EndNote vs JabRef
EndNote
endnote.com
JabRef
jabref.orgSide by side
| Figure | EndNote | JabRef |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 1 |
| Spec score · Reference Management Software | 8.5 (#4) | 8.8 (#1) |
| Spec score · Citation Management Software | 8.5 (#5) | 8.8 (#1) |
| Citation styles | EndNote provides access to over 7,000 citation styles, including APA, MLA, and Chicago. | JabRef includes thousands of citation styles and permits user-created styles. |
| Support | EndNote advertises free product support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by phone, email, or web chat. | The project directs users to its documentation and community forum for help, with bug reports handled through GitHub. |
| Writing integrations | Cite While You Write works with Microsoft Word, Word Online, Google Docs, LibreOffice, and Apache OpenOffice Writer; Apple Pages is also listed as a macOS partner integration. | Cite-as-you-write and citation-key pushing work with editors including Emacs, LyX, TeXstudio, Vim and WinEdt. |
Plans
EndNote
- Upgrade License$94, paid once
- Student License$113, paid once
- Full License$206, paid once
- Multi-User LicensePriced on request
In their own words
EndNote
EndNote is a bibliography maker and reference organizer for searching, storing, annotating, and citing research. It provides more than 7,000 citation styles, including APA, MLA, and Chicago, and over 4,000 connection files for searching and importing references from databases and library catalogs. Cite While You Write supports Microsoft Word, Word Online, Google Docs, LibreOffice, and Apache OpenOffice Writer; Apple Pages is also listed as a macOS integration. EndNote 2025’s Research Assistant can answer questions about a document, summarize research, and translate PDFs or selected text. Find a Journal and Web of Science records support research discovery. Desktop libraries can sync with EndNote Web, and sharing can include up to 1,000 people with access and editing permissions. The 30-day trial includes paid-version features. Listed one-time prices are 94.00 USD for the Upgrade License, 113.00 USD for the Student License, and 206.00 USD for the Full License. EndNote is available on Windows, macOS, web, iOS, and as an extension.
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.