The following tables compare notablereference management software. The comparison includes older applications that may no longer be supported, as well as actively-maintained software.
In the "notes" section, there is a difference between:
| Software | Developer | First public release | Latest stable release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Free software | License | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BibBase | Christian Fritz | 2005 | 2024-06-06 | ? | Free for students / Paid plan for others | No | Proprietary | Centrally hosted website, intended for publication pages |
| BibDesk | BibDesk developers | 2002-04 | 2026-01-19 | 1.9.10 | Free | Yes | BSD | BibTeX front-end + repository;Cocoa-based; integration withSpotlight |
| BibSonomy | University of Kassel | 2006-01 | 2024-01-08 | 4.1.0 | Free | Yes | AGPL,GPL,LGPL[1] | Centrally hosted website |
| Bookends | Sonny Software | 1988 (Mac) / 1983 (Apple II+) | 2023-05-06 | 14.2[2] | US$59.99[a] | No | Proprietary | Desktop & iOS synced via iCloud, integrated web search, PDF download, auto-completion, Word plugin, BibTex support, PDF annotations stored as notes |
| Citavi | Lumivero | 2006-02-13 | 2023-08-15 | 6.17.0.0 | US$89-1947[b] | No | Proprietary | Data can be saved locally on the computer, or, for team access, in the Citavi Cloud or an intranetMicrosoft SQL Server;[3] search databases from interface[4] |
| EndNote | Clarivate Analytics | 1988 | 2025-04-22 | 2025 | US$299.95[a] | No | Proprietary | The web versionEndNote basic (formerly, EndNote Web) is free of charge |
| JabRef | JabRef developers | 2003-11-29 | 2024-07-11 | 5.15 | Free | Yes | MIT license | JavaBibTeX andBibLaTeX manager |
| KBibTeX | KBibTeX developers | 2005-08 | 2020-04-26 | 0.9.2 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | BibTeX front-end, using theKDE Software Compilation |
| Mendeley | Elsevier | 2008-08 | 2025-06-05 | 2.135.0 | Free / Online storage free up to 2 GB / Additional storage space available | No | Proprietary with public API | Account required, app versions for web, Windows, Linux, macOS. Data synced automatically between clients and server. Usable offline. |
| Paperpile | Stefan Washietl, Gregorgy Jordan, Andreas Gruber | 2013 | Continually updated online | US$2.99/month for academics, 9.99/month otherwise | No | Proprietary | Web-app, integrates with Google Docs, collaboration & sharing features, currently only on Google Chrome | |
| Papers | ReadCube | 2011-10 | 2023-04-04 | v.4.35.2224 | US$ 3/month for students, 5/month academics | No | Proprietary | Web-app, Desktop (MacOS, Windows), Mobile (iOS and Android). Microsoft Word and Google Docs add-in. Browser extension (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari) |
| refbase | refbase developers | 2003-06-03 | 2014-02-28 | 0.9.6 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | Web-based forinstitutional repositories/self-archiving[5] |
| RefDB | refdb developers | 2001-04-25 | 2022-02-13 | 1.0.3 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | Network-transparent;XML/SGML bibliographies |
| RefWorks | Ex Libris / ProQuest / Clarivate | 2001 | 2024-07-09 | 4.6 | Institutional subscription | No | Proprietary | Web-based, browser-accessed, Word & Google Docs |
| Zotero | Corporation for Digital Scholarship | 2006 | 2026-02-03 | 8.0.2[6] | Free / Online storage free up to 300 MB / Additional storage space available | Yes | AGPL | Native desktop and mobile applications and web browser connectors. Browser access through Zotero.org or cloud-based database folder on a user's computer (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.). |
In the case ofweb applications, this describes theserver OS. For centrally hosted websites that are proprietary, this is not applicable. AnyclientOS can connect to aweb service unless stated otherwise in a footnote.
| Software | Windows | macOS | Linux | ChromeOS | BSD | Unix | iOS App | Android App | Windows App |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| BibBase | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | ? | ? | ? |
| BibDesk | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BibSonomy | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | ? | ? | ? |
| Bookends | No | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | ? |
| Citavi | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| EndNote | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| KBibTeX | Experimental | Experimental | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No (phased out as ofMarch 15, 2021)[7] | No (phased out as ofMarch 15, 2021)[7] | No |
| Paperpile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (requires Chromium) | No (requires Chromium) | Yes[8] | Yes[9] | No |
| Papers | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pybliographer | Partial[c] | Partial[c] | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| RefDB | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| RefWorks[10] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | No | ? | No |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | Yes | Intel only | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
This table lists the machine-readable file formats that can be exported from reference managers. These are typically used to share data with other reference managers or with other people who use a reference manager. To exchange data from one program to another, the first program must be able to export to a format that the second program may import. Import file formats are in a table below this one.
| Software | BibTeX | Endnote/Refer/BibIX | Medline | MODS XML | RIS | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | Yes | No | No | No | No | unAPI |
| BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | No | None |
| BibDesk | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Endnote XML, user customizable |
| BibSonomy | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Various[11] |
| Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Various user-customizable |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | NVivo and various others |
| EndNote | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Various[12] |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | BibTeXML,DocBook,HTML,OpenDocument forOO.o,RTF, SQL database, user-customizable |
| KBibTeX | Yes | Yes | No | Depends[d] | Yes | PDF, PostScript, HTML, XML, RTF |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Endnote XML |
| Paperpile | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | CSV,JSON |
| Papers | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | None |
| Pybliographer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Ovid |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | COinS,OpenDocument forOO.o,SRW XML viaSRU,unAPI,Word XML |
| RefDB | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | SRW XML viaSRU web service,DocBook,TEI |
| RefWorks | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | RIS, BibTeX, Tab delimited or XML metadata |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | As of version 4.0[13] | Yes | Yes | COinS,CSV, SeveralRDF format standards,TEI, Wikipedia citation templates, Endnote XML, CSL JSON, Refer/BiblX, RefWorks tagged |
This table lists thefile formats which may be manually imported into the reference managers without needing to connect to one particular database. Many of these database companies use the same name for their file format as they do for their database (includingCopac,CSA, ISI,Medline, Ovid,PubMed, andSciFinder). For the ability to retrieve citations from the particular databases (rather than the file format), please refer to the database connectivity table that is below this table.
As of January 2021[update],CSLYAML is not supported by any reference management system.[14]
| Software | BibTeX | Copac | CSA | Endnote/Refer/BibIX | ISI | Medline | MODS XML | Ovid | PubMed | RIS | SciFinder | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| BibDesk | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | MARC, JSTOR, Reference Miner |
| BibSonomy | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Firefox bookmarks |
| Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various user-customizable |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various |
| EndNote | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[15] |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | BibTexML,Biomail,Inspec,JSTOR,MSBib, PDF widh XMP annotations,REPEC (NEP),SilverPlatter,SixPack |
| KBibTeX | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Depends[d] | No | Yes | Yes | No | None |
| Mendeley | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Browser bookmarks |
| Paperpile | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | PDF, MARC |
| Papers | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Pybliographer | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | None |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | RefWorks |
| RefDB | Yes | Yes[d] | No | Yes[d] | Yes[d] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes[d] | MARC, risx |
| RefWorks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[16] |
| Zotero | Yes | No[e] | No[e] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | COinS,MARC,RDF,unAPI,Browser bookmarks, Endnote XML, others[17] |
| Software | APA | Chicago/Turabian | Harvard | MLA | Other | Extension method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| BibDesk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[18] | BibTeX style files (usePandoc § CiteProc forCSL[19]) or BibDesk export templates[18] |
| BibSonomy | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Bookends | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[citation needed] | ? |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[20] | Citavi format (throughGUI), includes conditions and programmable components;[20]BibTeX orBibLaTeX when used with LaTeX (usePandoc § CiteProc forCSL[19]) |
| EndNote | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[12] | EndNote format (throughGUI)[12] |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various | BibTeX style files orBibLaTeX (usePandoc § CiteProc forCSL[19]) |
| KBibTeX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various | BibTeX style files (usePandoc § CiteProc forCSL[19]) |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[21] | CSL[21] |
| Paperpile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[21] | CSL[21] |
| Papers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[21] | CSL;BibTeX orBibLaTeX when used with LaTeX[22] |
| Pybliographer | Yes | No | No | No | None | PybliographerXML |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various polar & marine journals | PHP |
| RefDB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 21 biomedical & law journals[23] | XML (citestylex.dtd), interactive script |
| RefWorks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various | RefWorks format (throughGUI);[24]CSL[21] |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Various[21] | CSL;[21]BibTeX orBibLaTeX when used with LaTeX[25] |
EndNote is incompatible with LaTeX. Among other things, it does not provide for robust citation keys.
| Software | HTML | LaTeX[f] | RTF | Plain text | RSS | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | unAPI |
| BibBase | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| BibDesk | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Atom,DOC,PDF,XML, |
| BibSonomy | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | OpenOffice-CSV |
| Bookends | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Clipboard |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes[g] | Yes | Yes | No | Clipboard,DOC,ODT,PDF,HTML |
| EndNote | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Clipboard,XML |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Clipboard |
| KBibTeX | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | PDF,PS |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes[h] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Clipboard, embeddable HTML widget, RSS |
| Paperpile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Clipboard |
| Papers | Yes | No | No | No | No | |
| Pybliographer | Yes | ? | No | Yes | No | No |
| refbase | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Markdown,PDF,unAPI |
| RefDB | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | DocBook,TEI |
| RefWorks | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | DOC,ODT |
| Zotero | Yes | Possible via plugin[27] | Yes | Possible via plugins[28] | Yes | Clipboard |
Some reference management software include support for automatic embedding and (re)formatting of references inWord processor programs. This table lists this type of support forMicrosoft Word,Pages,Apache OpenOffice /LibreOffice Writer, theLaTeX editorsKile andLyX, andGoogle Docs. Other programs are able to scanRTF or other textual formats for inserted placeholders which are subsequently formatted. Most reference management programs support copy/paste or drag-and-drop of references into anyeditor, but this is not meant here.
| Software | Word for Windows | Word for Mac | Word Online | Pages | Apache OpenOffice / LibreOffice | Kile/LyX | Google Docs | RTF scan[i] | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| BibBase | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| BibDesk | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | User-created scripts |
| BibSonomy | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | None |
| Bookends | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Mellel,Nisus |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes | No | No | Only versions prior to 6.0 | Yes[29] | No | Only versions prior to 6.0 | LaTeX editorsTexmaker,TeXnicCenter,TeXstudio,TeXworks,WinEdt,WinShell |
| EndNote | Yes | Yes | Yes[30] | Yes | No[31] | No | Yes[32] | Yes | No |
| JabRef | Yes[33] | ? | ? | ? | Yes[34] | Yes | No | ? | Emacs,Texmaker,TeXstudio,Vim,WinEdt |
| KBibTeX | No | ? | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | ? | None |
| Mendeley | Yes | Partial[j] | Yes[35] | No | Yes | No | No | ? | NeoOffice |
| Paperpile | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Papers | Yes | Yes | Yes[36] | Yes[37] | Yes | No | Yes | No | Manuscripts app,Scrivener,Ulysses |
| Pybliographer | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | No | ? | None |
| refbase | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes[38] | No | No | Yes | PIRA,MediaWiki,SPIP |
| RefDB | No | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | None |
| RefWorks | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | None |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | (with LyZ)[39] | Yes | Yes | Various[40] |
This table lists theacademic databases and search engines which reference managers can import from. In some cases, a search and retrieval can be conducted directly in the reference manager. In others, abookmarklet orFirefox extension will allow a site to bescraped.
| Software | ArXiv | CiteSeer | IEEE Xplore | PubMed | Unpaywall[k] | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| BibBase | No | No | No | No | No | DBLP,Zotero,BibSonomy,Mendeley |
| BibDesk | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | ACM portal,Jstor,DBLP,Google Scholar, Web of Science, anyZ39.50 orEntrez, and others |
| BibSonomy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Various[41] |
| Bookends | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Web of Science, Amazon, Google Scholar,Z39.50 |
| Citavi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | WorldCat/OCLC,Ovid,EBSCO,ProQuest,Web of Science,Z39.50 (4500+ online resources),SRU. Further catalogs are added uponrequest. Browser plugins (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer) support DOI lookup, ISBN lookup, PubMed ID lookup, PMCID lookup, arXiv ID lookup,COinS and import from Wikipedia. |
| EndNote | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Various,[42] anyZ39.50 |
| JabRef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[43] | ACM Portal,CrossRef,DBLP,DOAJ,DOI, GVK,Google Scholar,INSPIRE-HEP,Medline,MathSciNet,SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System,Springer, andzbMATH |
| KBibTeX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | BibSonomy,CiteBase,CSB,DBLP,Google Scholar,ScienceDirect,INSPIRE-HEP,Z MATH,Z39.50 |
| Mendeley | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Various[44] |
| Paperpile | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Google Scholar,INSPIRE-HEP,ACM portal,Jstor, Web of Science |
| Papers | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Microsoft Academic, Google Scholar |
| Pybliographer | No | No | No | Yes | No | None |
| refbase | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | DOI lookup |
| RefDB | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | AnyZ39.50 |
| RefWorks | No | No | No | Yes | No | Various |
| Zotero | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[45] | Various[46] |
Some reference managers provide network functionality (N/A, not available, means the product has no networking, while "No" indicates it does but lacks an implemented feature). TheLightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standardapplication protocol for accessing and maintaining distributeddirectory services over anInternet Protocol (IP) network.[47]
| Software | Passworded | LDAP | Networking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| User-specific permissions[l] | Simultaneous write access | |||
| Bebop | No | ? | N/a | N/a |
| BibBase | N/a | ? | N/a | N/a |
| BibDesk | Yes | ? | No | No |
| BibSonomy | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Bookends | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Citavi | Yes[m] | ? | Yes | Yes |
| EndNote | Yes | ? | No[n] | No[n] |
| JabRef | No | ? | No | Partial |
| KBibTeX | No | ? | N/a | N/a |
| Mendeley | Yes[o] | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Paperpile | Yes[p] | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Papers | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes[48] |
| Pybliographer | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| refbase | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| RefDB | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| RefWorks | Yes | ? | ? | Yes |
| Zotero | Yes[q] | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Software | Developer | First public release | Latest stable release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Free software | License | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebop | ALaRI Institute | 2007-11-08 | 2009-11-10 | 1.1 | Free | Yes | BSD | Web-based BibTeX front-end (Apache, PHP, MySQL) |
| Biblioscape | CG Information | 1997 | 2015-06-22 | 10.0.3.6 | US$79-299[a] | No | Proprietary | ODBC; web access in Pro ed; optional client/server; discontinued? |
| CiteULike | Oversity Limited | 2004-11 | Shut down on2019-03-30[49] | Free | No | Proprietary[r] | Centrally hosted website | |
| colwiz | colwiz Ltd | 2011 | 2016-05-09 | Free / Online storage free up to 3 GB / Additional storage space available | No | Proprietary | Now combined with wizdom.ai | |
| Pybliographer | pybliographer developers | 1998-10-30 (0.2) | 2018-04-03 | 1.4.0 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | Python/GTK2 |
| Qiqqa | Qiqqa | 2010-04 | 2020-10-04 | v80 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | From end 2020, Open Source |
| Reference Manager | Thomson Reuters | 1984 | 2010 | 12.0.3 | Not for sale anymore, sales ceased December 31, 2015 | No | Proprietary | Network version; built-in web publishing tool; discontinued |
| Referencer | Referencer developers | 2008-03-15 | Discontinued | 1.2.2 | Free | Yes | GNU GPL | BibTeX front-end |
| RefME | RefME | 2014 | Shut down in 2017 | Free | No | Proprietary | Web, iOS and Android; Chrome and Safari Extensions available; discontinued | |
| SciRef | Scientific Programs | 2012 | 2020-07-30 | 1.6.2 | US$38.90 / Free trial version | No | Proprietary | |
| WizFolio | WizPatent | 2008-06 | Shut down in 2017 | Avatara | US$25 / Free Basic version | No | Proprietary | Centrally hosted website; discontinued |
Addedbibtex,biblatexas input formats. This allows pandoc to convert between BibLaTeX and BibTeX and other bibliography formats, and to generate formatted versions of BibTeX/BibLaTeX bibliographies (e.g.,pandoc -f biblatex --citeproc pl.bib -o pl.pdf).
Citavi offers over 10,000 citation styles.Other styles can berequested and arecentrally corrected; and anyBibTeX style can be used with LaTeX.