Lean Library Workspace vs refbase
Lean Library Workspace
leanlibrary.comrefbase
wiki.refbase.netSide by side
| Figure | Lean Library Workspace | refbase |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · Reference Management Software | 7.9 (#16) | 8.3 (#9) |
| Integrations | The product captures references from Google Scholar and PubMed and supports Google Docs and Microsoft Word add-ins. | Documented integrations include Bibutils, Zotero, EndNote, Bookends, Microsoft Word and OpenOffice Writer. |
| Purpose | Lean Library Workspace is an end-to-end research and reference management tool for students and researchers to discover, manage, cite, and author research. | refbase is a web-based, multi-user interface for managing scientific literature and bibliographic references. |
| Support | Lean Library directs users to its support form and says its team will respond shortly. | The project directs users to its documentation, forums, and mailing lists for help and discussion. |
Plans
Lean Library Workspace
- Free basicFree
- Premium subscriptionPriced on request
In their own words
Lean Library Workspace
Lean Library Workspace helps students and researchers discover, organize, cite, and write research. It captures links and citation details from sources such as Google Scholar and PubMed, and saves PDFs when available. Users can highlight and annotate PDFs and webpages, then search their notes. Workspace suggests relevant articles and offers related-article search while writing. It works with Microsoft Word and Google Docs and can generate bibliographies in more than 7,000 styles. References and PDFs are available across computers, phones, and tablets, including Android and iOS. The free basic plan allows up to three projects and three invitations per shared project, but excludes article suggestions, smart citation suggestions, and external cloud PDF uploads. Libraries can subscribe for institution-wide authenticated access and receive usage statistics; authentication supports methods including IP and SSO. The product supports PDF, BibTeX, RIS, NBIB, and XML imports. Its support information says personal information is encrypted through HTTPS, projects can be private or shared at the user's discretion, and data can be permanently removed on request.
refbase
refbase is a web-based, multi-user application for managing scientific literature and bibliographic references. It offers quick, simple, advanced, and SQL searches, including searches within results. Records can be shown in citation or print views, and the application generates formatted citation lists. It imports and exports records in formats such as MODS XML, RIS, BibTeX, and EndNote. The feature list names compatibility with desktop clients including Zotero and EndNote, as well as an open API and command-line client. Dynamic RSS feeds can track recently added or edited records and custom queries. Users can keep personal keywords and notes in user-specific fields. refbase is a free, self-hosted application licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2.0. Running it requires a web server, PHP 4.4.0 or greater, and MySQL 4.1.x or greater for Unicode support. The web installer requires a MySQL user with full database access, and some shared hosts may require manual installation. Bibutils is optional and recommended for added import and export functionality.