JabRef vs Zotero
JabRef
jabref.org
Zotero
zotero.orgSide by side
| Figure | JabRef | Zotero |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $1.67/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 8 |
| Spec score · Reference Management Software | 8.8 (#1) | 8.6 (#3) |
| Spec score · Citation Management Software | 8.8 (#1) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Citation styles | JabRef includes thousands of citation styles and permits user-created styles. | Zotero supports more than 9,000 citation styles and can create references and bibliographies inside Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs. |
| Collaboration | Teams can work with a shared SQL database, and JabRef supports SSL database connections; its documentation says SSL has only been tested with PostgreSQL. | Users can share a Zotero library with as many people as they like at no cost, and groups support shared collections. |
| Intended audience | The project describes JabRef as created by researchers for researchers and says it has been used by students and researchers. | Zotero is developed for researchers and cultural heritage institutions by a global community. |
| License | The JabRef software uses the MIT License, allowing commercial use, modification and redistribution with notices retained. | Zotero source code is released under AGPLv3 unless a source file states otherwise. |
| Organization | Features include hierarchical collections, keyword and tag organization, advanced search and filters, duplicate merging, and customizable citation keys. | Libraries can be arranged with collections, keyword tags, and saved searches that update automatically. |
| Purpose | JabRef is an open-source citation and reference manager for collecting and organizing research sources. | Zotero is a free, open-source tool for collecting, organizing, annotating, citing, and sharing research. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.7 out of 5 from 12 reviews | 4.4 out of 5 from 99 reviews |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 0 out of 10 from 0 reviews | 9.3 out of 10 from 21 reviews and ratings |
| Support | The project directs users to its documentation and community forum for help, with bug reports handled through GitHub. | Most Zotero support occurs in the public Zotero Forums. |
| System requirements | The installation documentation lists macOS 10.14 or later for JabRef 5.6, macOS 11 or later for newer development builds, and GTK 3.8 or later on Linux. | Desktop support requires macOS 10.15+, Windows 10+, or Linux meeting Firefox 140 library requirements. |
| What it does | JabRef is a cross-platform desktop manager for BibTeX and BibLaTeX references. | Zotero collects, organizes, analyzes, annotates, cites, and shares research sources. |
Plans
Zotero
- 300 MBFree
- Free storageFree
- 2 GB$20 a year
- 2 GB storage$20 a year
- 6 GB$60 a year
- 6 GB storage$60 a year
- Unlimited$120 a year
- Unlimited storage$120 a year
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.
Zotero
Zotero is an open-source tool for collecting, organizing, annotating, citing and sharing research. Its browser Connector can identify research items during browsing and save them to a library. Collections, keyword tags and saved searches help organize material, while a PDF reader and note editor support working with documents. Zotero supports over 9,000 citation styles and integrates with Microsoft Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs. The desktop app stores research locally by default; syncing is optional. Zotero Storage can sync PDFs, images, web snapshots and other files across devices, with access through an online library. Libraries can be shared with any number of people at no cost, and groups support shared collections. The free plan includes 300 MB of storage; paid storage starts at $20/year for 2 GB. Zotero says synced data is encrypted in transit and newly created accounts' data is encrypted at rest with AES-256. The data server is in the United States. The data server software can be run locally, though Zotero says self-hosting is technically challenging and unsupported. Most support takes place in public forums.