BibDesk Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to BibDesk for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Zotero, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to BibDesk and 18 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to BibDesk are Mendeley, JabRef, Research and EndNote.

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Alternatives list

  1. Zotero icon
     488 likes

    Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, share research and cite your research sources directly in your favourite word processor, with 300 MB free online storage.

    86 Zotero alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Safari
    • Microsoft Word
    • Google Docs
    • LibreOffice
    • Mozilla Firefox
     
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    1
    Zotero vs BibDesk Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    Zotero does not sync with Latex natively and it requires a third party software.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Zotero is Freemium and Open SourceBibDesk is Free and Open Source
    • Zotero is Privacy focusedBibDesk is not according to our users
  2. Mendeley icon
     294 likes

    Mendeley helps manage and share academic knowledge: Mendeley Desktop is free academic software (Windows, Mac, Linux) for organizing and sharing research papers and generating bibliographies with 1GB of free online storage to automatically back up and synchronize your library...

    89 Mendeley alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
     
  3. JabRef icon
     106 likes

    Bibliography reference manager. The native file format used by JabRef is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format.

    56 JabRef alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Vivaldi
    • Google Chrome
    • Mozilla Firefox
     
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    2
    JabRef vs BibDesk Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    1

    portable since in Java, relies only on bib file (no separate database), generates clean bib files (no internal fields)

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    1

    Works the best with LaTeX documents, as exporting citations is redundant: JabRef's database is a simple .bib file. Available for all major platforms, offers automatic addition of entries via DOI or arXiv-ID, has everything one needs as a citation and reference manager.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • JabRef is Free and Open SourceBibDesk is also Free and Open Source
  4. Research icon
     5 likes

    The Research app is designed to streamline your workflow, offering a minimalist yet powerful platform for collecting, organizing, and analyzing research materials.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
     
  5. EndNote icon
     44 likes

    Reference management tool supporting searching and importing from databases, auto-formatting citations, creating bibliographies, syncing libraries via the cloud, annotating PDFs, collaboration, deduplication of references, web-based access, and AI-powered assistance.

    50 EndNote alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
  6. Paperpile icon
     58 likes

    Organize your research papers in a Gmail-like web app, sync your PDFs to Google Drive and cite your references in Google Docs.

    52 Paperpile alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Google Chrome
    • Microsoft Office Word
    • Google Drive
    • Google Drive - Docs
    • Google Scholar
     
  7. ReadCube Papers icon
     71 likes

    Papers helps you collect and curate the research material that you're passionate about. This award-winning reference manager will improve the way you find, organize, read, cite, and share.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Safari
    • Firefox
     
  8. wizdom.ai icon
     24 likes

    wizdom.ai (formerly colwiz) is a free and comprehensive research management software for researchers, academics and students. With the wizdom.ai android app, you can search, add and manage publications in your wizdom.ai library on the go. Sync instantly across wizdom.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
     
  9. RefWorks icon
     11 likes

    RefWorks - an online research management, writing and collaboration tool - is designed to help researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
     
  10. PDF Stacks icon
     9 likes

    With PDF Stacks, you can organize, find and browse, search, annonate and share your collection and library of PDF files, papers, research and journal articles with a single click. It saves you time: no more wondering around your computer to find a PDF file.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
     
  11. PDF Search icon
     4 likes

    PDF Search is an app to search multiple documents insanely fast. It enables you to find any information in seconds within lots of documents. It uses its AI-powered algorithm to detect the best related pages. Just search your documents, reference books or notes using PDF Search.

    32 PDF Search alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
  12. Bookends icon
     13 likes

    Bookends is a commercial reference management software package for Mac OS X that is used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles. Its target market is students, academics and professionals.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
12 of 18 BibDesk alternatives