Zotero vs Mendeley

Zotero is the better choice for most students and researchers. It is free, open source, developed by a non-profit, and makes it easy to keep control of your data. Mendeley is a reasonable option if you value its generous free storage or if your research group already shares a Mendeley library, but it belongs to a large publisher and has gone through disruptive product changes.

Side by side

	Zotero	Mendeley
Owner	Non-profit, open source	Elsevier
Price	Free; optional paid storage	Free; storage limits apply
Free cloud storage for files	300 MB (per provider)	2 GB (per provider)
Desktop platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Citation plug-ins	Word, LibreOffice, Google Docs	Word
Citation styles	CSL, very large library	CSL
Browser capture	Zotero Connector	Mendeley Web Importer
Group libraries	Free	Available, with limits depending on account
LaTeX workflow	Very good with Better BibTeX	Basic BibTeX export
Local-only use	Possible	Account required

Status October 2026, based on provider documentation. Storage quotas and features change; check before you decide.

Where Zotero is stronger

Independence and openness. Zotero’s code is open source and your library is stored in a local database you control. Even without syncing, the software keeps working. For a tool you may use for years, through a thesis, a doctorate and beyond, that matters.

Flexibility. Plug-ins extend Zotero for LaTeX users, PDF annotation workflows and metadata cleaning. Better BibTeX in particular makes Zotero a favourite among people who write in LaTeX or Markdown.

Word processors. Besides Microsoft Word, Zotero integrates with LibreOffice and Google Docs, which helps if your co-authors use different tools.

Group work. Group libraries are free. File storage in groups counts against the group owner’s quota, so large shared PDF collections may need a paid plan or a separate storage solution.

Where Mendeley is stronger

More free storage. With a larger free quota, Mendeley lets you sync more PDFs before paying. If you work across several devices with large collections, this is a real advantage.

Simple start. The interface is clean and the reader with highlighting and notes is easy to use.

Integration with Elsevier services. If you already work heavily with Elsevier platforms, some features may feel more connected.

Points to weigh carefully

Product changes. Mendeley replaced its well-known desktop application with Mendeley Reference Manager, and some features were dropped or changed along the way. Some institutions have also reported changes to storage for institutional accounts. Check the current situation on Mendeley’s support pages and your library’s guidance.

Ownership and privacy. Your library shows what you read and work on. Some researchers prefer not to hand this information to a publisher. Read the privacy policy of whichever tool you use, and check where data is stored.

Portability. Both tools can export standard formats such as RIS and BibTeX. With Zotero, the local database also remains accessible to you even if you stop syncing.

Note: whichever tool you choose, export a backup of your library regularly, together with your PDFs. It protects you against account changes, licence changes and simple mistakes.

Working in a team

For shared projects, what matters most is how easily others can join. Both tools offer group libraries, but conventions matter more than software: agree on one citation style, a naming scheme for collections and someone who regularly cleans up duplicates and incomplete records.

Which one should you choose?

1. Starting a thesis or PhD from scratch: Zotero.
2. Writing in LaTeX or Markdown: Zotero with Better BibTeX.
3. Working with co-authors in Google Docs or LibreOffice: Zotero.
4. Your lab shares a Mendeley library and has working routines: stay with Mendeley, but keep regular exports.
5. You need several gigabytes of synced PDFs and do not want to pay: Mendeley, or Zotero with your own WebDAV storage.

Switching from Mendeley to Zotero

1. Make sure your Mendeley library is fully synced.
2. Use Zotero’s import for Mendeley, following the current instructions in the Zotero documentation.
3. Check a sample of records for complete metadata, attachments and notes.
4. Recreate collections where necessary.
5. In existing Word documents, citations inserted by Mendeley are not automatically recognised by Zotero; plan time to re-insert them or switch before the main writing phase.

For a broader comparison including Citavi and EndNote, read our reference manager comparison. How to apply a citation style consistently is explained in citation styles, and how to collect sources efficiently in literature search. More comparisons are in the tools section.