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Best Reference Management Software & Tools for 2026

Are you browsing top reference management software to enhance your business? Access the list of top reference management systems instantly at GoodFirm with authentic reviews to vouch for! A reference management tool acts as your catalyst if you ever wound up attempting to design a list of sources, stressing to embed an umlaut for the sake of a remote creator, or reformatting every reference in a research paper for journals. Need a reference management system to monitor a multitude of data and simplify writing to concentrate on different parts of the exploration procedure? Go through the below rundown of top reference management software and choose one confidently.

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Rankings updated: Dec 31, 2025
19 Software

List of Best Reference Management Tools

  • EssayToolBox

    5.0 3 Reviews Verified

    Our website is created to simplify students' life. Our goal is to provide students with the most effective writing and editing instruments to improve their texts. Use our free tools and finish ... read more about EssayToolBox

    EssayToolBox Reviews

    Qualitative software reviewed by: Dan Brett
    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Design Management
    • 2D Drawing
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Web-based
    Support
    • Phone
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Infographics
    • Case Studies
    • Whitepapers

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • Mendeley

    With the Mendeley Reference Manager, you can easily organize and search your personal library, annotate documents and cite as you write.

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Frame Accuracy
    • Data Storage
    • 2D Drawing
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Web-based
    • iPhone/iPad
    • Android
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Video Guides
    • Blogs
    • Case Studies
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • Zotero

    Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research.

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Data Storage
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Blogs
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • EndNote

    With EndNote X9, you can leave behind the tedious work of formatting bibliographies, finding full text, and searching for references.

    Entry Level Price
    Contact vendor
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    Pricing Type
    Contact Vendor
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Frame Accuracy
    • Data Storage
    • 2D Drawing
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Windows
    • Mac
    Support
    • Phone
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Video Guides
    • Blogs
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Contact Vendor
    Free Version
    • No
    Free Trial
    • 30 Days Trial
    Payment Frequency
    • One-Time Payment
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • EasyBib

    Automatic works cited and bibliography formatting for MLA, APA and Chicago/Turabian citation styles.  Turn in your best work. Our smart proofreader catches even the smallest writing mistakes so you don't have to. ... read more about EasyBib

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    34% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Data Storage
    • Reference Libraries
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Industries
    • Education-management
    • Financial-services
    • Higher-education
    • Marketing-advertising
    • Nonprofit-organization-management
    Licensing & Deployment
    • Proprietary
    • On Premises
    • Web-based
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Support
    • Email
    • 24x7 Support
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Video
    • Blog
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Monthly Payment
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • JabRef

    abRef is an open source bibliography reference manager. The native file format used by JabRef is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format. JabRef is a desktop application and runs on the Java ... read more about JabRef

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Frame Accuracy
    • Data Storage
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Web-based
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Blogs
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • BibMe

    BibMe is an automatic citation creator that supports MLA, APA, and Chicago formatting.

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Frame Accuracy
    • Data Storage
    • 2D Drawing
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Web-based
    • Windows
    • Mac
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Blogs
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • Citavi

    Citavi supports the entire research process – from searching for sources to finishing your paper. 

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Frame Accuracy
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Windows
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Video Guides
    • Blogs
    • Case Studies
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Quote Based
    • One-Time Payment
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • BibDesk

    Use BibDesk to edit and manage your bibliography. It will keep track of both the bibliographic information and the associated files or web links for you. 

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Frame Accuracy
    • Data Storage
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Mac
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Video Guides
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • Bookends

    Bookends is a full-featured and cost-effective bibliography, reference, and information management system for students and professionals.

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Frame Accuracy
    • Data Storage
    • 2D Drawing
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Mac
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Video Guides
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • One-Time Payment
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • Sorc'd

    Sorc'd help people: be more productive; strengthen and share relevant information from reliable sources; and be less frustrated with the overwhelming amount of information. Create stronger content faster.

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Frame Accuracy
    • Data Storage
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • Cloud Hosted
    • On Premises
    • Web-based
    Support
    • Phone
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Video Guides
    • Blogs
    • Case Studies
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Monthly Payment
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • Docear

    Docear is a unique solution to academic literature management, i.e. it helps you organizing, creating, and discovering academic literature.

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Design Management
    • Data Storage
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • Cloud Hosted
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Blogs

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • Pybliographer

    Pybliographer is a tool for managing bibliographic databases, with the following features: -A user-friendly Gnome interface for editing, searching, inserting your citations in LyX, Kile, and OpenOffice.org, searching external databases like PubMed, ... read more about Pybliographer

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Design Management
    • Data Storage
    • Reference Libraries
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Web-based
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • Qiqqa

    Qiqqa is a software tool designed for academics. Students, undergrads, postgrads, or other researchers... if you deal with a lot of PDFs or ideas, you'll love Qiqqa. Get your academic documents working ... read more about Qiqqa

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Design Management
    • Data Storage
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Web-based
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Monthly Payment
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • refbase

    refbase can import and export references in various formats (including BibTeX, Endnote, RIS, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, CSA Illumina, RefWorks, MODS XML, OpenOffice, and MS Word). It can make formatted lists ... read more about refbase

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Design Management
    • Data Storage
    • 2D Drawing
    • Reference Libraries
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Web-based
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • Bibfilex

    Bibfilex is a free bibliographic manager for GNU/Linux, Windows and OS X. It's useful to create and to manage archives of bibliographical items (books, articles, etc.) with possible attachments of any kind ... read more about Bibfilex

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Design Management
    • Data Storage
    • 2D Drawing
    • Reference Libraries
    • Text Citation

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • On Premises
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • On-Site Training

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • nXr

    nXr reference manager breaks away from the existing managers by optimally integrating three modules (nXr.iNote, nXr.iLibrary and nXr.iCite) to facilitate: - Faster note and image collection in a note and image searchable ... read more about nXr

    Entry Level Price
    $3 Per Month
    Free Trial
    More than 30 days
    Pricing Type
    Flat Rate
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Collaboration
    • Data Storage
    • Import/Export
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • Cloud Hosted
    • Web-based
    • iPhone/iPad
    • Android
    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Support
    • Phone
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides
    • Video Guides

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Flat Rate
    Free Version
    • Yes
    Free Trial
    • More than 30 days Trial
    Payment Frequency
    • Monthly Payment
    • Quote Based
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Available Packages
    Standard
    $3 Per Month
    Visit website

  • MyBib

    Automatically create bibliographies, references, and citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and over 8000 more styles with a totally free and no-ads citation

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Pricing Type
    Free
    100% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Collaboration
    • Import/Export
    • Reference Libraries
    • Sharing Collection
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Licensing & Deployment
    • Cloud Hosted
    • Web-based
    Knowledge Base
    • Help Guides

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Free
    Payment Frequency
    • Free
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

  • MorseHub

    MorseHub is a professional Morse code generator that brings code to life through sound. Instantly convert plain text into telegraph-standard audio using strictly calibrated 1:3:7 timing for accurate dot, dash, and spacing ... read more about MorseHub

    Entry Level Price
    Contact vendor
    Free Trial
    N/A
    Pricing Type
    Contact Vendor
    50% in Reference Management Software

    Features
    • Bibliography Creation
    • Collaboration
    • Data Storage
    • Import/Export
    • Reference Libraries
    • Text Citation
    • Web Search

    Key Details
    Industries
    • Education-management
    • E-learning
    Licensing & Deployment
    • Proprietary
    • Cloud Hosted
    • Web-based
    • iPhone/iPad
    • Android
    Support
    • Email
    • Chat
    • 24x7 Support

    Packages
    Pricing Type
    • Contact Vendor
    Preferred Currency
    • USD ($)
    Free Version
    • Yes
    Payment Frequency
    • Quote Based
    Vendor pricing page
    Visit website

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