1. Home
  2. 📊 Productivity
  3. Bookends
Bookends

Bookends

Reference management on the go

392 ratings
95 reviews
📊 Productivity
🏥 Medical
$10.99 Free
In-App Purchases
↓

Price history

Details

  • Released
  • Updated
  • November 13, 2013
  • May 1, 2026

Features

Developer

Sonny Software, LLC
✨Promote your app ✨
Bookends screenshot #1 for iPhone
Bookends screenshot #2 for iPhone
Bookends screenshot #3 for iPhone
Bookends screenshot #4 for iPhone
Bookends screenshot #5 for iPhone
Bookends screenshot #6 for iPhone
iphone
ipad
📉--100%
Price change↘︎
🧾$14.99
In-App Purchase↘︎
📌Ready
Reviews summary↘︎
⭐95
Reviews↘︎
📝3+ tags
Tags↘︎
🔄6+ apps
Alternatives↘︎
❓5 answered
FAQ↘︎
📦~ in 1 month
Updates frequency↘︎
🖼️Get Icon
Icons↘︎

About

Manage your research references and PDFs on your mobile device. Search online databases, import metadata, annotate PDFs, and organize your library. Offers basic functionality for free with optional one-time purchase and yearly subscription for advanced features like cloud sync and unlimited imports.

✓Search online reference databases
✓Import metadata and PDFs
✓PDF annotation and markup
✓Barcode scanning for references
✓Cloud sync across devices
✓Share online libraries
✓Create multiple libraries
Show original description

What users say

Summarized from real user reviews of Bookends. Based on 392 reviews and a 4.7/5 average, it highlights the 5 positives and 4 negatives reviewers mention most about this Productivity app.

Positive things

  • 🚀Seamless sync across devices
  • 👍Excellent PDF annotation tools
  • 🔒Reliable and stable
  • 💡Powerful reference management features
  • 👍Responsive and helpful developer support

Negative things

  • 🐛Sync issues with iCloud and PDF files
  • 🔒Subscription model for essential features
  • 👎Outdated and clunky user interface
  • 🔒Limited functionality on iOS without subscription
See all reviews

What's New in Bookends

5.0.4

May 1, 2026

• Fixed a Library search issue. • Updated Google Books search to handle recent Google changes. • Fixed an issue where a shared PDF could be attached to the wrong reference. • Removed iPadOS multi window support to improve shared PDF import reliability. Shared files now always open in a single Bookends window, ensuring import into the correct active library.

More

Subscription plans

Premium

Cloud sync, multi-library, barcode scanning.

$14.991 Year
3 Months trial
How to cancel Bookends subscription ⁉️
1

In-App Purchases

$14.99

Standard

No reference limit.

User reviews

Most RecentHighest RatedLowest Rated

I Love This App Even More

This latest update has streamlined the functionality. I etnusiastically recommend without reservation. I’ve always relied on the mobile version. As the title states, love it even more!
LRB55LRB55

Can’t access years of citations anymore

If you don’t keep paying for the upgrades, you will lose access to your citation database. Be ready to keep upgrading to keep access.
peaches_phdpeaches_phd

Best-in-class Reference Manager!!!

I have a working university licence for the latest Endnote and work with colleagues using Zotero, Jabref and Mendeley across macOS, Windows and Linux. I have extensive knowledge of bibliographic workflows. Bookends is the BEST bibliographic tool overall on any platform. The sync between macOS and iOS is instant and reliable and makes accessing references while in an academic talk, conference, writing on a train etc so easy. Worth every penny!!!
Show more
iandoliandol

Your library in your pocket!

Meeting a colleague for coffee and you know there is a perfect article or book, but can’t remember the title? Or made a new friend who you know you read their work but vague on the details? Stuck at the airport and looking for that existentialist text that describes your current situation? Bookends is your solution! Plus the guys who are behind the app are some of the most responsive app developers in the business!
Show more
StudyTime42StudyTime42

Invaluable

We have long found Bookends for the Mac to be invaluable, and the iPad version has become so too.
haroldbassetharoldbasset
See 90 more reviews

User experience

🐞

Reported Bugs

3 issues

Incompatibility with iCloud Optimized Storage

Bug

Unreliable sync between desktop and mobile versions

Bug

Occasional data loss or corruption

Bug
✨

Requested Features

4 requests

Nested folders and tags for better organization

Feature

Automatic PDF metadata extraction

Feature

Improved search and filtering capabilities

Feature

Seamless integration with third-party services

Feature

FAQ

What does Bookends do?

Bookends is a mobile application designed for managing research references and associated PDF documents. It allows users to search online databases for references, import metadata, annotate PDFs with a markup engine, and organize their research library. The app aims to streamline the process of discovering, organizing, and utilizing reference information for academic and research purposes.

What are the key features of Bookends?

Key features include the ability to search various online academic sites like PubMed and Google Scholar, autofill references using unique identifiers (DOI, PMID, ISBN), annotate and mark up PDF documents, and scan barcodes for reference entry. Premium features offer unlimited imports, cloud synchronization across devices, the ability to share libraries, and create multiple libraries.

How much does Bookends cost?

The basic version of Bookends is free, offering limited searches and storage. A Standard version is available as a one-time purchase for $14.99, removing search and import limits. A Premium yearly subscription, costing $14.99 and requiring the Standard purchase, unlocks advanced features like cloud sync and unlimited barcode scanning.

What devices is Bookends compatible with?

Bookends is available for iOS devices. Some features, like scanning documents with Mellel Mobile, are iPad-only and may require a separate subscription to Mellel Mobile Premium. Cloud sync functionality requires Bookends for Mac, which is a separate purchase.

How can I use Bookends for my research?

You can use Bookends to easily find and import references from online academic databases directly into your mobile device. The app helps you keep all your research papers organized, allowing you to annotate PDFs to highlight key information and add notes. This makes it a powerful tool for students and researchers to manage their literature review and writing process efficiently.