Zotero AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Research Managers for Mac

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

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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

    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. JabRef icon

    JabRef

     104 likes

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

    51 JabRef alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Vivaldi
    • Google Chrome
    • Mozilla Firefox
    JabRef screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about JabRef as an Alternative to Zotero
    Guest
    Positive
    3

    Open source, clean, robust. Works best with BibTex/Latex environment.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Screen clear with all important informations easily readible. Avoid import of existing records and efficient merge compared to zotero !!! So no duplicate. We can create many librairies and we are not limited to one big with every records in, so quicker when you have a lot of references.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    JabRef icon
    JabRef icon
    • JabRef is Free and Open SourceZotero is Freemium and Open Source
  4. EndNote icon

    EndNote

     44 likes

    A reference management software, used for searching online publication databases, & managing publications / bibliographies, with the ability to insert the references into a word processor.

    47 EndNote alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    EndNote screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about EndNote as an Alternative to Zotero
    John Fastman
    Positive
    6

    Unfortunately, in terms of sheer functionality and completeness as a reference manager, EndNote is probably the best. Unfortunately, because it's very expensive, it's not open source and it doesn't work on Linux. But the level of customization over citation styles, and the integration with MS Word make it a default for many. In my estimation, 90%+ of researchers would find enough in Zotero not to have to pay for End Note.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    this is the program that the journals ask to make references using it

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    EndNote icon
    EndNote icon
    • EndNote is Paid and ProprietaryZotero is Freemium and Open Source
  5. 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
  6. ReadCube Papers icon

    ReadCube Papers

     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
    ReadCube Papers screenshot 1
     
  7. Paperlib icon

    Paperlib

     3 likes

    An open-source and simple academic paper management tool.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Google Chrome
    • Mozilla Firefox
    • Safari
    Paperlib screenshot 1
     
  9. PDF Search icon

    PDF Search

     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.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    PDF Search screenshot 1
     
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