Zotero Alternatives for Mac

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

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 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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    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. JabRef icon

    JabRef

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

    48 JabRef alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Vivaldi
    • Google Chrome
    • Mozilla Firefox
    JabRef screenshot 1
     
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    2
    15
    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.
    Zotero Icon
    JabRef icon

    • Almost everyone thinks JabRef is a great Zotero alternative.

    • JabRef is Free and Open SourceZotero is Freemium and Open Source
  4. EndNote icon

    EndNote

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

    46 EndNote alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    EndNote screenshot 1
     
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    2
    6
    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.
    Zotero Icon
    EndNote icon

    • Most users think EndNote is a great Zotero alternative.

    • EndNote is the most popular iPhone & iPad alternative to Zotero.

    • EndNote is the most popular commercial alternative to Zotero.

    • EndNote is Paid and ProprietaryZotero is Freemium and Open Source
  5. Paperpile icon

    Paperpile

     57 likes
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    Organize your research papers in a Gmail-like web app, sync your PDFs to Google Drive and cite your references in Google Docs.

    45 Paperpile alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • 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
    7
    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.
    Zotero Icon
    Paperpile icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Paperpile is a great Zotero alternative.

    • Paperpile is the most popular Android & Android Tablet alternative to Zotero.

    • Paperpile is Paid and ProprietaryZotero is Freemium and Open Source
  6. WizNote icon

    WizNote

     82 likes
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    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.

    250 WizNote alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Subscription
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • Windows Phone
    • iPad
    Windows - Sticky Notes and Todo list in Chinese.
     
  7. ReadCube Papers icon

    ReadCube Papers

     71 likes
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    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

    • Subscription
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Safari
    • Firefox
    ReadCube Papers screenshot 1
     
  9. Bookends icon

    Bookends

     13 likes
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    Bookends is a commercial reference management software package for Mac OS X that is used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles. Its target market is students, academics and professionals.

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Formatted reference and reference summary
     
  10. Research icon

    Research

     4 likes
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    The Research app is designed to streamline your workflow, offering a minimalist yet powerful platform for collecting, organizing, and analyzing research materials.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Subscription)
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Research screenshot 1
     
  11. RefWorks icon

    RefWorks

     11 likes
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    RefWorks - an online research management, writing and collaboration tool - is designed to help researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
     
  12. 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
     
  13. BibDesk icon

    BibDesk

     24 likes
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    BibDesk is a bibliographic reference manager for Mac OS X. BibDesk is designed to help organize and use bibliographic databases in BibTeX .bib format.

    34 BibDesk alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    BibDesk screenshot 1
     
  14. SCIENTILLA icon

    SCIENTILLA

     21 likes
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    Scientilla is a new approach to give the scientific community an open, free, accurate, tidy and up-to-date production reporting solution.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
12 of 25 Zotero alternatives