Zotero vs Mendeley vs EndNote in 2026: Which to Pick

Zotero is the best pick for most students and researchers in 2026, because it is free, open source and works with Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs. Mendeley is the easy choice if your university already uses Elsevier tools. EndNote makes sense when your institution licenses it or your lab already has EndNote libraries. This comparison of Zotero vs Mendeley vs EndNote covers who each one suits, how you move references between them, and the jobs none of them do.

If you only need a quick answer, use the table below and jump to the section that matches your situation.

Which reference manager should you choose?

Choose Zotero if you have no other constraint, Mendeley if your department already uses it, and EndNote if your institution pays for it. A reference manager does three jobs. It saves sources while you research, keeps a searchable library, and builds in-text citations and a reference list inside your document. All three tools do those jobs. The differences are cost, how well they share, and how comfortable the Word plugin is on a long thesis.

Switching later is possible, because all three export standard files. Still, changing tools in the middle of a thesis is a chore, so pick one before you write chapter one.

What each tool is

Zotero is a free, open-source tool developed by a nonprofit. Its download page lists Zotero 10 for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. It saves sources from your browser, organizes them in collections with tags and saved searches, and builds citations in Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs.

Mendeley is owned by Elsevier, which acquired it in 2013. It has a web library, a desktop app called Mendeley Reference Manager, and a Word add-in called Mendeley Cite. The Mendeley site says free accounts include 2 GB of storage.

EndNote is made by Clarivate and is paid software. The product Clarivate promotes now is EndNote 2025. It also sells EndNote Web, which the vendor page describes as a way to manage and sync your research from any browser.

Zotero vs Mendeley vs EndNote at a glance

Zotero is the cheapest to run, Mendeley is the simplest to start with a university email, and EndNote is the one most often supplied by an institution. The table sums up what the vendors' own pages say.

Zotero also has a Google Docs plugin and a browser connector for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, and Mendeley has a Web Importer for saving references from the browser.

Zotero in 2026

Zotero suits most people who pay for their own tools. The software costs nothing, there are no feature locks, and you can use it on every common operating system. The only money involved is optional storage.

The free account gives 300 MB for synced files. Paid plans, priced in US dollars on Zotero's storage page on 20 October 2026, are in the table below.

Your references themselves sync without using that storage. Only attached files, such as PDFs, count against the limit. Plenty of students keep PDFs in a folder on their own computer or a cloud drive and never buy storage.

Citing in Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs

Zotero has plugins for Microsoft Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs. Zotero's support page says they install automatically for each supported word processor on your computer when you first start Zotero. The Google Docs plugin has its own setup guide on the Zotero site.

Zotero lists support for more than 9,000 citation styles. That covers APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver, plus a long list of journal-specific styles. If your journal has its own house style, there is a good chance it is already in the list.

Reading and annotating PDFs

Zotero has a built-in PDF reader with highlights, underlines and notes. You can pull annotations into a note by dragging them or with the Add to Note button, and each annotation keeps a link back to the PDF page. If you open a PDF in an outside reader, annotations made in Zotero's reader stay in the Zotero database unless you export a PDF with embedded annotations.

Groups and sharing

Zotero groups come in three types. Private groups are visible only to members. Public groups with closed membership need an invitation or approved request. Public groups with open membership let anyone join, and those cannot store files.

Zotero's group page says there is no limit on how many members may join your groups. Group files use the storage account of the group owner, so one person's plan covers the lab's files. Items you drag into a group become a copy, so changes do not flow back to your own library unless you drag the item back.

Mendeley in 2026

Mendeley suits you if your university or lab already uses Elsevier products, or if you want a free account with 2 GB of storage and a simple web library. The Mendeley site lists PDF import, singly or by folder, and a Web Importer for browser capture. It also lists Watched Folders, which import any PDF dropped into a chosen desktop folder, and Shared Groups where collaborators add references and annotate PDFs.

Mendeley Desktop, Reference Manager and Cite

Mendeley has had three names for its software, and they confuse people. Mendeley Desktop was the older app. According to Wikipedia, Elsevier stopped distributing Mendeley Desktop in September 2022 and moved to the newer Mendeley Reference Manager. In 2024 it planned to stop sign-ins to Desktop. In July 2025, after customer feedback, it reversed that plan and said it would maintain Desktop and keep providing essential support.

Mendeley Cite is the Word add-in that came with Reference Manager in May 2019. It works on its own, so Reference Manager does not need to be open for you to cite in a document. It also works with Word on the web. For a new project, use Mendeley Reference Manager with Mendeley Cite. Using Desktop only makes sense if you have an existing library and a reason to stay.

Mendeley and Google Docs

Zotero has a Google Docs plugin, so if you write in Google Docs, Zotero is the easier choice.

EndNote in 2026

EndNote suits you if your university supplies it, because then it costs you nothing and your supervisor and colleagues probably use it too. EndNote 2025 is the current product on the Clarivate site, and it names a Cite While You Write plugin for Word. Clarivate also sells EndNote Web, which syncs your library in a browser.

Price, students and groups

EndNote is paid software, and the amount depends on whether you are buying a first licence, upgrading, or qualifying for a student licence. The vendor's page links to a student licence option. For a group, whether a small lab or a whole institution, Clarivate says to contact its sales team for special pricing. We leave out the exact figures here because Clarivate changes them often and shows sale prices on its buy page, so look at the current price there before you decide.

If your library provides EndNote, check what version and what sharing setup it offers before installing. Site licences differ from person to person licences, and some come with limits on how many people can share a library.

Storage

The EndNote page advertises unlimited storage and asks users to upgrade so that the unlimited storage does not expire. Ask your library whether that applies to your licence.

Citation style support

All three tools cover the big styles, and the real difference is how many obscure ones you can get. Zotero says it supports more than 9,000. EndNote's page describes continuously updated style definitions without giving a number. We have no style count for Mendeley from the vendor pages.

Pick your style before you start, because switching later is easy only if your library data is clean. Missing years, wrong item types and author names typed in the wrong order are the usual reasons a style looks wrong. Our guides for APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver show what the output should look like, so you can spot a bad entry quickly. If you cannot decide on a style, APA vs MLA vs Chicago vs IEEE explains which fields use which.

Importing and exporting between tools

All three can move references through standard files, so you are never locked in. Zotero imports RIS, BibTeX, BibLaTeX, CSL JSON, MODS, EndNote XML, Citavi XML, PubMed XML, Web of Science Tagged and many more. Zotero's import page calls EndNote XML the best format for exporting from EndNote.

A typical move from EndNote to Zotero goes like this.

1. Export your EndNote library as EndNote XML.
2. In Zotero choose File, then Import, then A file.
3. Check item types and authors on a sample, because converted libraries often need cleanup.

Zotero has a separate Moving to Zotero page for Mendeley users. To go from Zotero to another tool, export RIS or BibTeX and import that file.

Checking the result after a move

Imported libraries often have duplicates, missing fields and capital letters in the wrong places. Open ten or twenty entries and compare them to the source before you start citing. Our reference format converter can help when you have a list of references in one style and need another. The BibTeX generator is useful when you need a clean BibTeX entry without opening your manager.

Choosing by situation

Your situation decides more than any feature list does. These are the common cases.

A student on a budget

Zotero. It costs nothing, the Word and Google Docs plugins work well for essays and theses, and 300 MB is enough for a library of references with few PDFs. If your university gives you EndNote for free, you can still choose Zotero when you want to keep your library after you graduate and your licence ends.

A lab group

Zotero or EndNote. Zotero groups have no member limit and the group owner's storage plan covers the files, so a lab of ten pays for one plan at most. EndNote suits a lab whose institution has bought team licences. Mendeley Shared Groups also work, and its free 2 GB is a good fit for a small project.

Agree on one tool for the whole lab. A shared library only works when everyone cites from the same one, and mixed tools lead to copied entries that drift apart.

A systematic review

Use whichever tool the team already knows, and settle three things first: how you import database exports, how you remove duplicates, and who is allowed to edit the shared library. Zotero imports the files databases export, including RIS, MEDLINE/nbib and Web of Science tagged files. For the screening and extraction steps, our guides on AI tools for systematic reviews and a PRISMA-compliant review cover what AI can and cannot do.

A LaTeX or BibTeX user

Zotero. It imports BibTeX and BibLaTeX, so you can bring an existing .bib file into your library. If you write in Overleaf, our guide on proofreading a LaTeX paper in Overleaf shows how to edit the text without breaking your citation commands.

An institution that licenses EndNote

EndNote. When the library pays and runs training, you get support, and your colleagues will read your library files without trouble. Your access can end when your affiliation does, so export your library as a file once a term as a backup.

What no reference manager does

None of the three checks whether your document is correct. A reference manager inserts what is in your library. It does not decide whether an entry is real, whether a citation appears in your text, or whether your reference list has an extra entry.

These are the gaps that remain after you finish with Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote.

Mismatched citations

Journals reject papers for orphan references and missing citations. If you cite with a plugin, mismatches are rare but still happen when you paste text from another document or break the plugin's field codes. Check by hand before you submit: go through the reference list and search the text for each author and year. The free in-text citation fixer helps with a different problem, citations typed in the wrong style, and converts them to APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago author-date or Harvard.

Invented references from AI tools

AI chat tools can produce references that look right and do not exist. A reference manager will store one happily if you type it in. Before you submit, run your list through the AI citation checker, and follow the steps in our hallucinated-citation audit.

Where ProofreaderPro.ai fits

ProofreaderPro.ai does not replace a reference manager, and it is not meant to. You keep Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote for your library and your plugin. We handle the writing around it. The proofreader fixes grammar and academic style, and the citation tools format a single source in a chosen style. The AI humanizer preserves citations when it rewrites AI-assisted text. See the humanizer that preserves academic citations and why paraphrasing tools damage citations for details.

A simple workflow that works with any of the three managers:

1. Collect sources in your manager as you read.
2. Write and cite with the plugin.
3. Proofread the draft in ProofreaderPro.ai.
4. Check the citations and reference list against each other.
5. Run the AI citation checker on anything that came from a chatbot.

If you are writing a full thesis, AI tools for thesis writing lays out where each step fits.

Mendeley Cite not working in Word

The most common cause of Mendeley Cite showing a blank pane in Word is a security setting that stops its JavaScript from running. Elsevier's support article says that on Windows you set the Internet security zone to Medium-High or lower, and ask your system administrator if you cannot change it. On a Mac, JavaScript must be enabled in Safari.

Other problems have other causes. Elsevier support also says that, for documents that worked before, large or layered images can stop references from loading. In that case ungroup layered images and compress them in Word. If your Office account belongs to a university, an administrator may have blocked add-ins, and then you need your IT team to allow Mendeley Cite.

Mendeley and Claude

To use Claude with your Mendeley library, export the references you need as RIS or BibTeX and upload or paste them into a chat. Claude can then help you summarize, group or compare those sources. Some independent developers also publish community tools that connect Claude to a Mendeley library. They aren't made by Mendeley or Elsevier, so check what access they ask for before you connect your account.

Whichever way you work, keep the reference manager as the record of your sources. If you do, check every reference the chatbot returns against your library, because AI tools can alter authors, years and titles.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote?

Zotero is the best choice for most people because it is free, open source and works with Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs. Mendeley fits people who already use Elsevier tools, and EndNote fits people whose institution licenses it. The best tool is the one your co-authors use.

Is Zotero free to use?

Yes. Zotero says it is a free tool developed by a nonprofit, and the free account includes 300 MB of storage. Paid storage plans start at US$20 a year for 2 GB, according to Zotero's storage page on 20 October 2026.

Is Mendeley still supported?

Yes. Elsevier stopped distributing Mendeley Desktop in September 2022 and moved users to Mendeley Reference Manager. In July 2025 it said it would maintain Desktop and continue essential support, according to Wikipedia. Mendeley Cite is the current Word add-in.

Why is Mendeley Cite not working in Word?

A blank pane usually comes from security settings that block JavaScript, as described above. Elsevier says to set the Windows Internet security zone to Medium-High or lower and to enable JavaScript in Safari on a Mac. If your Word account is managed by a university, ask your IT team to allow the add-in.

Can I move my EndNote library to Zotero?

Yes. Export your EndNote library as EndNote XML, then import that file in Zotero with File, Import, A file. Zotero's import page calls EndNote XML the best format for exporting from EndNote. Check a sample of entries afterwards for item types and author names.

Does Zotero work with Google Docs?

Yes. Zotero's support page lists Microsoft Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs as supported, and the Google Docs plugin has its own guide on the Zotero site.

Do reference managers check that my citations match my reference list?

No. They insert entries from your library and format them. To find mismatches, search your text for each author and year in the reference list. The free in-text citation fixer then corrects citations typed in the wrong style.

Can a reference manager catch references that an AI tool made up?

No. A manager stores what you import or type, real or not. Use the AI citation checker before you submit, and follow the checks in the hallucinated-citation audit.

Does Mendeley work with Claude?

Yes, through an exported library. Export the references as RIS or BibTeX and give the file to Claude, and some independent community tools connect Claude to a Mendeley library. Check every reference Claude writes against your library.

AI Proofreader

Proofread your paper for grammar, clarity and academic style, then check your citations before you submit.