Zotero AlternativesOnly apps from the EU

The best alternative to Zotero is Mendeley, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Zotero and ten of them are so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting alternatives to Zotero are Paperwork, BibSonomy, MyInfo and Citationsy.

filter to find the best alternatives

Zotero alternatives are mainly Research Managers, but if you're looking for Document Managers or Journaling Apps you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Mac, 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
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    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...

    81 Mendeley alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once)
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    Generate Bibliographies in Word and OpenOffice
     
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    2
    45
    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.

    Zotero Icon
    Mendeley icon

    • Most users think Mendeley is a great Zotero alternative.

    • Mendeley is the most popular Web-based, Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Zotero.

    • Mendeley is the most popular free alternative to Zotero.

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

    Paperwork

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

    33 Paperwork alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    Paperwork screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about Paperwork as an Alternative to Zotero
    Guest
    Negative
    1

    Paperwork is for personal documents, Zotero is for research

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Zotero Icon
    Paperwork icon
    • Paperwork is Free and Open SourceZotero is Freemium and Open Source
  4. BibSonomy icon

    BibSonomy

     44 likes
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    BibSonomy is a system for sharing bookmarks and lists of literature (BibTex format).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    BibSonomy screenshot 1
     
  7. PaperShip icon

    PaperShip

     Like
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    PaperShip is an iPad, iPhone, and Mac application designed to give you access to your Mendeley / Zotero library on-the-go. You will enjoy annotating your PDFs with highlights, notes, free text, drawings and much more!

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    PaperShip screenshot 1
     
  9. Refeus icon

    Refeus

     8 likes
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    Refeus is a software to simplify scientific work. Refeus supports the complete workflow from collecting and managing content and publications to write and publishing documents.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once)
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  10. Bibfilex icon

    Bibfilex

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    Bibfilex is a free bibliographic manager for GNU/Linux, Windows and OS X. It's useful to create and to manage archives of bibliographical items (books, articles, etc.) with possible attachments of any kind according to Biblatex structure and rules.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Bibfilex screenshot 1
     
  11. SCRiBBR APA Generator icon

    SCRiBBR APA Generator

     2 likes
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    With the SCRiBBR APA Generator you can easily generate citations in the APA reference style. Select the source type, fill in the input fields and generate the reference in APA style.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    SCRiBBR APA Generator screenshot 1
     
  12. OutWit Docs icon

    OutWit Docs

     1 like
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    Your free Webtop document harvester. With OutWit Docs you will find text documents, datasheets, PDF files, presentations from multiple online sources

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Firefox
    OutWit Docs screenshot 1
     
10 of 10 Zotero alternatives