CitApp vs CitePlain

CitApp helps students create formatted citations from links or DOIs and organize research sources on the web or through a Chrome extension. It supports websites, journal articles, books, PDFs, reports, Wikipedia, news, theses, and videos, retrieving metadata from CrossRef, PubMed, arXiv, and Google Books. Citation options include 17 built-in styles, more than 130 journal and university CSL styles, and custom styles. A Google Docs add-on inserts citations at the cursor and updates the reference list. The free plan imports Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote libraries and exports to Word, BibTeX, and RIS. The extension saves pages and PDFs, including files behind logins, to a project. Invite links let signed-in collaborators view and add sources. Academic Shield checks wording similarity, section fit, and citation support. Free includes unlimited in-app sources, 10 browser captures weekly, 30 Docs insertions weekly, and 10 Shield checks weekly. Pro costs SEK 99, paid once and removes weekly limits.

CitePlain creates citations and bibliographies from web pages, journal articles, books, tweets, YouTube videos, and podcasts. It accepts URLs, DOIs, or ISBNs, and uses publisher citation and Open Graph metadata, with Crossref lookup for DOIs and Open Library for ISBNs. The free plan includes APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17, Vancouver, CSE, and BibTeX, plus a bibliography builder for up to 50 sources per batch. The extension for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox can read metadata from the active tab and provide BibTeX with a stable cite key for Overleaf or Zotero. Pro adds 24 specialised styles, batch URL import for up to 50 sources, and cloud storage synced across the web app and extension. Free-tier references stay in browser local storage. Pro costs $4.99 a month or $39 a year. Lifetime options are listed at 89.00 USD once and 199.00 USD once. CitePlain describes its focus as individual citations rather than replacing a research reference manager.