Citavi vs JabRef
February 20, 2026 | Author: Laura Candler
Citavi and JabRef are both article management software used for managing bibliographies. They support BibTeX and RIS literature storage formats, integrate with text editors and make it easy to add annotations and notes to a scientific document. They also include field-based search and filtering, support bibliography export and connect to online databases for search and verification.
But Citavi is a more feature-rich program, though it only runs on Windows and only with Microsoft Word. It's positioned as a Knowledge Management Center and as an enterprise system. It features a module for research and task planning, includes cloud storage, collaboration tools and access rights settings. Also it has an AI Assistant for content generation and search. It is a paid program.
JabRef is a completely free and open-source program that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It is much simpler, without unnecessary features and designed primarily for users of LaTeX - document layout system popular in scientific and technical environments. It has a simple file structure (based on BibTeX), supports command line automation and integrates with external tools via plugins (integrates not only with Word, but also with LibreOffice).
But Citavi is a more feature-rich program, though it only runs on Windows and only with Microsoft Word. It's positioned as a Knowledge Management Center and as an enterprise system. It features a module for research and task planning, includes cloud storage, collaboration tools and access rights settings. Also it has an AI Assistant for content generation and search. It is a paid program.
JabRef is a completely free and open-source program that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It is much simpler, without unnecessary features and designed primarily for users of LaTeX - document layout system popular in scientific and technical environments. It has a simple file structure (based on BibTeX), supports command line automation and integrates with external tools via plugins (integrates not only with Word, but also with LibreOffice).
