Mendeley vs Zotero
Mendeley vs Zotero, compared side by side on 17 data points: what each one does, how big it is, what it has raised, the tech running each site, and what users report. We score both out of 100 on traction, team and visibility: Mendeley is on 47/100 and Zotero on 22/100.
Where each one leads
Mendeley
- our overall score: 47/100 against 22/100
Zotero
Leads on none of the measures we hold for both companies.
At a glance
| Measure | Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Reference manager and academic social network for researchers. | Free, open-source personal research assistant for collecting, organizing, citing, and sharing research. |
| Category | Research Tools, Academic Publishing, Reference Management, Collaboration Tools | Research Tools, Academic Software, Citation Management, Open Source |
| Sells toBusiness model | B2B | B2C |
| Offering | Software | Software |
| Founded | 2007 | 2006 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom | Fairfax, United States |
| Status | Active | Active |
Size, funding and growth
| Measure | Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|---|
| Total funding | $12.0M | Not published |
| Latest round | Series B | Not published |
StartupHub scores
Our own 0-100 ratings. They measure company strength and site quality, not which product suits you.
| Measure | Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|---|
| StartupHub scoreOur 0-100 rating | 47/100 | 22/100 |
| Traction | 35/100 | Not published |
| Team | 60/100 | 60/100 |
| Search visibility | 4/100 | 3/100 |
| Quality | 58/100 | Not published |
| Agent readinessHow well an AI agent can read and act on the site | D (41/100) | F (37/100) |
| Domain ratingLink authority, 0-100 | 85/100 | 85/100 |
Technology
Detected on each public site, so it reflects the marketing stack as well as the product.
| Measure | Mendeley | Zotero |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | AWS | AWS |
| CDN | Cloudflare | CloudFront |
| Frameworks | Svelte | Bootstrap |
| Analytics | Segment | Not detected |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes |
Mendeley vs Zotero: common questions
Which is better, Mendeley or Zotero?
On our 0-100 score Mendeley rates higher (47/100 against 22/100). The score weights traction, team, visibility and profile completeness, so it reflects company strength rather than which product suits you. We compare the two on 17 data points above: read the rows that match what you are buying for.
How do Mendeley and Zotero compare on the numbers?
Mendeley leads on our overall score (47/100 against 22/100).
Read the full Mendeley review and pricing or the Zotero review and pricing. You can also browse other Mendeley alternatives we track.