Citation managers compared
This chart compares the citation managers we support, and consider questions like:
- What is the norm in your field? What do your collaborators use?
- Do you prefer a Web-based tool, or one that is installed on your computer?
- Will you be sharing citations or your database with others?
Citation managers can be changed, more than one citation manager can be used at a time, and citations can be moved from manager to another.
For more information, take a library workshop on a particular citation manager, or a session introducing all the features that they share.
Contact us for more help choosing a citation manager
| Feature | EndNote Online | EndNote Desktop | Zotero |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free to U of M students, staff, & faculty | $150 (students)* and $275 (non-students) (version 21 pricing as of January 2025) at U of M Bookstores | Free |
| Access | Access free from Web Of Science | Desktop: software (Mac/PC) Allows work offline | Desktop software available for download at Zotero Use on computer or flash drive or sync across computers Allows work offline |
| Collaboration | Share libraries with other EndNote users and citations via EndNote Basic | Share your library with up to 1000 other EndNote Desktop users | Create group libraries and sync through Zotero |
| Audience | Good for undergraduate level research and collaboration. | Good for users who write a lot of papers and for long term research projects. | Good choice for papers for classes. Best choice for capturing web-based and other non-standard sources (non-journal) |
| Ease of use | Moderately easy | Desktop version is more difficult to learn. | Easy |
| Import from library databases | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Import from library catalog | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Import from websites | Save manually | Save manually | Yes |
| PDF annotations and highlighting | No | Yes | No 3rd party software options available |
| Storage and capacity | 50,000 references and 2GB file storage | Unlimited | 300 MB for free. More space available for a fee. |
| Notes and tags | Can add notes and tags. | Can add notes and tags. | Can add notes and tags. |
| Word processing compatibility | Cite-While-You-Write: MS Word and OpenOffice Also Rich Text Format (RTF) & Open Document Format (ODF) documents. | Cite-While-You-Write: MS Word and OpenOffice Also Rich Text Format (RTF) & Open Document Format (ODF) documents. | Word Processor Plugins for MSWord, Google Docs & LibreOffice |
| Citation styles | All major styles. Can request custom styles. | All major styles. Can edit and create new styles. | All major styles. Can edit and create new styles. |