Paperpilevs
Obsidian
Obsidian: A powerful knowledge base on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files
Paperpile
Reference management essentials
As of 28 August 2026, Paperpile starts at $4.15/month. Reference manager and PDF organizer that integrates with Google Docs and Word, sold as an annual subscription. Softwr lists it under Research.
Overview
What Paperpile does
Reference manager and PDF organizer that integrates with Google Docs and Word, sold as an annual subscription.
What people use it for
- Organizing research papers and managing academic citations
- Creating citations in multiple styles and BibTeX for writing
- Collaborating on research through shared reference libraries
- Integrating citations into Google Docs and Microsoft Word
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Paperpile.
- No monthly billing option; annual billing only
- Regular plan lacks full-text PDF search and annotations
- Safari and Firefox browser extensions currently in beta
- Chrome signup initially required
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Paperpile
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- PaperpilevsRoam Research
Roam Research: A note-taking tool for networked thought
- PaperpilevsElicit
Elicit: The AI research assistant
- PaperpilevsMendeley
Mendeley: The free all-in-one reference manager
Pricing
What Paperpile costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Regular
$4.15 /mo
- Basic reference management
- PDF storage and citation generation
- Integrations with Word, Google Docs, and academic databases
- Billed annually only ($8.30 per month equivalent)
Expert
$5.75 /mo
- All Regular features
- Full-text PDF search
- Notes and annotations
- Shared folders
- Advanced integrations
- Billed annually only ($11.50 per month equivalent)
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
How much does Paperpile cost?
Paperpile costs $4.15 per month for the Regular plan or $5.75 per month for the Expert plan, both billed annually.
SourceIs there a free trial available for Paperpile?
Yes, Paperpile offers a 30-day free trial for both plans.
SourceDoes Paperpile offer academic or group discounts?
Yes, students, faculty, and researchers receive 50% off, and group discounts up to 20% off Expert plans are available when purchasing multiple seats.
SourceWhat billing options does Paperpile offer?
Paperpile accepts credit cards and PayPal, with additional payment options by location. Purchase orders are accepted for Enterprise customers.
SourceKeep looking
Where to go from Paperpile
- Paperpile alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Paperpile pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Paperpile badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Research softwareThe full category
- Best Research softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Research software for
Compare Paperpile with
- Mendeley
- Obsidian
- Roam Research
- Elicit
- Schrodinger
- TetraScience
- Zotero
- Sapio Sciences
- LabWare
- STARLIMS
- LabArchives
- Chemaxon
- Thermo SampleManager LIMS
- Valispace
- Wolfram Mathematica
- Zappi
- TetraScience
- Zotero
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Paperpile, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Paperpile
Paperpile alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Paperpile pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Paperpile
Put it head to head with anything we hold
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