Papis vs refbase
Papis
github.comrefbase
wiki.refbase.netSide by side
| Figure | Papis | refbase |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Reference Management Software | 7.8 (#22) | 8.3 (#9) |
| Import and export | Papis can import from other bibliography managers and export to BibTeX and other formats. | It supports importing and exporting bibliographic records in formats including MODS XML, RIS, BibTeX, and EndNote. |
| Purpose | Papis manages documents and bibliographic records through a command-line interface. | refbase is a web-based, multi-user interface for managing scientific literature and bibliographic references. |
| Search | Users can search their library by fields such as author, title, and tags. | It provides quick, simple, advanced and SQL search modes, including searching within existing results. |
| Support | The project directs users to GitHub Discussions for questions and GitHub Issues for bugs. | The project directs users to its documentation, forums, and mailing lists for help and discussion. |
Plans
In their own words
Papis
Papis is a free, open-source command-line manager for documents and bibliographic records. It stores records in human-readable YAML files and lets users search by fields such as author, title, and tags. Importers can bring data from other bibliography managers and retrieve metadata from sources including arXiv and Crossref. Records can be exported to BibTeX and other formats. The project lists plugins for Vim, Neovim, and Emacs, plus integrations with rofi, dmenu, Zotero, and Firefox. Third-party Python entry-point plugins can add importers and downloaders, and a Python API supports custom scripts. A local web app starts with `papis serve`; the documented address is `http://localhost:8888`. Installation is described through pip, source code, Arch Linux AUR, Nix, and Guix. The project directs questions to GitHub Discussions and bugs to GitHub Issues. If no importer exists for a website, users may need to download its PDF and enter metadata manually.
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.