Research · pricing
Mendeley pricing
Mendeley publishes 4 tiers. Below is each one, what it adds over the tier beneath it, and where the ladder stops being worth climbing for most people.
As of 28 August 2026, Mendeley pricing is free, then $4.99/month across 4 published tiers. Figures are the vendor's list prices as recorded on this page's last check; the vendor's site is the final word.
- Entry price
- Free, then $4.99/month
- Model
- Freemium
- Tiers
- 4
- Free tier
- Yes
Mendeley plans, side by side
Every published tier in ascending order of price, with the number of features each one lists. An absence here means the record does not itemise it, not that the tier lacks it.
| Plan | Price | Features listed | Step up from the tier below |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 2 | Entry tier |
| Plus | $4.99/month | 3 | +$4.99/month, 3 more features |
| Pro | $9.99/month | 5 | +$5/month, 4 more features |
| Max | $14.99/month | 5 | +$5/month, 2 more features |
What each tier adds
The set difference between each tier's feature list and the one beneath it. Where a tier lists nothing new, the vendor has either stopped repeating the inherited list or the tier raises limits rather than adding capability, the record does not distinguish the two, so this page does not either.
Free
FreeThe entry tier. It covers 2gb storage, 5 reading assistant questions per month.
Plus
$4.99/monthOver Free, this tier adds:
- Unlimited Reading Assistant
- 5GB storage
- $55/year annual billing
Pro
$9.99/monthOver Plus, this tier adds:
- Compare Experiments
- Ask My Library
- 10GB storage
- $110/year annual billing
Max
$14.99/monthOver Pro, this tier adds:
- Unlimited storage
- $165/year annual billing
Where Mendeley stops being free
Free, Free
- 2GB storage
- 5 Reading Assistant questions per month
Plus, $4.99/month
The first thing you pay for:
- Unlimited Reading Assistant
- 5GB storage
- $55/year annual billing
How that compares in Research
Too few research tools in this directory publish a starting price to quote a meaningful median, so the table below is a like-for-like list rather than a ranking.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Rated | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendeley (this page) | Free, then $4.99/month | freemium | - | |
| Sapio Sciences | On request | quote | - | vs Mendeley |
| Condens | €15/month | Per contributor per month | - | vs Mendeley |
| LabArchives | Free, then $330/year | Per user per year | - | vs Mendeley |
| LabVantage | On request | quote | - | vs Mendeley |
| Florence eBinders | On request | quote | - | vs Mendeley |
| Medidata Rave | On request | quote | - | vs Mendeley |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry, they are not reviews hosted on Softwr. How each figure is used is set out on the Mendeley badges page.
Before you pay for Mendeley
Three things this page cannot tell you, and all three change the bill. The record carries a price and a billing period but not the unit - per-seat and flat-rate pricing are indistinguishable in this data, so a five-person team may be looking at five times the figure above. It carries no annual rate, so any discount for paying yearly is not something this page can quote. And it carries no trial length.
What it can tell you is the shape of the ladder: 4 tiers between Free and $14.99/month, with the jump itemised above. Because there is a free tier, the cheapest way to answer the rest is to use it before paying anything.
Mendeley runs on not recorded. The full record is on the Mendeley review, and the rest of the category is under best research tools.
Mendeley pricing questions
- How much does Mendeley cost?
- Mendeley publishes 4 tiers, from Free for Free up to $14.99/month for Max. The entry tier costs nothing.
- Does Mendeley have a free plan?
- Yes. The Free tier costs nothing and covers 2gb storage, 5 reading assistant questions per month. Paying starts at $4.99/month for Plus.
- What is the difference between Free and Plus on Mendeley?
- Plus costs $4.99/month against Free, and adds unlimited reading assistant, 5gb storage, $55/year annual billing.
- Is the Max plan on Mendeley worth it?
- That depends entirely on whether you need what it adds, which on the published record is unlimited storage, $165/year annual billing. It costs $14.99/month against $4.99/month for Plus. Softwr has not used either tier, so this page can tell you what changes, not whether it is worth the difference to you.
- Which research tools can I use without paying?
- 2 of the 8 research tools listed alongside Mendeley have a free tier: LabArchives, Marvin.
- What am I actually paying for with Mendeley?
- The record we hold does not itemise what each tier includes beyond the plan names and prices. The Mendeley review carries whatever feature detail is available.
- Does Mendeley charge per user?
- The record carries a price and a billing period for each of its 4 tiers, but not the unit that price is charged in. Per-seat and flat-rate billing look identical in this data, so check the vendor's page before budgeting for a team.
- Are these Mendeley prices current?
- They are what the catalogue entry holds, refreshed when the entry is. Vendors change pricing without notice and nobody at Softwr re-verifies each tier by hand, so treat this as a structured summary and the vendor's own pricing page as the authority.
- What should I compare Mendeley against before paying?
- The closest research tools in this directory are Sapio Sciences, Condens, LabArchives, LabVantage. Each has a side-by-side comparison with Mendeley covering price, platforms and features.