Citation Tool Feature Comparison Chart
On this page:
- Product Development
- Usability & Product Offerings
- Operating System
- Browser Compatibility
- Cost
- Free Cloud Storage
- Requires Installation
- Cite As You Write (In-Text Citations Notes, & Bibliographies in Microsoft Word)
- Citation-Styles
- Saving Citations while Browsing Databases
- Saving .PDF Files to Personal Library
- Automatically Extracts .PDF Data
- Directly Annotate and Highlight .PDFs
- Organizational Features
- Add Snapshots of Webpages
- Add Tags and Notes to Items
- Internal Search Capabilities
- Group Collaboration Features
- Security
Category
Product Development
| Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|
| Ran by private for-profit company, Elsevier. | Ran by an independent, non-profit organization. |
Usability & Product Offerings
Mendeley
- Easy to use reference management tool.
- Includes a Desktop version and a web version compatible with all major web browsers.
Zotero
- Easy to use reference management tool.
- Works as a Firefox extension or as a standalone version with a connector to Chrome, Safari, Firefox and/or Opera.
Operating System
| Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|
| Macintosh, Windows, Linux | Macintosh, Windows, Linux, anywhere Firefox can run |
Browser Compatibility
Mendeley
Compatible with:
- Internet Explorer 8-11
- Firefox 6 and newer
- Chrome 14 and newer
- Safari 5 and newer
Need to have Javascript and cookies enabled.
Zotero
Can use Zotero for Firefox (uses a Firefox extension), or
Can install a Zotero Standalone browser extension for use with Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Opera.
Cost
Mendeley
- Basic software is free.
- Charges for adding cloud storage space.
- Charges for collaborating with larger groups.
Zotero
- Basic software is free.
- Charges for adding cloud storage space.
Free Cloud Storage
| Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|
| 2GB of cloud storage. About 700 articles. | 300MB of cloud storage. About 100 articles. |
Requires Installation
Mendeley
Yes.
Provides instructions & YouTube video tutorials for the installation and use of Mendeley.
Installation Process:
- Create a Mendeley account
- Download desktop client for your OS (Mac, Windows, Linux)
- Install web importer
Zotero
Yes.
Includes a guide on how to install and use Zotero. User generated YouTube tutorials are available.
Installation Process:
Cite As You Write (In-Text Citations Notes, & Bibliographies in Microsoft Word)
Mendeley
Yes
- There are free plugins for Word, LibreOffice, and BibTeX.
- After downloading Mendeley, you can install the plugins from within the program.
Zotero
Yes
- The free plugin for Word and LibreOffice is included in the Zotero Standalone version.
Zotero for Firefox version: Guide for installing free Word (Mac & Windows) and LibreOffice Plugins .
Import and Export in BibTex and RIS format
| Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|
| Yes | Yes |
Citation-Styles
Mendeley
Both Mendeley and Zotero use Citation Style Language , which offers over 7,000 free CSL citation styles.
- Additional styles can be installed from within the desktop client.
Instructions: Editing a citation style in Mendeley .
Zotero
Both Mendeley and Zotero use Citation Style Language , which offers over 7,000 free CSL citation styles.
- Additional styles can be downloaded from the Zotero Style Repository .
Instructions: Editing a citation style in Zotero .
Saving Citations while Browsing Databases
| Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|
| You can save citation information for major databases after installing the web importer bookmarklet . | You can save citation information from databases using the Zotero icon . |
Saving .PDF Files to Personal Library
Mendeley
Yes
- You can drag and drop .PDF files or folders of .PDF files into your library.
- You can also import .PDFs from other citation management software.
Zotero
Yes
- You can drag and drop .PDF files or folders of .PDF files into your library.
- Can be set to automatically grab .PDFs and citation information from websites.
Automatically Extracts .PDF Data
| Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|
| When you drag and drop PDFs or folders of PDFs, Mendeley will extract metadata such as the authors, title of the paper, and publication year. More info (Mendeley) | When you drag and drop PDFs or folders of PDFs, Zotero will extract metadata such as the authors, title of the paper, and publication year. More info (Zotero) . |
Directly Annotate and Highlight .PDFs
Mendeley
Yes
Includes a built-in .PDF reader that allows users to directly highlight and annotate .pdf documents.
Zotero
No
Need to use a .pdf reader application on personal device to add annotations to .PDFs. The Zotfile plugin can be used to sync .PDFs from device to your Zotero library.
Organizational Features
Mendeley
- You can create unlimited folders (called collections).
- You can add tags to items and search using tags.
Zotero
- You can create unlimited folders (called collections).
- You can add tags to items and search using tags.
Add Snapshots of Webpages
Mendeley
Yes
- You can use the “Import to Mendeley” bookmark in your browser to save the web page link and a “snapshot” of the web page to your Mendeley library.
Add Tags and Notes to Items
| Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|
| Tags, notes, and annotations can be added to items. More annotation info (Mendeley) | Tags and notes can be added to items. More annotation info (Zotero) |
Internal Search Capabilities
Mendeley
- Able to quick search all content in your personal library (searchable metadata fields such as author, title, and your notes).
- Can use advanced search operators.
- Includes a literature search feature that allows users to search the Mendeley Catalog and add open-access content to their library. If content is not open-access, the citation can be saved to library.
Zotero
- Able to quick search all content in your personal library (searchable metadata fields such as author, title, and item tags).
- Can use and save advanced searches
- Includes option to enable full-text .pdf indexing that allows users to search the text of .pdf documents using either the quick search or advanced search option.
Group Collaboration Features
Mendeley
Users can create 1 private group or 1 invite-only public group with a 3 member limit with the free account.
- Private groups: Users can share documents and citations. More info on private groups in Mendeley .
- Public Invite-only groups: Users can share citations. Non-members of the group cannot add to group resources, but can follow the group, participate in group discussions and view group references.
- Public groups: No limit to the amount of public groups that can be created. Share references only.
Zotero
There is no limit to the amount and types of groups created in Zotero.
- Private groups: Users can share documents and citations.
- Public Invite-only groups: Users can share documents and citations.
- Public groups: can share citations, but not documents.
Security
Mendeley
- Mandatory cloud storage
- Cloud data is stored on U.S. servers.
Zotero
- Optional cloud storage. Can use Zotero without having to sync, however it is mandatory for collaboration with others.
- Cloud data is stored on U.S. servers.
Mobile Apps
- Completely browser-based.
Zotero
Yes (third-party apps)
- The mobile version allows users to access and edit their Zotero libraries on a tablet or mobile phone.
- No Zotero apps. There are third party apps for Apple and Android devices available at different prices.