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Should I Use Mendeley?

mendeley.com·Analyzed 1 week ago··Based on 13 sources

The free all-in-one reference manager

Verdict

Depends

Only worth it if you're already inside Elsevier's ecosystem or just need a free citation tool and can live with 2GB.

Confidence: Medium

Most students and researchers should start with Zotero instead — it's free and the consensus replacement.

Free citation manager with a loyal base but 2/5 TrustScore, lock-in gripes, and a Reddit consensus that Zotero does it better.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 4/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 13

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 4/5. Core is free; storage upsells after 2024 cut
  • Ease of use: 2/5. Called clunky and hard to navigate
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Great sorting and tagging; new app lost features
  • Support quality: 2/5. Trustpilot service reviews average 2/5
  • Security posture: 2/5. 2019 Elsevier leak exposed user credentials
  • 2/5 Trustpilot 32 reviews
  • Yes Free tier 2GB PDF storage
  • From $4.99/mo Paid storage 5GB; $9.99/mo for 10GB
  • Elsevier Owner Acquired the once-independent startup

Pricing

Free

$0

  • 2GB PDF storage
  • Reference Manager + Web Importer

Plus

$4.99/mo

  • 5GB personal library

10GB plan

$9.99/mo

  • 10GB personal library
  • For bigger PDF libraries
Best for and not for

Best for

  • Students needing a free citation manager
  • Researchers already using Elsevier tools
  • People sorting and tagging large reference piles
  • Desktop-first users

Not for

  • Anyone starting from zero — Reddit overwhelmingly points to Zotero
  • Systematic review teams — university guides say it's not the best choice
  • People who value annotation portability and open formats
  • Anyone with big PDF libraries expecting free storage

Biggest gotcha

  • highFree tier now 2GB of PDFs — fills quickly, pushing you toward paid storage plans.²
  • highAnnotations locked in Mendeley's encrypted format — exporting to Zotero or EndNote later hurts.⁸
  • mediumDesktop app and iPad app retired; you're pushed onto the less-loved Reference Manager.
  • mediumTrustpilot customer-service reviews sit at 2/5 — expect slow support.¹

Pros

  • Free tier covers sorting, tagging, and fast search of references²
  • Web and desktop apps for collecting and organizing sources
  • Syncs and migrates existing Desktop libraries to the new Reference Manager13
  • Good for grouping bibliographic references into collections³

Cons

  • TrustScore just 2/5 across 32 Trustpilot reviews¹
  • New Reference Manager widely called worse than the retired Desktop app⁶
  • Free storage cut to 2GB of PDFs in December 2024²
  • PDF annotations encrypted, making later migration painful⁸
  • 2019 Elsevier server leak exposed emails, usernames, passwords⁹

Security

No security page found; a 2019 Elsevier server leak exposed Mendeley user emails, usernames, and passwords.

  • Elsevier data leak (2019)An Elsevier server was exposing Mendeley user emails, usernames, and passwords.⁹

What users say

Sentiment is sharply negative on Trustpilot and Reddit, though G2 users praise its sorting and tagging speed.

“Mendeley Reference Manager is a Horrible Program”
Reddit, r/Mendeley
“Mendeley Desktop was fine. Mendeley Reference Manager suck”
Reddit, r/GradSchool
“Mendeley is perfect for sorting, tagging, and searching references quickly”
G2 review

Companies that use it

  • RMIT University

Methodology

Based on ~20 public sources: review sites, Reddit threads, university library guides, and a security notice.

Sources

  1. Trustpilot reviews of mendeley.comtrustpilot.com
    review
  2. Mendeley Reviews — G2g2.com
    review
  3. Mendeley Reviews — Capterracapterra.ca
    review
  4. Mendeley Reviews — SoftwareAdvicesoftwareadvice.com
    review
  5. Mendeley Reference Manager is a Horrible Program — Redditreddit.com
    review
  6. If you're still using Mendeley... — Reddit r/GradSchoolreddit.com
    review
  7. If you are considering Mendeley or Zotero — Redditreddit.com
    review
  8. Mendeley annotations lock-in — MacPowerUsers forumtalk.macpowerusers.com
    review
  9. NOTICE: Elsevier Data Leak — Brown University Librarylibrary.brown.edu
    security
  10. Mendeley Cite — Microsoft 365 App Certificationlearn.microsoft.com
    security
  11. Elsevier swoops on open science start-up Mendeley — Science|Businesssciencebusiness.net
    news
  12. Mendeley plans with pricing and storage detailstcsedsystem.libguides.com
    review
  13. Mendeley Homepagemendeley.com
    official

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