# Labcup vs Zotero

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Zotero at 78% against Labcup's 33%. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Labcup ships an update monthly, Zotero every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Labcup | Zotero |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | **[4.6 (436 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zotero/id1513554812/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | — | **436** |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | **77.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 299 MB | 237 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **16.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Labcup Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1117332625) | [Zotero](https://appshunter.io/developer/1513554811) |

## What reviewers say

### Labcup

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/labcup/id1117332626)

Manage your chemical inventory and laboratory operations with this comprehensive system. Track chemicals, manage experiments, and organize your lab efficiently. Designed for seamless laboratory management.

**Highlights:** Chemical inventory tracking, Laboratory management, Experiment organization, Efficient lab operations, Data management

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Zotero

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zotero/id1513554812)

This research tool helps you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share your academic and professional work. Save articles, books, and webpages, add notes and highlights, and generate bibliographies in thousands of styles. Collaborate with others and sync your library across devices.

**Highlights:** Collect research from various sources, Organize with collections and tags, Annotate PDFs and webpages, Generate citations and bibliographies, Collaborate in group libraries, Sync across devices

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and powerful
- 🚀 Convenient and useful
- 🚀 Seamless syncing across devices
- 🚀 Excellent reference management
- 👍 Great annotation and PDF reading experience

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Syncing issues with WebDAV
- 🐛 Metadata not automatically extracted from PDFs
- 🐛 Annotation tools could be improved
- 🐛 Limited sorting and filtering options

**Reported bugs**

- Unable to unzip PDF snapshots
- Annotations disappearing or moving unexpectedly
- Dark mode not working as expected
- Inability to add citations directly from the app

**Requested features**

- Eraser tool for annotations
- More color options for pen and highlighter
- Ability to open PDFs in external apps
- Bookmarking and table of contents support
- Improved search functionality


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Labcup free?

Labcup is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Zotero free?

Zotero is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Labcup or Zotero have ads?

Neither Labcup nor Zotero shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Labcup or Zotero?

Labcup ships an update monthly, and Zotero every 3 weeks. Most recently, Labcup was updated on November 2, 2026 and Zotero on November 3, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*
