Comparison

EndNote vs Rectoly for 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

Rectoly for Zotero

Features
Read full description

Rectoly is the research-focused PDF reader built for Zotero users. Your library stays in Zotero — Rectoly makes reading and annotating on iPhone, iPad and Mac a genuine pleasure. READING MODE Academic papers are often formatted in two columns, making them hard to read on a phone. Reading Mode reflows the content into a single, clean column — without losing access to the original PDF. Jump back to the exact page anytime. ANNOTATE IN READING MODE Unlike other readers, Rectoly lets you highlight, underline, add sticky notes, and draw with Apple Pencil — all while staying in Reading Mode. No need to switch back to the raw PDF just to mark something up. ON-DEVICE TRANSLATION Read an English paper in your own language, in Reading Mode and on the PDF page. Translation runs on this device; the paper is never sent to a translation service. If you agree, translations are saved to your Zotero library for your other devices (using your Zotero storage). The app's translation model (about 2.5 GB) needs 8 GB of memory or more. Translates English papers into the app's 19 other display languages: Hindi by the system's translator (iOS 26 or later), all the rest by the app's own model. TOOLS FOR READING Read Aloud: hear the text in Reading Mode, in the system voice or the VoiceOver one. Choose the typeface and line spacing in Reading Mode. “Darken PDF pages” softens text and paper to gray tones while leaving figures and photos in their original colors when possible. SPLIT VIEW INSIDE THE READER Keep Reading Mode open while glancing at a figure, the original layout, or another section — side by side, all within a single window. No multi-window setup required. RESEARCH THEMES Send a passage to a theme, with its source. Keep the theme beside the paper, or open it as a sheet. Export as Markdown or Word (.docx). ACROSS PAPERS The library column has a new Across papers tab: search the annotations, the text and your handwriting in your whole library at once. FIGURES, TABLES AND A COMPARISON Save a figure as PNG and a table as CSV — one paper at a time, or your whole library in one go. Compare many papers' abstracts, methods, results and conclusions in one table, one row per paper. YOUR DRAFT BESIDE THE PAPER Open the document you are writing (.docx, .doc, .odt, .rtf, Markdown, plain text — password-protected ones too) in a column next to the paper. It re-reads the file every time you save. CITING AND NOTES Copy with page, copy BibTeX or citation keys (Zotero 7's keys and Better BibTeX's are used), and a Notes folder for Obsidian and others — with keyboard shortcuts you can change. ZOTERO SYNC Annotations you create are written back to Zotero automatically. Highlights from Zotero Desktop or other apps appear in Rectoly automatically. Your notes are always in one place. WEBDAV AND LINKED FILES If Zotero syncs your files over WebDAV, Rectoly can now open them — and PDFs you add in the app go to your WebDAV server too. Files that ZotFile or ZotMoov keep in Dropbox or Google Drive open once you choose the folder. WORKS OFFLINE Downloaded PDFs and annotations are stored locally. Read anywhere, anytime — even without an internet connection. SEARCH YOUR HANDWRITING Notes you write with Apple Pencil are now read as text on your device, so you can search them (iPadOS 27 and later). 14-DAY FREE TRIAL → ONE-TIME PURCHASE Try every Pro feature for free for 14 days. Unlock with a one-time payment — no subscription, no recurring charges.

Screenshots

EndNote4 screens
Rectoly for Zotero4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Rectoly for Zotero at 5.0 against EndNote's 2.6. Rectoly for Zotero also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 months). EndNote's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (165 vs 2). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rectoly for Zotero sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. EndNote asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Rectoly for Zotero holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EndNote has 165 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EndNote ships an update every 4 months, Rectoly for Zotero every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
EndNote versus Rectoly for Zotero: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEndNoteRectoly for Zotero
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.6 (165 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews27.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings165 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB52 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperClarivate Analytics (US) LLCTakaki Takemura

Customer experience

EndNote

All ratings165 ratings
Positive32.7%
Neutral14.5%
Negative52.7%
Written reviews370 reviews
Positive27.8%
Neutral11.9%
Negative60.3%

Rectoly for Zotero

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Rectoly for Zotero

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

EndNote

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Rectoly for Zotero

One-time2
  • 14-day TrialFree
  • Rectoly Pro (one-time)$19.99

Questions

Is EndNote free?
EndNote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Rectoly for Zotero free?
Rectoly for Zotero is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, EndNote or Rectoly for Zotero?
Rectoly for Zotero is rated higher. EndNote averages 2.6 out of 5 from 165 ratings, while Rectoly for Zotero averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do EndNote or Rectoly for Zotero have ads?
Neither EndNote nor Rectoly for Zotero shows ads.
Which is updated more often, EndNote or Rectoly for Zotero?
EndNote ships an update every 4 months, and Rectoly for Zotero every 2 days. Most recently, EndNote was updated on October 21, 2026 and Rectoly for Zotero on November 1, 2026.

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