Zotero AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Document Managers for Mac

There are many alternatives to Zotero for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac Document Manager alternative is Mendeley, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Zotero and four of them are Document Managers available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac Document Manager alternatives to Zotero are Paperpile, UbikReader and PDF Stacks.

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Zotero alternatives are mainly Document Managers, but if you're looking for Research Managers 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

    Mendeley

     293 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...

    82 Mendeley alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    Generate Bibliographies in Word and OpenOffice
     
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    2
    Comments about Mendeley as an Alternative to Zotero
    John Fastman
    Positive
    26

    Mendeley differs from Zotero like this: 1) It is not open source, but it's still free (as in beer); 2) it has better features for annotating pdf files; 3) It emphasizes connections between academics working in similar areas, which helps in discovery of references. Zotero doesn't do that. However, Zotero is better at extracting meta data from pdf files and has the superior browser plugin.

    Nick Scientist
    Positive
    2

    Mendeley is not open-source. After the migration to the Mendeley Reference Manager which has been a disaster in performance for the desktop apps, exhibit buggy behavior, are much more taxing to computers. Web plugin much better in Zotero too.

    Mendeley icon
    Mendeley icon
    • Mendeley is Freemium and ProprietaryZotero is Freemium and Open Source
  2. Paperpile icon

    Paperpile

     57 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
    Paperpile screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about Paperpile as an Alternative to Zotero
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    It is an amazing software and has many great features when compared to Zotero

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Paperpile icon
    Paperpile icon
    • Paperpile is Paid and ProprietaryZotero is Freemium and Open Source
  4. UbikReader icon

    UbikReader

     5 likes

    UbikReader is the new way to organize your documents. Multitask while you read, annotate, write notes and share your documents with ease. No more worrying about how to manage your large, cluttered library of documents.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    UbikReader screenshot 1
     
  5. PDF Stacks icon

    PDF Stacks

     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
    Your library of PDF files at your fingertips: instantly organize, search, read, share and print within a click!
     
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