The Best Zotero AlternativesTop Research Managers and other similar apps like Zotero

Zotero is described as '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' and is a very popular research manager in the news & books category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Zotero for a variety of platforms, including Web-based, Mac, Windows, Linux and iPhone apps. The best Zotero alternative is Mendeley, which is free. Other great apps like Zotero are Qiqqa, JabRef, EndNote and Paperwork.

filter to find the best alternatives

Zotero alternatives are mainly Research Managers, but if you're looking for Document Managers or Academic Research Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Mac, Open Source, Research Manager and Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Zotero.
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Alternatives list

  1. 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...

    87 Mendeley alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
     
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    2
  2. Qiqqa icon
     424 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
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    4
  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
  4. EndNote icon
     45 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.

    49 EndNote alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
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    2
  5. Paperwork icon
     41 likes

    Paperwork is a personal document manager for scanned documents (and PDFs).

    37 Paperwork alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
     
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    1
  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.

    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
     
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    1
  7. Citavi icon
     52 likes

    Reference management and knowledge organization with integrated task planner. Solution for work groups with data sharing in intranet available.

    41 Citavi alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    1
  8. WizNote icon
     82 likes

    WizNote is a Note software, which is especially designed for Internet users and mobile Internet users. WizNote focuses more on notes of rapid collection, management, reading and sharing. WizNote is smaller, more stable, and more suitable for computers, phones and mobile devices.

    253 WizNote alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • Windows Phone
    • iPad
     
  9. 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.

    46 ReadCube Papers alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Safari
    • Firefox
     
  10. SciSpace icon
     8 likes

    Search the largest scientific corpus in the world Discover and study research papers better with SciSpace copilot.

    16 SciSpace alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
     
  11. MyInfo icon
     40 likes

    MyInfo is a personal information manager for Windows. It will help you capture, organize, edit and share ideas, documents, tasks, and web pages.

    314 MyInfo alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
12 of 85 Zotero alternatives