Zotero vs Plasmids X
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Plasmids X
Edit and visualize molecular constructs with detailed circular and linear maps. Plan restriction digests, analyze sequences, and manage primers. Offers advanced editing and cloning features with a Pro subscription.
- Circular and linear plasmid maps
- Sequence view with translations
- Primer library and management
- Restriction analysis and virtual gel
- Import/export GenBank, FASTA, SnapGene
- Sequence editing (Pro)
- Cloning simulations (Pro)
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Plasmids X is a plasmid editor for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Open your constructs, see them as clear circular and linear maps, read every base with its annotations, and plan restriction digests, all on your device. MAPS AND SEQUENCE • Circular and linear plasmid maps with features, primers and restriction sites. Tap any feature to see its details. • A sequence view with both strands, translations, feature tracks and enzyme sites • Find sequences, select a range by its coordinates and copy exactly what you need ANNOTATE AND ANALYZE • Add, edit, sort and search features and primers • A primer library shared by all your plasmids • Find open reading frames • Restriction analysis with the commercially available enzymes from REBASE, aware of Dam, Dcm and CpG methylation • Digest & Gel: pick enzymes and see the fragments on a virtual agarose gel • Saved versions of every plasmid, so you can go back YOUR LIBRARY • Import GenBank, FASTA, SnapGene (.dna) and ApE files from Files, Mail or any other app • Export FASTA and images of the map and the sequence, or print them • A Home Screen widget with your recent and favorite plasmids • Built for iPhone, iPad and Mac, with keyboard shortcuts, pointer support, Dark Mode, Dynamic Type and VoiceOver PLASMIDS X PRO Viewing, importing, annotating and analyzing are free. A Plasmids X Pro subscription adds: • Sequence editing: type, paste, cut and delete bases, reverse complement, set the origin • Cloning: restriction and ligation, Gibson Assembly, Golden Gate, Gateway and PCR • Alignment of sequencing reads to your plasmid • BLAST searches and sequence downloads from NCBI • In-silico PCR: every product of a primer pair, on the map and a virtual gel • GenBank and SnapGene export Plasmids X Pro is an auto-renewing subscription, billed monthly or yearly. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for the renewal within the 24 hours before the period ends. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple Account settings. PRIVACY Plasmids X has no account, no ads and no tracking. Your plasmids stay on your device. Data leaves your device only when you ask: a BLAST search sends your query sequence and contact email to NCBI, and a download from NCBI sends the accession number, your contact email and, if you set one, your NCBI API key. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://aminmahpour.com/privacy_plasmids.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Zotero at 78% against Plasmids X's 33%. Zotero also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.4) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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
Both are free to download. Plasmids X sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Zotero asks for nothing beyond the download.
Zotero holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zotero has 436 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Zotero's written reviews are positive against 33% of Plasmids X's.
Zotero ships an update every 3 weeks, Plasmids X monthly. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.
| Parameter | Zotero | Plasmids X |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (436 ratings) — better | 3.4 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.9% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 436 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 237 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Zotero | Amin Mahpour |
Customer experience
Zotero
Plasmids X
Bugs and 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
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- Offline access to downloaded PDFs
Plasmids X
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Zotero
No in-app purchases
Plasmids X
- PlasmidsX Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Yearly3 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Split View Support$1.99
- Manual Cloning$3.99
- NCBI Entrez Support$3.99
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- Local Alignment Support$3.99
- BLAST Support$4.99
- Genbank Support$4.99
- dna File Support$5.99
- All Features$24.99









