage
    Annual subscription:
    $55/year: 5 GB
    $110/year: 10 GB
    $165/year: unlimited storage
    Free for 300 MB storage
    Annual subscription:
    $20/year: 2 GB
    $60/year: 6 gb
    $120/year: unlimited storage
    Free (Endnote basic)
    Maximum 50,000 references and up to
    2GB attachments total
    One time payment: $249.95
    Student: $115.95
    Upgrade: $99.95 (X9 or earlier)
    30-day free trial
    Contact sales for quote (organization level license)
    30-day free trial
    Monthly subscription:
    Student: $3/month
    Academic: $5/month
    Corporate: $10/month
    7-day free trial
    Monthly subscription:
    Academic: $2.99/month
    Corporate: $9.99/month
    $249 for individual academic license
    Free, open-source
    For 2 GB of storage
    UI design & customization

    Clean, minimalist design

    UI responsive to screen size and resolution

    Two document browser UI templates

    Can show/hide sidebars and tabs

    iTunes-like aesthetic

    Resizable sidebars

    Can manually adjust UI font size

    Resizable sidebars

    Adjustable font size

    iTunes-like aesthetic

    Resizable sidebars and moveable panels

    Adjustable font size

    Not customizable

    Clean, minimalist design

    UI is responsive to screen size and resolution

    Not customizable

    App downloaded as Chrome extension

    3 predefined UI templates to choose from

    Not customizable

    Metadata management
    Extracts and validates metadata on upload
    Imports missing metadata from CrossRef where applicable
    Edit metadata through an Excel-like grid
    Add new metadata fields
    Show/hide/rearrange existing metadata fields
    Autopopulate metadata based on user defined rules over full-text
    Pivot table analysis
    Extracts metadata on upload
    Searches for metadata externally on request
    Manual metadata management via classic form interface
    Extracts metadata on upload
    Searches for metadata externally on request
    Manual metadata management via classic form interface
    Extracts metadata on upload
    Find full-text from reference entries (if user has license)
    Imports missing metadata automatically
    Manual metadata management via classic form interface
    Extracts metadata on upload
    Imports missing metadata automatically
    Manual metadata management via classic form interface
    Extracts metadata on upload
    Imports missing metadata automatically
    Manual metadata management via classic form interface
    Extracts metadata on upload
    Imports missing metadata automatically
    Manual metadata management via classic form interface
    Extracts metadata on upload
    Imports missing metadata automatically
    Manual metadata management via classic form interface

    Manual metadata management via classic form interface

    PDF viewer

    PDF previewer in preview tab

    Built-in PDF viewer

    PDF preview available in library

    PDF view in full screen within Mendeley

    Built-in PDF viewer available in Zotero 6

    PDF previewer in preview tab

    Built-in PDF viewer

    PDF previewer in preview tab

    Built-in PDF viewer

    PDF previewer in preview tab

    Built-in PDF viewer

    Built-in PDF viewer

    PDF previewer in preview tab

    Built-in PDF viewer

    PDF previewer in preview tab

    Built-in PDF viewer

    Import and upload
    No download required; always synchronized
    Full-text upload
    Automatic metadata extraction and validation
    Supports manual BibTeX import
    Requires desktop app for most use cases
    Sync user's local library to the cloud
    Requires desktop app for most use cases
    Sync user's local library to the cloud
    Requires desktop app for most use cases
    Sync user's local library to the cloud
    No download required; always synchronized
    Supports direct full-text upload
    Supports manual BibTeX import
    No download required; always synchronized
    Supports direct full-text upload
    Automatic metadata extraction and validation
    Supports manual BibTeX import
    No download required; always synchronized
    Supports direct full-text upload
    Automatic metadata extraction and validation
    Supports manual BibTeX import
    Requires desktop app for most use cases
    Sync user's local library to the cloud
    Requires desktop app for most use cases
    Sync user's local library to the cloud
    Export and download

    Download single files or entire projects

    Export as BibTeX (.bib)

    Full-texts already stored locally (app installed locally)

    Export as BibTeX (.bib), RIS (.ris), EndNote XML, Zotero (zotero.sqlite)

    Full-texts already stored locally (app installed locally)

    Export as BibTeX (.bib), RIS (.ris), etc. (among 20+ formats)

    Full-texts already stored locally (app installed locally)

    Export as BibTeX (.bib), RIS (.ris), etc. (among others)

    Download single files or entire projects

    Export as BibTeX (.bib), RIS (.ris), etc. (among many others)

    Download single files or entire projects

    Export as BibTeX (.bib), RIS (.ris), etc. (among many others)

    Download single files or entire projects

    Export as BibTeX (.bib), RIS (.ris), etc. (among many others)

    Full-texts already stored locally (app installed locally)

    Export as BibTeX (.bib), RIS (.ris), etc. (among others)

    Full-texts already stored locally (app installed locally)

    Export as BibTeX (.bib), RIS (.ris), etc. (among others)

    Search
    Full-text search (incl. OCR text)
    Metadata search
    In-document lookup
    Customization of search scope (organization-wide vs. project specific)
    (Coming soon) Integrated search across public platforms (i.e. Google Scholar, PubMed, ArXiv)
    Metadata search
    Search with boolean operators
    In-document lookup
    Full-text search
    Metadata search
    Search with boolean operators
    In-document lookup
    Full-text search
    Metadata search
    Search with boolean operators
    In-document lookup
    Searches across partnered publisher databases
    Metadata search
    Search with boolean operators
    Full-text search
    Metadata search
    Search with boolean operators
    In-document lookup
    Metadata search
    Searches across Google Scholar, PubMed or ArXiv
    Combines references from different sources; integrates with dbs
    Metadata search
    Search with boolean operators
    Limited support for Regex
    Full-text search
    Metadata search
    Search with boolean operators
    In-document lookup
    Sort and filter
    Yes

    For all metadata fields

    Limited

    Sort only

    Limited

    Sort only

    Limited

    Sort only

    Limited

    Sort only

    Limited

    Sort only

    Limited

    Sort only

    Limited

    Sort only

    Limited

    Sort only

    Annotation
    Highlight/text quote
    Rectangular snippet with OCR
    Add description / key insight
    Comment thread on annotation
    Browse annotations in single document or across multiple documents simultaneously
    Jump to annotation in full-text
    Sort, filter, search
    Share externally via direct link
    (with option to include rich metadata)
    Highlight/text quote
    Rectangular snippet
    Sticky note
    Jump to annotation in full-text
    Requires manual synchronization of all locally-created annotations
    No annotation search
    Highlight/text quote
    Rectangular snippet
    Sticky note
    Jump to annotation in full-text
    Search annotations
    Automatic synchronization of locally-created annotations
    Option to embed annotations into source PDF for export
    Highlight/text quote
    Rectangular snippet
    Sticky note
    Strike-through
    Text description/comment
    Highlight/text quote
    Sticky note
    Text description/comment
    Highlight/text quote
    Freehand
    Underline
    Strike-through
    Text description/comment
    Highlight/text quote
    Sticky note
    Text description/comment
    Generate summary from annotations and comments
    Annotations synched to Google suite
    Highlight/text quote
    (colors have predefined purpose)
    Highlight/text quote
    Rectangular snippet with OCR
    Add additional metadata to annotations
    Generate summary from annotations
    Tags

    Autosuggest tags

    Can search and filter by tags

    Can automatically add tags based on user defined rules over full-text

    Manual tags

    Autosuggest tags

    Can search and filter by tags

    Manual tags

    Manual tags

    Manual tags

    Manual tags

    Manual tags

    Predefined purpose for colors

    Manual tags

    Deduplication

    Checks for duplicate documents on upload

    Compares metadata and merges duplicate entries on request

    Compares metadata and merges duplicate entries on request

    Compares metadata and merges duplicate entries on request

    Compares metadata and merges duplicate entries on request

    Compares metadata and merges duplicate entries on request

    Compares metadata and merges duplicate entries on request

    Checks for duplicate documents on upload

    Compares metadata and merges duplicate entries on request

    Compares metadata and merges duplicate entries on request

    Compares metadata and merges duplicate entries on request

    Folder structure

    References are organized by Project

    Flat structure within each Project

    Tags are used to label references in place of hierarchical folders

    Classic hierarchical folders

    Private cross-folder collections

    Classic hierarchical folders

    Private cross-folder collections

    Classic hierarchical folders

    Classic hierarchical folders

    Private cross-folder collections

    Classic hierarchical folders

    Private cross-folder collections

    Classic hierarchical folders

    Private cross-folder collections

    Classic hierarchical folders

    Private cross-folder collections

    Classic hierarchical folders

    Private cross-folder collections

    File format supported

    Integrates with built-in document viewer and OCR: BibTeX, PDFs, .pptx, .docx, HTML, images (.jpg, .png)

    As static attachments: all file types

    Text documents (pdf, txt, odt, doc, rtf)

    Markup lang (xml, sgml, html, css, xslt, js, es)

    Spreadsheets (ods, csv, xls, pdf, docx)

    Databases (sql, siard, csv, mdb, dbf, hrf5)

    Statistical data (xml, por, sav, dta, 7bdat)

    Images (tiff, jpg, png, ai, eps, svg, dcm)

    pdf, html, images (jpg, png)

    Basic: 4 supported formats

    Premium: 500+ supported formats.

    Audio files (wav, mp3)

    Video (mov)

    Microsoft Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Project, Visio

    Text: PDF, txt, rtf, HTML

    Technical Drawing files (AutoCAD)

    Text formats

    Zip formats

    Image formats

    Presentation formats

    Markup formats

    .csv, .bib, .ris; PDF, RIS, BibTeX and other common file types can be imported.

    BibTeX, RIS, PDF, NBIB, EndNote files

    BibTeX, PDFs, pptx, docx, html, images (jpg, png)

    BibTeX, PDFs, pptx, docx, html, images (jpg, png)

    Direct search of databases

    Cannot search within publisher databases

    Developing integrations with publicly available paper databases

    Integrations with numerous publisher databases; license required for direct search

    Your school may already have licenses to some of these databases

    Integrations with public databases including Library of Congress and WorldCat for ISBNs, CrossRef for DOIs, NCBI PubMed for PubMed IDs, and }arXiv.org for arXiv IDs

    Integrations with numerous publisher databases; license required for direct search

    Your school may already have licenses to some of these databases

    Integrations with numerous publisher databases; license required for direct search

    Your school may already have licenses to some of these databases

    Integrations with numerous publisher databases; license required for direct search

    Your school may already have licenses to some of these databases

    Integrations with numerous publisher databases; license required for direct search

    Your school may already have licenses to some of these databases

    Integrations with numerous publisher databases; license required for direct search

    Your school may already have licenses to some of these databases

    Cannot search within publisher databases

    Citation styles

    9,000+ citation styles supported

    9,000+ citation styles supported

    8,100+ citation styles supported

    Top 21 most commonly used styles (basic)

    4,200+ citation styles supported (premium)

    6,000+ citation styles supported

    10,000+ citation styles supported

    8,000+ citation styles supported

    10,000+ citation styles supported

    8,000+ citation styles supported

    Sync across multiple users
    Yes

    Through private organization account

    Limited

    Through public and private groups

    Full-text not available for sharing

    Limited

    Through public and private groups

    Full-text not available for sharing

    Yes

    Through private groups

    Limited

    Through public and private groups

    Yes

    Limited number of shared collections

    Yes

    Through Google Drive

    Yes
    Yes
    Sync across multiple devices
    Yes
    Limited

    Certain functions like annotations require explicit manual input to synchronize

    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes

    For Citavi Web users (released Jun 2021)

    Yes
    Offline access
    No
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    No
    No
    Yes
    Yes
    Access control & permissions
    Can set as admin or regular member within organization account
    More granular access controls in the works
    Can set as admin or regular member within group
    Can set as admin or regular member within group
    Can set as admin or regular member within group
    Can set as admin or regular member within group
    Can set as admin or regular member within group
    Can set as admin or regular member within group
    Granular access permission roles (Owner, Project Leader, Author, Reader)
    Granular access permission roles (Admin, Contributor, Viewer)
    Shared comments
    Yes

    Within private organization account

    Can export annotation with comments to be shared publicly

    Limited

    Within a small private group

    No
    Limited

    Only available with organizations holding 20+ licenses

    Yes

    For the web version

    Not available on the Refworks legacy version

    Yes

    For the web version

    Not available on the Refworks legacy version

    Limited

    shared comments only supported in certain collections

    Yes
    Yes

    Within Group library

    Browser extension
    Yes
    Chrome (5.0)

    Can capture and save PDF articles to app directly from browser

    Currently supports Google Chrome only

    Yes
    Chrome (3.1)

    Can capture snapshots and archive webpages.

    Cannot automatically capture citation information.

    Yes
    Chrome (4.0)
    Edge (4.5)

    Can capture and save articles to app directly from browser

    Supports Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge

    Yes
    Chrome (4.5)

    Can capture and save articles to app directly from browser

    Supports Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge

    Yes
    Any modern browsers (imports metadata only, no full-text)

    Can capture and save articles to app directly from browser

    Supports Chrome and Safari

    Yes
    Chrome (4.3)
    Firefox (4.6)
    Edge (3.5)

    Can capture and save articles to app directly from browser

    Supports Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge

    Yes
    Chrome (4.8)

    Can capture and save articles to app directly from browser

    Supports Chrome and Safari

    Yes
    Chrome (4.0)

    Can capture and save articles to app directly from browser

    Supports Chrome and Safari

    No
    MS Word integration
    Coming soon

    (Jan 2022)

    Yes
    (1.4)

    From the Office store

    Yes

    Automatically installed with Zotero desktop

    Yes

    Download from Clarivate website

    Yes
    (1.7)

    From the Office store

    Yes
    (2.3)

    From the Office store

    No
    Yes

    Download from Citavi website

    Yes

    Download from Qiqqa website

    Google Docs integration
    No
    No
    No
    Limited

    Requires manual insertion of reference list

    Yes
    (2.4)

    From Google Workspace Marketplace

    No
    Yes
    Chrome (3.8)

    From Google Workspace Marketplace

    No
    No
    Windows
    Yes
    Yes

    Windows 7 - 10

    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    macOS
    Yes
    Yes

    macOS 10.10 - 10.14

    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    Yes
    No
    No
    Linux
    Yes
    Yes

    Debian Stretch & Ubuntu 16 - 17

    Yes
    Yes
    No
    No
    Yes
    No
    No
    Android
    No
    Withdrawn

    Withdrawn 3/2021; supported through Papership

    Withdrawn

    Withdrawn 3/2021; supported through Aziz, Lite!

    No
    No
    Yes
    Yes
    No
    No
    iOS
    No
    Withdrawn

    Withdrawn 3/2021; supported through Papership

    Withdrawn

    Withdrawn 3/2021; supported through Papership

    Yes
    No
    Yes
    Yes
    No
    No
    Support & customer service
    Online support via email
    Tutorial document included on sign-up
    Tutorial articles on blog in the future
    Live chat support in development
    Online support via email
    Online support portal (support ticket system)
    Tutorial articles on blog
    Online support via email
    Online support via email
    Online support portal (support ticket system)
    Customer support by phone
    Tutorial articles on blog
    Online support via email
    Online support portal (support ticket system)
    Customer support by phone
    Tutorial articles on blog
    Online support via email
    Tutorial articles on blog
    Online support via email
    Tutorial articles on blog
    Online support via email
    Tutorial articles on blog
    Tutorial articles on blog