Comparison

EndNote vs Zotero

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

Head to head
About

EndNote

Manage your research from anywhere with this popular tool. Organize, search, and share academic papers and bibliographies seamlessly across devices. Sync your library and annotate PDFs on the go.

Highlights
  • Sync research library across devices
  • Search academic databases
  • Annotate PDFs
  • Import reference file formats
  • Share references with collaborators
  • Attach files from cloud storage
Features
Read full description

Collect, collaborate, create from anywhere with the EndNote app - the world's most popular research management tool. With flexible tools for searching, organizing, sharing research, and creating bibliographies, the EndNote app extends your ability to stay on top of cutting edge research and connect with your EndNote library on the go. EndNote enables you to easily view, edit, organize, and share research material on your iOS device. By syncing your research library across iOS, online, and desktop, you increase the power of EndNote by gaining seamless access to your reference library from multiple devices and platforms. The EndNote app includes: - Sign up for a free, EndNote online account or sign in to an existing account - Synchronize your library references, attachments, and PDF annotations to your online account and EndNote desktop - Built in web browser to search Clarivate Analytics Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, your library catalog, or any other database you choose - Built in PDF viewer with wide range of annotation features. Annotations made can be synced and edited online and on the EndNote desktop - Importing capabilities for .ris, .nbib, and other popular reference file formats - Email and copy options for sharing references and file attachments with collaborators - EndNote “temporary citation” format support - Attach files from Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive to your references (accounts available separately) - Viewing and editing options for references and file attachments - Sorting, searching, and grouping options for references and file attachments - Getting Started Guide documentation

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

EndNote4 screens
Zotero2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Zotero at 78% against EndNote's 28%. Zotero also leads on rating (4.6 vs 2.6) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Zotero holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 165 and 425 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of EndNote's written reviews are positive against 78% of Zotero's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EndNote ships an update every 4 months, Zotero every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
EndNote versus Zotero: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEndNoteZotero
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.6 (165 ratings)4.6 (425 ratings) — better
Positive reviews27.6% of reviews77.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings165425 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB197 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperClarivate Analytics (US) LLCZotero

Customer experience

EndNote

All ratings165 ratings
Positive32.7%
Neutral14.5%
Negative52.7%
Written reviews369 reviews
Positive27.6%
Neutral11.9%
Negative60.4%

Zotero

All ratings425 ratings
Positive89.6%
Neutral4.7%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews262 reviews
Positive77.9%
Neutral10.3%
Negative11.8%

User reviews

EndNote

From 165 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Syncs well with desktop version
  • 📚 Convenient for reading and annotating papers
  • 💻 Good companion to desktop app
  • 🔍 Useful for managing references on the go
  • 🖋️ Annotation tools work well with Apple Pencil

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🔍 Clunky search and organization
  • 📁 Sync issues and lost annotations
  • 🔒 Incompatible with other cloud storage
  • 🔧 Missing key features from desktop version

Zotero

From 425 App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

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

Bugs and requests

EndNote

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes when editing references
  • Indexing issues and lost library data
  • Compatibility problems with iOS updates
  • PDF viewer issues (e.g. no rotation, lost page position)
  • Login and authentication problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Cite while you write functionality
  • Better PDF annotation tools (e.g. eraser, text notes)
  • Support for group sets and nested folders
  • Automatic citation data population from PDFs
  • Improved syncing and offline access

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

None

EndNote

No in-app purchases

None

Zotero

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is EndNote free?
EndNote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zotero free?
Zotero is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, EndNote or Zotero?
Zotero is rated higher. EndNote averages 2.6 out of 5 from 165 ratings, while Zotero averages 4.6 from 425 ratings.
Do EndNote or Zotero have ads?
Neither EndNote nor Zotero shows ads.
Which is updated more often, EndNote or Zotero?
EndNote ships an update every 4 months, and Zotero every 2 weeks. Most recently, EndNote was updated on September 22, 2026 and Zotero on September 24, 2026.

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