The Best Open Source Mendeley AlternativesTop Research Managers and other similar apps like Mendeley

The best open source alternative to Mendeley is Zotero. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Mendeley and 17 is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Mendeley are Qiqqa, JabRef, BibSonomy and MyBib.

Mendeley alternatives are mainly Research Managers but may also be Document Managers or Note-taking Tools. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Mendeley.

Mendeley

284

Freemium • Proprietary
Research Manager

Mendeley helps manage and share academic knowledge: Mendeley Desktop is free academic software (Windows, Mac, Linux) for...

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Mendeley alternatives page was last updated

Zotero
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Open Source
Research Manager
Document Manager
Mac
Windows
Linux
iPhone
iPad
Microsoft Edge
Google Chrome
Safari
Microsoft Office Word
Google Drive - Docs
LibreOffice
Firefox
70 Zotero alternatives
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.
- - Zotero is the most popular Windows, Mac, iPhone & Linux alternative to Mendeley.
- - Zotero is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Mendeley.
Suggest and vote on features
Zotero Features
1. Ad-freeZotero doesn't contain any form of external advertising.
2. PDF annotationZotero support PDF Annotation for highlighting, notes etc
3. Cloud SyncSync your data (notes, documents, bookmarks, etc.) across your different devices and to the cloud.
4. Extensible by Plugins/ExtensionsZotero can be extended with add-ons, plugins and extensions.
5. Support for MarkDownZotero supports MarkDown for document formatting.
6. Privacy focusedZotero is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
7. Full-Text SearchZotero lets you search for specific words or phrases from inside a document or database.
8. Real time collaborationMultiple users can work together in Zotero simultaneously.
9. File TaggingZotero can organize and highlight your files with tags and labels.
Browser integration
LibreOffice Integration
Microsoft Office integration
Knowledge Management
Export to LaTeX
Cross-references
Library Management
WebDAV Support
Google docs integration
Compatible with Microsoft Office
Comments about Zotero as a Alternative to Mendeley
Almost everyone thinks Zotero is a great Mendeley alternative.
Guest
Amazing. Full featured; sqlite db, tagging, notes... Hey, knowledge at your fingertips
Positive comment •
9

Guest
Open source and made in the U.S.A!
Positive comment •
-5
Qiqqa
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Open Source
Research Manager
Document Manager
Windows
55 Qiqqa alternatives
Qiqqa is a free research and reference manager. Search for, read and annotate your PDFs. Then review your work, write up and create bibliographies instantly.
Suggest and vote on features
Qiqqa Features
1. PDF annotationQiqqa support PDF Annotation for highlighting, notes etc
2. Full-Text SearchQiqqa lets you search for specific words or phrases from inside a document or database.
3. No registration requiredYou can use most of the features in Qiqqa without registration.
4. Ad-freeQiqqa doesn't contain any form of external advertising.
5. File TaggingQiqqa can organize and highlight your files with tags and labels.
6. Support for LaTeXQiqqa supports LaTeX for text and math equation formatting.
7. PortableQiqqa can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
8. Real time collaborationMultiple users can work together in Qiqqa simultaneously.
Bib Tex Sniffer
Cross-references
Tagging
Citations
Annotation report
PDF OCR
Brainstorming
Text Highlighting
Autotagging
Topic tags
Comments about Qiqqa as a Alternative to Mendeley
Almost everyone thinks Qiqqa is a great Mendeley alternative.
Guest
Has the feature to tag regions of a pdf with a keyword or add a note with a tag and later compile all occurrences of the tagged regions with a particular keyword across the whole library..
Positive comment •
0

Guest
Differently from Qiqqa, Mendeley has no annotation report feature, meaning that it is not possible to gather all highlights/annotations on a paper into a single file. This is very useful for large pdf.
Positive comment •
0
JabRef
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Research Manager
Mac
Windows
Linux
Microsoft Edge
Vivaldi Browser
Google Chrome
Firefox
41 JabRef alternatives
Bibliography reference manager. The native file format used by JabRef is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format.
Suggest and vote on features
JabRef Features
1. Full-Text SearchJabRef lets you search for specific words or phrases from inside a document or database.
2. Support for LaTeXJabRef supports LaTeX for text and math equation formatting.
3. AutocompletionJabRef can predict and complete the rest of a word or phrase you're typing.
Export citation
Browser integration
Tagging
Grouping entries
Automatic file renaming
Comments about JabRef as a Alternative to Mendeley
Most users think JabRef is a great Mendeley alternative.
Guest
JabRef only handles bibtex files.
Negative comment •
1
BibSonomy
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Research Manager
Bookmark Manager
Social Bookmarking Tool
Online
69 BibSonomy alternatives
BibSonomy is a system for sharing bookmarks and lists of literature (BibTex format).
- - BibSonomy is the most popular Web-based alternative to Mendeley.
Suggest and vote on features
BibSonomy Features
1. Real time collaborationMultiple users can work together in BibSonomy simultaneously.
Bookmarks
Knowledge Management
Tagging
Data Mining
MyBib
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Chrome OS
Google Chrome
Firefox
14 MyBib alternatives
A new FREE citation generator. Automatically create bibliographies, references, and citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and over 8000 more styles with a totally free and no-ads citation generator.
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MyBib Features
Citations
Data export/import
Bibliography generator
Export citation
Citation detection
Importing from webpages
KBibTeX
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Research Manager
Linux
26 KBibTeX alternatives
KBibTeX is a reference management software primarily for BibTeX which is typically used in conjunction with TeX/LaTeX.
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KBibTeX Features
1. Support for LaTeXKBibTeX supports LaTeX for text and math equation formatting.
Peerlibrary
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Research Manager
Online
27 Peerlibrary alternatives
PeerLibrary is an open source project developing a collaborative online community where scholars and researchers can discover, read, and discuss scholarly literature all within one site. This project focuses on expediting access to publications, enabling public recordings of...
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Peerlibrary Features
1. PDF annotationPeerlibrary support PDF Annotation for highlighting, notes etc
Bibliography generator
Add a screenshot
ZoteroBib
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Online
10 ZoteroBib alternatives
Powered by the same technology behind Zotero, ZoteroBib lets you seamlessly add items from across the web — using Zotero’s unmatched metadata extraction abilities — and generate bibliographies in more than 9,000 citation styles.
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ZoteroBib Features
Bibliography generator
BibDesk
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
32 BibDesk alternatives
BibDesk is a bibliographic reference manager for Mac OS X. BibDesk is designed to help organize and use bibliographic databases in BibTeX .bib format.
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BibDesk Features
1. Support for LaTeXBibDesk supports LaTeX for text and math equation formatting.
Typesetting
Tex
I, Librarian
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Paid • Open Source
Document Manager
PDF Reader
Self-Hosted
Software as a Service (SaaS)
17 I, Librarian alternatives
I, Librarian is an online service that will organize your collection of PDF and office files. The service focuses on central management of PDF documents suitable for real-time collaboration in research teams and companies.
- - I, Librarian is the most popular SaaS & Self-Hosted alternative to Mendeley.
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I, Librarian Features
Remote Work