Papis vs Zotero
Papis
github.com
Zotero
zotero.orgSide by side
| Figure | Papis | Zotero |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $1.67/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 8 |
| Spec score · Reference Management Software | 7.8 (#22) | 8.6 (#3) |
| API | Papis provides a Python API intended for users to create scripts. | The Web API uses HTTPS at api.zotero.org, while the desktop client exposes a local API at localhost:23119/api/. |
| Extensibility | Papis supports third-party plugins through Python package entry points, including importers and downloaders. | Community plugins add features and integrations, but plugins have full access to Zotero and the computer and there is no official directory yet. |
| Purpose | Papis manages documents and bibliographic records through a command-line interface. | Zotero is a free, open-source tool for collecting, organizing, annotating, citing, and sharing research. |
| Support | The project directs users to GitHub Discussions for questions and GitHub Issues for bugs. | Most Zotero support occurs in the public Zotero Forums. |
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
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.
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.