Citavi vs JabRef
Citavi
citavi.com
JabRef
jabref.orgSide by side
| Figure | Citavi | JabRef |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Spec score · Reference Management Software | 7.8 (#21) | 8.8 (#1) |
| Spec score · Citation Management Software | 7.8 (#20) | 8.8 (#1) |
| AI features | Its AI assistant can summarize text, generate article key insights, and search for papers using a topic described in plain language. | Since version 6, JabRef can summarize papers and chat with them using external AI providers; its documentation says linked PDFs are parsed and indexed for this processing. |
| Citation styles | Citavi offers over 11,000 citation styles and lets users switch, upload, or customize styles. | JabRef includes thousands of citation styles and permits user-created styles. |
| Purpose | Citavi combines reference management, knowledge organization, and AI-powered insights for research writing. | JabRef is an open-source citation and reference manager for collecting and organizing research sources. |
| Support | Citavi support includes a knowledge base, community forum, support tickets, and live chat. | The project directs users to its documentation and community forum for help, with bug reports handled through GitHub. |
Plans
Citavi
- Citavi institutional licensingPriced on request
- Citavi WebPrice not published
- Citavi Windows + WebPrice not published
In their own words
JabRef
JabRef is a free, open-source citation and reference manager for collecting and organizing research sources. It works natively with BibTeX and BibLaTeX libraries stored as text, imports references from more than 15 formats, and extracts metadata from PDFs. Users can search scientific catalogs such as CrossRef, Google Scholar, PubMed, Springer, arXiv, and zbMATH. Library tools include hierarchical collections, keywords and tags, advanced search and filters, duplicate merging, and customizable citation keys. JabRef supports cite-as-you-write workflows with Word and LibreOffice/OpenOffice, and can send citation keys to editors including Emacs, LyX, TeXstudio, Vim, and WinEdt. Its browser extension collects bibliographic information from websites, though the documentation warns it is non-functional on Chrome. Teams can share a SQL database, and SSL connections are supported; SSL testing is documented only for PostgreSQL. Since version 6, users can summarize papers and chat with them through external AI providers, which process requests and linked PDFs. The project directs users to documentation and a community forum for help, with bug reports handled through GitHub.