# Alternatives to Zotero

The open source research standard.

Zotero ranks #1 of 12 in Citation managers, with an Alt Score of 100. It is licensed under AGPL-3.0, freemium from $20/year and available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and Browser extension. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/zotero/
Category: Citation managers

## Where Zotero stands out

- **Storage limits (free)** — 3 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Open source** — 4 of 10 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Mobile app** — 5 of 10 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Researchers, students, and academics who need to collect, organize, and cite bibliographic sources across papers, books, and web materials.
- **What you get**: A free, open-source reference manager that captures citation data and PDFs directly from browsers and websites. It organizes sources into collections with tags and saved searches, lets you annotate PDFs, and generates citations and bibliographies in over 9,000 styles for Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs. Libraries can be synced across devices and shared with collaborators or groups at no cost.
- **How it works**: A desktop app (Windows, Mac, Linux) paired with a browser connector saves references and full-text PDFs as you browse; word processor plug-ins then insert citations and auto-generate bibliographies, with optional cloud sync keeping libraries consistent across devices.

## Profile

- **License**: AGPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Pricing model**: Freemium (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Starts at**: $20/year (verified 2026-07-08)
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-08)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [EndNote](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/endnote.md) | 86 | ? | Windows, macOS, iOS, Web |
| 2 | [Paperpile](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/paperpile.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android |
| 3 | [ReadCube Papers](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/readcube-papers.md) | 82 | ? | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [JabRef](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/jabref.md) | 78 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 5 | [Citavi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/citavi.md) | 73 | ? | Windows, Web, Browser extension |
| 6 | [Mendeley](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mendeley.md) | 68 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |
| 7 | [BibDesk](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/bibdesk.md) | 60 | BSD-3-Clause | macOS |
| 8 | [Lean Library Workspace](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lean-library-workspace.md) | 60 | ? | Web, Browser extension |
| 9 | [Citationsy](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/citationsy.md) | 55 | Proprietary | iOS, Android, Web, Browser extension |
| 10 | [RefWorks](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/refworks.md) | 55 | ? | Web, Browser extension |
| 11 | [WIKINDX](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/wikindx.md) | 50 | ISC License | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Citation managers checklist | Zotero | EndNote | Paperpile | ReadCube Papers | JabRef | Citavi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Freemium | One-time | Subscription | Subscription | Free | Subscription |
| Starts at | $20/year | ? | $4.15/month | $7/user/mo | Free | $90/yr |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | ? | Proprietary | ? | MIT | ? |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, iOS, Web, Browser extension | Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web, Browser extension | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, Web, Browser extension |
| Browser capture | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDF annotation | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Citation styles count | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Word / Docs plugins | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Group libraries | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | No | No | ? | Yes | No |
| Storage limits (free) | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ? |
| BibTeX support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deduplication | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |

## Sources

Sources for Zotero. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Freemium — <https://www.zotero.org/storage> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “300 MB ... Free ... 2 GB ... $20/year”
- **Starts at**: $20/year — <https://www.zotero.org/storage> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Note: App is free; paid tiers are optional cloud storage.
  - Quote: “2 GB ... $20/year (equal to $1.67 per month)”
- **Status**: active — <https://api.github.com/repos/zotero/zotero> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Note: pushed_at": "2026-07-08T17:48:49Z", "archived": false"
- **License**: AGPL-3.0 — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zotero/zotero/main/COPYING> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “The Corporation for Digital Scholarship distributes the Zotero source code under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 (AGPLv3).”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension — <https://www.zotero.org/download> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Zotero 9 for Windows ... macOS ... Linux 64-bit ... iOS ... Android ... Zotero Connector”
- **Browser capture**: Yes — <https://www.zotero.org/support/adding_items_to_zotero> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “the Zotero Connector will automatically find bibliographic information on webpages you visit and allow you to add it to Zotero with a single click.”
- **PDF annotation**: Yes — <https://www.zotero.org/support/pdf_reader> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Creating Annotations ... Highlights and Underlines ... The reader supports two highlighting/underlining modes.”
- **Citation styles count**: Yes — <https://www.zotero.org/support/styles> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “over 10,000 additional styles can be found in the Zotero Style Repository”
- **Word / Docs plugins**: Yes — <https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_integration> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “These plugins, available for Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs, create dynamic bibliographies”
- **Group libraries**: Yes — <https://www.zotero.org/support/groups> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Zotero groups provide a powerful way to share collections ... Group Libraries are separate from your personal My Library”
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zotero/zotero/main/COPYING> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “The Corporation for Digital Scholarship distributes the Zotero source code under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 (AGPLv3).”
- **Storage limits (free)**: Yes — <https://www.zotero.org/storage> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “300 MB ... Free”
- **BibTeX support**: Yes — <https://www.zotero.org/storage> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Note: exportFormats":["bibtex","bookmarks","mods","refer","rdf_bibliontology","rdf_dc","rdf_zotero","ris","wikipedia"]" — BibTeX listed as an export format in the Zotero web app config embedded in the page HTML.
- **Deduplication**: Yes — <https://www.zotero.org/support/duplicate_detection> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Quote: “Zotero can help you identify possible duplicates and allow you to merge them”
- **Mobile app**: Yes — <https://www.zotero.org/download/android> (verified 2026-07-08)
  - Note: iOS app also available on the App Store.
  - Quote: “Zotero for Android”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/