# Paperpile review (2026): is it worth $8.30 a month, billed yearly? > Reference manager built around Google Drive, Docs and Word Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Paperpile is a reference manager for collecting papers, storing PDFs and inserting citations while you write. It runs in the browser with a Chrome extension, connects to a Google account and Google Drive, and has plugins for Google Docs and Word. Plans are billed annually, with a 50% academic discount. - **Category:** AI Research Tools - **Made by:** Paperpile LLC (since 2012) - **Website:** https://paperpile.com - **Runs on:** Web, Browser extension, iOS, Android - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want a plan that stays free, as there is only a 30-day trial. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Paperpile is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $8.30 per month, billed annually. - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 30-day free trial. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 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 Institutions | Custom | Everything in Expert plus SAML single sign-on, a custom MSA and SLA, vendor security reviews and HIPAA support. | Read from https://paperpile.com/pricing/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Paperpile before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **50% academic discount** (Education): Students, faculty, researchers and eligible nonprofits get 50% off, so Regular is $4.15 and Expert $5.75 per month billed annually. Source: https://paperpile.com/pricing/ - **Group discount on Expert** (Other savings): Expert plans get an automatic group discount of up to 20%, growing with the number of seats. Source: https://paperpile.com/pricing/ ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Researchers who already write in Google Docs - Students and faculty who qualify for the 50% academic price - Groups that want a shared paper library tied to Google Drive ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Paperpile is a reference manager built around Google Drive and Docs, with a Word plug-in and a browser extension. Billing is annual only, sign-up goes through a Google account in Chrome, and notes, annotations and shared libraries are not in the cheaper plan. - **Value for money: C.** Regular 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: C.** A 30-day free trial, with the page not saying a card is needed, and no free plan after it. - **Features: C.** Saving 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: C.** No store rating on record. Sign-up is through a Google account and Chrome. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, an extension, iPhone and Android, with Docs, Word, Drive, Overleaf, OneDrive, Scopus and Web of Science. No desktop app. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Paperpile's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among AI research tools - Paperpile's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 16 of the 69 other AI research tools we grade, and level with 14. - It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 28 of 69) and worst on features (C, above 1). - Its paid plans start at $8.30 a month, against a middle price of $10 for the category: 15 of the 48 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 12 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/ai-research ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Paperpile you would be making a library of papers and sources to search. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 39 of the 69 other AI research tools grade higher. It costs $99.60 a year. - You could make: Web clipper and highlights: an app builder makes these well. - You could not: A library of papers and sources to search. - You could not: Citation records for millions of papers. - You could not: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: Several people working in it at the same moment. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Google Docs, Microsoft Word and Google Drive among them. - You could not: What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: roles and permissions. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Google Drive, Overleaf, OneDrive, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore **Tags:** Research, Citations, Web clipper, Highlights, Real-time collaboration ## Alternatives - [Zotero](https://toolgpa.com/tools/zotero): Free, open-source reference manager from a nonprofit. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/paperpile-vs-zotero) - [Mendeley](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mendeley): Reference manager from Elsevier, with paid AI add-ons. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/mendeley-vs-paperpile) - [ReadCube Papers](https://toolgpa.com/tools/readcube-papers): Reference library with an AI assistant for cited answers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/paperpile-vs-readcube-papers) - [Lean Library Workspace](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sciwheel): Reference manager and citation add-ins, formerly Sciwheel. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/paperpile-vs-sciwheel) - [Scholarcy](https://toolgpa.com/tools/scholarcy): Summarizes research papers into interactive flashcards. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/paperpile-vs-scholarcy) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://paperpile.com/pricing/ - https://paperpile.com/ - https://paperpile.com/about/ - https://paperpile.com/features/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/paperpile Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).