BibDesk vs Mendeley Reference Manager
BibDesk
bibdesk.sourceforge.io
Mendeley Reference Manager
mendeley.comSide by side
| Figure | BibDesk | Mendeley Reference Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $4.58/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 7 |
| Spec score · Citation Management Software | 7.9 (#15) | 8.3 (#8) |
| Spec score · Reference Management Software | 7.8 (#19) | 8.3 (#8) |
| Collaboration | It supports sharing bibliographies with colleagues and exporting them to HTML and RSS. | Groups provide shared libraries where colleagues, course-mates or co-authors can add references and annotate PDFs in real time. |
| Purpose | BibDesk edits and manages bibliographies, including bibliographic information and associated files or web links. | Mendeley Reference Manager is a free web and desktop reference management application for organizing references and supporting research workflows. |
| Support | The homepage links to a help book, wiki, user and developer mailing lists, bug reporting, and feature requests. | The download page directs users to the Mendeley Support Center and release notes for help and updates. |
Plans
Mendeley Reference Manager
- FreeFree
- Plus$4.99 a month
- Pro$9.99 a month
- Max$14.99 a month
- Plus$55 a year
- Pro$110 a year
- Max$165 a year
In their own words
BibDesk
BibDesk has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Mendeley Reference Manager
Mendeley Reference Manager is a web and desktop application for organizing references and supporting research workflows. Users can import PDFs or folders into a library, read and annotate documents, and collect thoughts in Mendeley Notebook. Mendeley Cite inserts citations and builds bibliographies in Microsoft Word using a chosen style. Shared groups let colleagues, course-mates, or co-authors contribute references and annotate PDFs together. Web Importer saves papers, web pages, and other documents from search engines and academic databases; it is available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. Watched Folders can import PDFs placed in a selected desktop folder. Offline mode syncs library changes after reconnecting. Free accounts include 2GB of storage and five Reading Assistant questions. Paid plans start at $4.99 per month, with higher tiers listing additional storage and Reading Assistant features. Mendeley is available on web, Windows, Linux, macOS, and as a browser extension. The Windows download page lists Windows 10 and above as supported.