Comparison

Lab.Hacks vs Zotero

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Lab.Hacks

This app serves as a laboratory assistant, offering a collection of essential tools, calculators, and guides for students, researchers, and technicians. It simplifies everyday lab tasks with features like dilution calculators, timers, and protocols, all accessible offline.

Highlights
  • Dilution, molarity, and unit conversion calculators
  • Smart lab timers
  • Quick reference tables
  • Step-by-step protocols and guides
  • Offline access
  • Minimalist design
Features
Read full description

Lab.hacks is your ultimate companion for everyday work in the laboratory. Whether you're a student, researcher, or lab technician, Lab.hacks provides you with a growing collection of essential tools, calculators, and practical hacks designed to make your lab life easier. Features: • Handy calculators for dilutions, molarity, unit conversions & more • Smart lab timers and quick reference tables • Step-by-step protocols and how-to guides • Offline access – always available when you need it • Minimalist design for maximum focus • No login required – just open and start using From pipetting shortcuts to buffer recipes – Lab.hacks brings efficiency to your fingertips. Stop wasting time searching for formulas and start working smarter in the lab! Get Lab.hacks now and discover how small tools can make a big difference. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Zotero

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
Read full description

Zotero is a free, easy-to-use research tool that helps you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share your work. COLLECT • Save journal articles, newspaper articles, books, webpages, and more via the Share button in Safari and other apps • Automatically download article PDFs to read • Quickly add physical books and articles to your Zotero library by scanning book barcodes or article DOIs with your iPhone or iPad camera ORGANIZE • Use collections and tags to organize your research • View and edit bibliographic information for your research items ANNOTATE • Read PDFs, EPUBs, and webpage snapshots and add highlights and notes, or use an Apple Pencil to make freehand annotations CITE • Instantly generate citations and bibliographies in over 10,000 formats and journal styles including APA, Chicago, IEEE, MLA, Turabian, and Vancouver SHARE • Collaboratively collect sources and mark up PDFs in group libraries with your colleagues • Synchronize your personal and group research libraries to access them via Zotero’s desktop app and the Zotero website • Use the Zotero desktop app to insert your annotations into Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs documents and automatically generate bibliographies from the sources you used Visit zotero.org to learn more about everything you can do with Zotero. Having trouble? Have an idea? Post bug reports and feature requests to the Zotero Forums at forums.zotero.org to talk directly to Zotero developers. ZOTERO AND PRIVACY Since 2006, the Zotero team has been committed to creating the best research software, and we believe that includes putting you in full control of your own work. We’re an independent, nonprofit organization, and we’ll never sell your data.

Screenshots

Lab.Hacks4 screens
Zotero2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Zotero at none against Lab.Hacks's 8. Zotero also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Lab.Hacks's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.6) and review sentiment (96% vs 78%). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Lab.Hacks sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Zotero asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lab.Hacks holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 136 and 435 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 96% of Lab.Hacks's written reviews are positive against 78% of Zotero's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lab.Hacks ships an update every 2 months, Zotero every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Lab.Hacks versus Zotero: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLab.HacksZotero
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (136 ratings) — better4.6 (435 ratings)
Positive reviews96.3% of reviews — better77.9% of reviews
Number of ratings136435 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.616.6
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB237 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLab.hacks GmbHZotero

Customer experience

Lab.Hacks

All ratings136 ratings
Positive98.5%
Neutral0.7%
Negative0.7%
Written reviews27 reviews
Positive96.3%
Neutral3.7%
Negative0.0%

Zotero

All ratings431 ratings
Positive89.6%
Neutral4.9%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews263 reviews
Positive77.9%
Neutral10.3%
Negative11.8%

Bugs and requests

Lab.Hacks

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Zotero

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 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

6 requests
  • 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
Show 1 more
  • Offline access to downloaded PDFs

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Lab.Hacks

Subscriptions2
  • Lab.hacks Ad-free monthly$2.991 Month
  • Lab.hacks Ad-free annual$28.991 Year
One-time6
  • Donate 1$$0.99
  • Donate 5$$3.99
  • Donate 10$$8.99
Show 3 more
  • Donate 20$$17.99
  • Donate 50$$44.99
  • Donate 100$$89.99
None

Zotero

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lab.Hacks free?
Lab.Hacks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Zotero free?
Zotero is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lab.Hacks or Zotero?
Lab.Hacks is rated higher. Lab.Hacks averages 4.9 out of 5 from 136 ratings, while Zotero averages 4.6 from 435 ratings.
Do Lab.Hacks or Zotero have ads?
Lab.Hacks shows ads; Zotero does not.
Which is updated more often, Lab.Hacks or Zotero?
Lab.Hacks ships an update every 2 months, and Zotero every 3 weeks. Most recently, Lab.Hacks was updated on October 24, 2026 and Zotero on October 29, 2026.

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