Figshare
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Universities, libraries, and researchers publishing citable, DOI-backed outputs should buy . proven at Springer Nature, PLOS, and University of Malta.
New check
Comparison
Figshare vs Zenodo
Figshare lands on Depends, and Zenodo lands on Worth it.
Zenodo
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a researcher who needs free, citable hosting with DOIs and GitHub archiving.
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | Universities and libraries | Researchers sharing citable datasets |
| Who it's not for | Businesses wanting general data storage | Sensitive or confidential data |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.13 | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | No support-quality evidence found | Slow replies, broken stats, silent account bans |
| Public sentiment | Institutional adopters report successful rollouts, while some individual researchers complain about unexplained takedowns.12 | Researchers see it as a genuinely useful free public service but gripe about weak support, moderation surprises, and unreliable stats. |
| Biggest gotcha | Takedown allegations exist; don't treat it as sole storage for irreplaceable data.12 | Moderation can block accounts and delete hundreds of records without prior notice |
Pick Figshare when
- Universities and libraries
- Researchers needing citable DOIs
- Publishers and funders
- FAIR data compliance
When Figshare is not a fit
- Businesses wanting general data storage
- Sensitive or human-subjects data
- Buyers wanting self-serve transparent pricing
- Solo researchers content with free Zenodo
Pick Zenodo when
- Researchers sharing citable datasets
- Code releases via GitHub
- NIH and EU grant data compliance
- Community-curated collections
When Zenodo is not a fit
- Sensitive or confidential data
- Anyone needing SLAs or responsive support
- Mission-critical primary storage
- Peer review . it hosts work, it does not review it
Sources
- figshare - credit for all your researchfigshare.comofficial
- figshare Pricing & Reviewstechjockey.comreview
- The best free Research Data Repositoryevodify.comreview
- Generalist Repositories - UT Austinguides.lib.utexas.edureview
- figshare | Data Management - Harvard Medical Schooldatamanagement.hms.harvard.edureview
- Sharing Your Poster on Figsharefocalplane.biologists.comreview
- Figshare Integration offers enhanced discoverabilitydimensions.ainews
- Qatar's Research Reach Grows with Figshare Repositorydigital-science.comnews
- University of Malta case studyinfo.figshare.comofficial
- Bath Spa University Hidden REF case studydigitalscience.figshare.comofficial
review
- Figshare takedown complaint (Quora)quora.comreview
security
- Zenodo . official sitezenodo.orgofficial
- Zenodo Infrastructureabout.zenodo.orgofficial
- Zenodo Policiesabout.zenodo.orgofficial