Paperpile vs refbase
Paperpile
paperpile.comrefbase
wiki.refbase.netSide by side
| Figure | Paperpile | refbase |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4.15/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 2 |
| Spec score · Reference Management Software | 8.2 (#12) | 8.3 (#9) |
| Collaboration | Paperpile describes shared folders, shared libraries, access permissions, and collaborative PDF annotations and citations. | The interface is multi-user and includes user-specific fields for personal keywords and notes. |
| Integrations | The pricing page lists Google Drive sync, Overleaf integration, browser extensions, academic database and publisher integrations, and OneDrive sync in beta. | Documented integrations include Bibutils, Zotero, EndNote, Bookends, Microsoft Word and OpenOffice Writer. |
| Purpose | Paperpile describes itself as a home for research papers and says its goal is to simplify collecting, managing, and writing papers. | refbase is a web-based, multi-user interface for managing scientific literature and bibliographic references. |
| Support | Paperpile directs questions to [email protected]. | The project directs users to its documentation, forums, and mailing lists for help and discussion. |
Plans
Paperpile
- Regular$4.15 a month
- Expert$5.75 a month
- Enterprise and InstitutionsPriced on request
In their own words
Paperpile
Paperpile is a reference manager for collecting, organizing and writing with research papers. It can import references, extract PDF metadata, organize libraries with folders and labels, detect duplicates, repair metadata and search collections. Plans include unlimited storage for research PDFs. Citation support includes more than 10,000 styles, with plugins for Google Docs and Microsoft Word. Shared folders and libraries, access permissions, and collaborative PDF annotations and citations support group work. The Android and iOS apps sync with the web library and support highlights, notes and drawn annotations. Users can also search 150 million articles across sources including PubMed, arXiv and CrossRef, and save PDFs with one tap. Integrations include Google Drive sync, Overleaf, browser extensions, and academic databases and publishers. Regular costs $4.15 a month and Expert costs $5.75 a month, with all plans billed annually; a 30-day trial is available. New sign-ups are currently available on Chrome, while Safari and Firefox access is in beta.
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.