# ReadCube Papers pricing (2026): plans, cost, and compliance

**Entry price:** $7/mo (Essentials). Among the 7 citation manager we track it is the most expensive; median entry $0/mo.
**Domain:** papersapp.com
**Free tier:** No · 30-day free trial
**Compliance:** HIPAA Not published · SOC 2 Not published · GDPR Not published
**Integrations:** Microsoft Word (SmartCite), Google Docs (SmartCite), Overleaf, iOS, Android
**Best for:** academic researchers; lab groups; Word users; institutional libraries
**Price tracked since:** June 2026

## Plans

| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Billing | Notes | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Essentials | $7 | −23% | per_seat | $7/user/mo billed monthly or $65/user/year (~$5.42/mo). Academic discount 40%. 30-day free trial (no card). Unlimited PDF storage, AI chat with PDFs (daily limit), up to 5 shared libraries. Confirmed on official page 2026-06-18. | papersapp.com |
| Pro | $14 | −23% | per_seat | $14/user/mo billed monthly or $130/user/year (~$10.83/mo). Academic discount 40%. Adds advanced search (150M+ publications), up to 25 group members, up to 15 shared libraries, AI chat with library, transferable seats. Confirmed on official page 2026-06-18. | papersapp.com |
| Enterprise | Quote-only | — | custom | Custom quote (no published price). Unlimited users, SSO, document delivery, dedicated support, admin dashboard, modular add-ons. | papersapp.com |

**Key features:** SmartCite for Word and Google Docs; Enhanced PDF reader with full annotation; 8,000+ citation styles; ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified (via Digital Science).

**Plan limits:** No forever-free plan — 30-day trial then downgrade/cancel; Up to 5 shared libraries on Essentials; 40% academic discount requires verification.

## Cheaper citation manager alternatives

- [Mendeley](https://frontdeskreview.com/software/citation-manager/mendeley/) — from $0/mo
- [Zotero](https://frontdeskreview.com/software/citation-manager/zotero/) — from $0/mo
- [Sciwheel (Lean Library Workspace)](https://frontdeskreview.com/software/citation-manager/sciwheel/) — from $0/mo
- [BibGuru](https://frontdeskreview.com/software/citation-manager/bibguru/) — from $0/mo
- [Citationsy](https://frontdeskreview.com/software/citation-manager/citationsy/) — from $0/mo

Sources: 1 · Last verified 2026-06-18
Provenance: Pricing re-fetched from papersapp.com/pricing/ on 2026-06-18 (Essentials $7/user/mo, Pro $14/user/mo, per-seat, confirmed). ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification confirmed on papersapp.com/security (via Digital Science). GDPR not explicitly stated on fetched pages — compliance.gdpr set to null. No SOC2 or HIPAA found.
Canonical: https://frontdeskreview.com/software/citation-manager/readcube-papers/
Cite: Per The Front Desk Review, ReadCube Papers's entry plan was $7/mo as of 2026-06-18 — https://frontdeskreview.com/software/citation-manager/readcube-papers/
License: CC BY 4.0. Price history: https://frontdeskreview.com/data/price-history.jsonl