Mendeley vs Paperpile (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Mendeley and Paperpile share a 2.2 GPA, and only Mendeley has a free plan.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Mendeley grades higher on the free plan. Paperpile grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mendeley
Reference manager from Elsevier, with paid AI add-ons
Paperpile
Reference manager built around Google Drive, Docs and Word
Which one is for you
Pick Mendeley if
- Fits if you want a no-cost reference library and don't need AI
- Works for researchers already using Scopus or ScienceDirect
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you want its AI features, at $26 a month billed yearly
- Not for you if you're buying for a company, since Elsevier says the plans aren't for corporate use
- Watch out: Mendeley Premium is now part of LeapSpace, per the pricing page
- Watch out: AI in the free LeapSpace tier runs unlimited for 14 days, then limited and not inside Mendeley
Pick Paperpile if
- Fits if you write in Google Docs and keep your files in Drive
- Works for students and researchers who want citations dropped into Word
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a plan that stays free, as there is only a 30-day trial
- Tight if you pay monthly, as there is no monthly billing and all plans bill annually
- Watch out: full-text PDF search, notes, annotations and shared libraries need Expert
- Watch out: sign-up is through a Google account, and the page says only Chrome can be used to sign up
- Skip it if you use Safari or Firefox, as support is described as a beta coming later
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAMendeleyFair | 2.2GPAPaperpileFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DThe AI features are on LeapSpace Individual at $26 a month billed yearly, more than twice the research middle of $10 and inside the dearest tenth, which starts at $20. The free LeapSpace tier excludes the AI inside Mendeley. | CRegular is $8.30 a month on annual billing, above the $7.92 that starts the cheaper quarter of research tools. Expert is $11.50. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe reference manager is free with 2 GB of storage, and a person can live on it. The LeapSpace free tier has unlimited AI for only 14 days, then limits. | CA 30-day free trial, with the page not saying a card is needed, and no free plan after it. |
| Features | CA reference library, Ask My Library, a Reading Assistant, Compare Experiments and a Word add-in. The AI bits sit behind the paid plan, and desktop support couldn't be confirmed from the pages read. | CSaving papers, a library, citations in Word and Docs, PDF reading and BibTeX. Full-text search, notes, annotations and shared libraries are not in Regular. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A reference manager means importing a library, setting up folders and a plug-in. | CNo store rating on record. Sign-up is through a Google account and Chrome. |
| Platforms and integrations | BListed as web only, because desktop apps couldn't be confirmed. It has a Word add-in and connects to Scopus and ScienceDirect. | BWeb, an extension, iPhone and Android, with Docs, Word, Drive, Overleaf, OneDrive, Scopus and Web of Science. No desktop app. |
| Best for | managing a reference library for free | a reference manager for Google Docs and Word |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Mendeley and Paperpile. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mendeley starts at $26 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Paperpile starts at $8.30 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Paperpile starts $17.70 a month lower. Of the other AI research tools on the chart, 26 score higher than Mendeley for less, and 12 score higher than Paperpile for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Mendeley also covers chat assistant.
- Paperpile also covers web clipper.
At a glance
| Mendeley | Paperpile | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $26 per month, billed annually ($32 billed monthly) | $8.30 per month, billed annually |
| Free plan | Mendeley's reference manager is free, with 2 GB of storage. LeapSpace has a free tier whose AI features are unlimited for 14 days, then limited. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Elsevier | Paperpile LLC |
| Price read from | researcher.elsevier.com | paperpile.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Mendeley
- AI features inside Mendeley need a paid LeapSpace plan; the free LeapSpace tier excludes them.
- The pricing page says Mendeley Premium is now part of LeapSpace.
- Platform support for desktop apps could not be confirmed from the pages read, so only web is listed.
- Elsevier says the plans are not for corporate use.
Paperpile
- All plans are billed annually; the pricing page says there is no monthly billing.
- Sign-up is through a Google account, and the page says only Chrome can be used to sign up.
- Full-text PDF search, notes, annotations and shared libraries are not in the Regular plan.
- Safari and Firefox support is described as a beta that is coming later.
Key features
Mendeley
- Reference library
- Add PDFs to a library, organize them with collections and tags, then read, highlight and annotate in one place.
- Ask My Library
- On the paid plan, search, summarize and compare PDFs across your saved library; this works in Mendeley Reference Manager.
- Reading Assistant
- Summarize or question a saved document, with suggested follow-up questions.
- Compare Experiments
- Pull goals, methods and results from several studies into a table that exports as CSV.
- LeapSpace search
- Searches Scopus-indexed literature and builds Deep Research reports, with Trust Cards that show supporting sources.
- Word add-in
- The Individual plan lists a Microsoft Word add-in for inserting citations.
Paperpile
- Save papers from the web
- A browser extension saves papers and PDFs from publisher pages and academic databases, and extracts metadata from PDFs you upload.
- Library organization
- Folders, labels, duplicate detection and merging, and automatic fixing of missing metadata keep a large library tidy.
- Citations in Word and Google Docs
- Plugins insert citations and bibliographies in more than 10,000 styles. Custom styles need the Expert plan.
- PDF reading and annotation
- Highlight and note PDFs in the app. Notes and PDF annotations are Expert features, as is collaborative annotation.
- BibTeX and LaTeX
- Export and import BibTeX, customize citation keys, and on Expert keep a .bib file synced to Google Drive or Overleaf.
- Sharing
- Share with private links on every plan. Shared folders and shared libraries with access permissions are on Expert.
Plans
Mendeley
LeapSpace Free$0
Search and other AI features free for 14 days, then with limits; does not include AI features in Mendeley.
LeapSpace Individual$26
per month, billed annually ($32 billed monthly)
Adds AI features in Mendeley and the Word add-in. Bills $320 yearly, $30 a month for 3-month terms.
LeapSpace OrganizationCustom
Institution-wide access, admin console and SSO; price on request.
Paperpile
Regular$8.30
per month, billed annually
Reference collection, PDF storage, citations in all major styles and BibTeX, and basic Word and Google Docs integrations.
Expert$11.50
per month, billed annually
Adds full-text search across PDFs, notes and annotations, shared folders and libraries, and any file type.
Enterprise and InstitutionsCustom
Everything in Expert plus SAML single sign-on, a custom MSA and SLA, vendor security reviews and HIPAA support.
Ways to pay less
Mendeley
- Annual discount
Save $64 with yearly billing
The LeapSpace page shows $320 billed every 12 months against $32 a month billed monthly, labeled as saving $64.
Paperpile
- Education
50% academic discount
Students, faculty, researchers and eligible nonprofits get 50% off, so Regular is $4.15 and Expert $5.75 per month billed annually.
- Other savings
Group discount on Expert
Expert plans get an automatic group discount of up to 20%, growing with the number of seats.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Mendeley or Paperpile?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Paperpile is cheaper to start with: $8.30 a month, against $26 a month for Mendeley. Mendeley starts at $26 per month, billed annually ($32 billed monthly), and Paperpile starts at $8.30 per month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, Mendeley or Paperpile?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Mendeley has a free plan. Paperpile does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Mendeley and Paperpile run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Paperpile lists iOS and Android apps and a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.