Zotero Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Zotero for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Mendeley, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Zotero and many of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Zotero are JabRef, EndNote, Paperpile and ReadCube Papers.

filter to find the best alternatives

Zotero alternatives are mainly Research Managers, but if you're looking for Document Managers or Academic Research Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Mac, Open Source and Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Zotero.
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Alternatives
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Alternatives list

  1. Mendeley icon
     295 likes

    Mendeley helps manage and share academic knowledge: Mendeley Desktop is free academic software (Windows, Mac, Linux) for organizing and sharing research papers and generating bibliographies with 1GB of free online storage to automatically back up and synchronize your library...

    98 Mendeley alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    Good alternative?
     
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    2
  2. JabRef icon
     108 likes

    Bibliography reference manager. The native file format used by JabRef is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format.

    62 JabRef alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Vivaldi
    • Google Chrome
    • Mozilla Firefox
    Good alternative?
     
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    2
  3. EndNote icon
     45 likes

    Reference management tool supporting searching and importing from databases, auto-formatting citations, creating bibliographies, syncing libraries via the cloud, annotating PDFs, collaboration, deduplication of references, web-based access, and AI-powered assistance.

    53 EndNote alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • GB flagUnited Kingdom
    EndNote screenshot 1
    Good alternative?
     
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    2
  4. Paperpile icon
     59 likes

    Organize your research papers in a Gmail-like web app, sync your PDFs to Google Drive and cite your references in Google Docs.

    53 Paperpile alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Google Chrome
    • Microsoft Office Word
    • Google Drive
    • Google Drive - Docs
    • Google Scholar
    Good alternative?
     
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    1
  5. ReadCube Papers icon
     71 likes

    Papers helps you collect and curate the research material that you're passionate about. This award-winning reference manager will improve the way you find, organize, read, cite, and share.

    48 ReadCube Papers alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Safari
    • Firefox
    Good alternative?
     
  6. WizNote icon
     82 likes

    WizNote is a Note software, which is especially designed for Internet users and mobile Internet users. WizNote focuses more on notes of rapid collection, management, reading and sharing. WizNote is smaller, more stable, and more suitable for computers, phones and mobile devices.

    252 WizNote alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • Windows Phone
    • iPad
    Good alternative?
     
  7. Bookends icon
     13 likes

    Bookends is a commercial reference management software package for Mac OS X that is used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles. Its target market is students, academics and professionals.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Good alternative?
     
  8. Research icon
     5 likes

    The Research app is designed to streamline your workflow, offering a minimalist yet powerful platform for collecting, organizing, and analyzing research materials.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  9. RefWorks icon
     11 likes

    RefWorks - an online research management, writing and collaboration tool - is designed to help researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    Good alternative?
     
  10. Bibliography.com is a free, easy-to-use multi-platform bibliography and citation generator that automatically generates accurate citations for students and teachers. It’s the world’s fastest and most accurate citation generator and management tool.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • iPad
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    Good alternative?
     
  11. Paperlib icon
     6 likes

    An open-source and simple academic paper management tool.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Google Chrome
    • Mozilla Firefox
    • Safari
    Good alternative?
     
  12. PaperShip icon
     Like

    PaperShip is an iPad, iPhone, and Mac application designed to give you access to your Mendeley / Zotero library on-the-go. You will enjoy annotating your PDFs with highlights, notes, free text, drawings and much more!

    11 PaperShip alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Good alternative?
     
12 of 31 Zotero alternatives