Is Mendeley or Zotero cheaper?

Mendeley has the lower entry price — Mendeley starts at $0/mo and Zotero at $0/mo.

Does Mendeley or Zotero support HIPAA?

HIPAA support — Mendeley: —; Zotero: —. Confirm current scope with the vendor.

Mendeley vs Zotero

A sourced, side-by-side comparison for citation manager. Mendeley has the lower entry price. 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.

Mendeley has the lower entry price — Mendeley starts at $0/mo, Zotero at $0/mo. Free tier: Mendeley Yes, Zotero Yes. HIPAA: Mendeley —, Zotero —.

As of 2026-09-02 · figures link to their source below

Side by side

Mendeley

$0/mo entry

Entry price$0/mo (Free)

Free tierYes

HIPAA (BAA)—

SOC 2—

GDPR—

Best forstudents

Zotero

$0/mo entry

Entry price$0/mo (Free (300MB Storage))

Free tierYes

HIPAA (BAA)—

SOC 2—

GDPR—

Best forstudents

Sources — Mendeley: mendeley.com (verified 2026-09-02) · Zotero: zotero.org (verified 2026-09-02)

Key features

Mendeley: Free tier with 2GB storage and Word/LibreOffice plugins; AI Reading Assistant (PDF chat); Elsevier ScienceDirect integration for content recommendations; Owned by Elsevier — deep publisher integration

Zotero: Fully free and open-source (AGPL); Native Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs plugins; 9,000+ citation styles; Non-profit — no advertising or data monetization

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