Best Citation Manager · alternatives
Best Zotero alternatives (2026)
7 alternatives to Zotero in citation manager, ranked by entry price. Zotero starts at $0/mo. Every figure links to the public page it was captured from — the vendor's own wherever the vendor publishes the number, otherwise the named public source — with the date we captured it.
Key takeaways
- Free alternatives: BibGuru, Citationsy, Mendeley, Sciwheel (Lean Library Workspace).
- Closest by price: BibGuru ($0/mo), Citationsy ($0/mo), Mendeley ($0/mo).
Zotero alternatives compared
| # | Alternative | Entry price | Free | HIPAA | Best for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BibGuru | $0/mo | Yes | — | students | bibguru.com |
| 2 | Citationsy STALE · 2026-06-18 | $0/mo | Yes | — | students | spotsaas.com |
| 3 | Mendeley | $0/mo | Yes | — | students | mendeley.com |
| 4 | Sciwheel (Lean Library Workspace) | $0/mo | Yes | — | biomedical researchers | sciwheel.com |
| 5 | Paperpile | $4.15/mo | No | — | academic researchers | paperpile.com |
| 6 | ReadCube Papers | $10/mo | No | — | academic researchers | about.readcube.com |
| 7 | EndNote | not priced monthly | No | — | institutional researchers | endnote.com |
Data current through 2026-09-09. STALE marks a row with at least one plan we have not re-checked at its source in over 30 days. 1 of 7 rows above is marked. Compare any two directly on the Citation Manager index.