Free Zotero Alternatives
The best free alternative to Zotero is Mendeley. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Zotero and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to Zotero are Qiqqa, JabRef, TheBrain and BibSonomy.
Zotero alternatives are mainly Research Managers but may also be Note-taking Tools or Document Managers. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Zotero.Mendeley
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Freemium • Proprietary
- Research Manager
- Document Manager
73 Mendeley alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
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...
- - Mendeley is the most popular Web-based, Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Zotero.
- - Mendeley is the most popular free alternative to Zotero.
Mendeley Features
Comments about Mendeley as a Alternative to Zotero
Nick ScientistMendeley 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.
2John FastmanMendeley 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.
25Qiqqa
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo55 Qiqqa alternatives- Freemium • Open Source
- Research Manager
- Document Manager
- Windows
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.
- - Qiqqa is the most popular Open Source alternative to Zotero.
Qiqqa Features
Comments about Qiqqa as a Alternative to Zotero
phytographerQiqqa does not have:
- Chrome connector for gathering citations
- Google Docs integration
- LibreOffice Integration
3Alternative User929Not like Zotero or Mendeley.
0altenativetoThe open source transparency and the WebDav sync make Zotero a better option for Users with a certain degree of Data control/ privacy needs.
-1They both manage PDFs and allow you to do reference management and bilbiographies.
1JabRef
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Research Manager
41 JabRef alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Microsoft Edge
- Vivaldi Browser
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
Bibliography reference manager. The native file format used by JabRef is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format.
JabRef Features
Comments about JabRef as a Alternative to Zotero
Open source, clean, robust. Works best with BibTex/Latex environment.
3Screen 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.
0TheBrain
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mind Mapping Tool
- Team Collaboration Tool
134 TheBrain alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
TheBrain helps you organize all your Web pages, contacts, documents, emails and files in a context-driven visual map.
- - TheBrain is the most popular Android & Android Tablet alternative to Zotero.
TheBrain Features
Comments about TheBrain as a Alternative to Zotero
InfinitlyZeroSimply not a viable alternative.
1TheBrain is a non-linear visual mapping tool. It is not first and foremost a reference manager. I own it, and use it, and it's never struck me as a good alternative to Zotero.
1It is not a simple research management tool like Zotero. At least it is for me.
0BibSonomy
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Research Manager
- Bookmark Manager
- Social Bookmarking Tool
68 BibSonomy alternatives- Online
BibSonomy is a system for sharing bookmarks and lists of literature (BibTex format).
BibSonomy Features
Paperwork
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo25 Paperwork alternatives- Free • Open Source
- Document Manager
- Document Scanner
- Windows
- Linux
Paperwork is a personal document manager for scanned documents (and PDFs).
Paperwork Features
Citavi
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo36 Citavi alternatives- Freemium • Proprietary
- Research Manager
- Windows
A handy, intuitive reference-managing tool. Citavi researches in over 4800 databases and catalogs, organizes and structures your literature, references, quotes and idea collections and assists you with your documentation or publication.
Citavi Features
Comments about Citavi as a Alternative to Zotero
altenativetoIt is sadly unstable software. It has of course more professional functions than zotero but also problems with stability. For Example: when I had my computer in standby, I have to restart the software.
0MyBib
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
14 MyBib alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Chrome OS
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
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.
MyBib Features
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.
ZoteroBib Features
EasyBib
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Freemium • Proprietary
- Research Manager
58 EasyBib alternatives- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Google Drive - Docs
Automatic works cited and bibliography formatting for MLA, APA and Chicago/Turabian citation styles. Now supports 7th edition of MLA.
EasyBib Features