# HEPCon vs Zotero

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Zotero at 78% against HEPCon's 50%. HEPCon's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

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

HEPCon ships an update every 5 days, Zotero every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | HEPCon | Zotero |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | **[4.6 (436 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zotero/id1513554812/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | — | **436** |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | **77.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 117 MB | 237 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 16.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Martin Vassilev](https://appshunter.io/developer/1286500650) | [Zotero](https://appshunter.io/developer/1513554811) |

## What reviewers say

### HEPCon

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hepcon/id1286500651)

This app provides a structured mobile agenda for scientific and professional conferences, connecting to existing systems. Attendees can access program details offline, build personalized schedules, and receive live updates. Organizers can offer a mobile companion without workflow changes.

**Highlights:** Browse full conference program with filtering, Offline access to abstracts and session details, Personalized schedule with reminders, Bookmark talks and export to calendar, Follow announcements and live updates, Access venue information and contacts, Participate in presentation discussions

**Features:** 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 HEPCon free?

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

### Is Zotero free?

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

### Do HEPCon or Zotero have ads?

Neither HEPCon nor Zotero shows ads.

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

HEPCon ships an update every 5 days, and Zotero every 3 weeks. Most recently, HEPCon was updated on October 24, 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.*