GUIDES · REFERENCE MANAGERS
Zotero vs Mendeley.
Both are free to start and both cite in Word. They differ in who controls your library, which apps they offer, and what you pay for storage and AI. Here is a plain comparison from their own documentation, and where Docr’d, which we make, fits beside them.
The short answer
- Choose Zotero if you want open-source software, mobile apps, plugins beyond Word, and a library you can always read and export yourself.
- Choose Mendeley if you want more free cloud storage, built-in AI questions about your PDFs on its paid plans, or your institution supports it.
Side by side
| Zotero | Mendeley | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free; 300 MB of file storage free, then $20–$120 a year | Free with 2 GB; paid plans $4.99–$14.99 a month |
| Owner and license | Open source (AGPLv3), run by a non-profit | Elsevier; commercial |
| Apps | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and a web library | Reference Manager on desktop and web; mobile apps retired in 2021 |
| Word processors | Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs | Word, through Mendeley Cite |
| Citation styles | More than 10,000 CSL styles | CSL styles |
| AI | None built in; third-party plugins exist | Reading Assistant (5 free questions), Ask My Library on Pro |
| OCR for scans | None built in | None documented |
Checked October 2026 against each vendor’s own pages; prices and features change, so confirm before you choose.
What happened to Mendeley Desktop
Elsevier stopped new downloads of Mendeley Desktop in September 2022 in favour of Mendeley Reference Manager, then reversed that in July 2025: version 1.19.8 is available again with maintenance but no new features, and older versions can no longer sync.
Moving your library
Zotero can read and export its own local database at any time. Moving away from Mendeley is harder: according to Zotero’s import guide, Mendeley has encrypted its local database since 2018, so importing into Zotero means syncing your library to Elsevier’s servers first, and Mendeley’s own export formats leave out folders and PDF annotations.
Where Docr’d fits
Docr’d is a research library for the reading that comes after collecting. Hosted reconstruction rebuilds scans into searchable text, with formulas as editable LaTeX and tables as real tables, each linked back to its spot on the page, and Ask Docr’d answers questions about a document, a binder or your whole library with the passages it used.
Docr’d imports a Zotero library directly, with its PDFs, marks, notes and collections. From Mendeley, export RIS or BibTeX and import that, then add the PDFs. Docr’d has no Word plugin, so if you cite in Word every day, keep your reference manager for that. It is in early access.