Mendeley
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Only worth it if you're already inside Elsevier's ecosystem or just need a free citation tool and can live with 2GB.
Comparison
Mendeley vs Paperpile
Mendeley lands on Depends, and Paperpile lands on Worth it.
Paperpile
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a student or academic who writes in Google Docs . it's fast, cheap, and reviewers repeatedly call it the most intuitive reference manager.
| Compare | Mendeley | Paperpile |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | Students needing a free citation manager | Google Docs / Workspace users |
| Who it's not for | Anyone starting from zero . Reddit overwhelmingly points to Zotero | Anyone needing a free tool . use Zotero |
| Privacy | No public security page found; a 2019 Elsevier server leak exposed Mendeley user emails, usernames, and passwords.⁹ | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | Trustpilot service reviews average 2/5 | No support-quality evidence in sources |
| Public sentiment | Sentiment is sharply negative on Trustpilot and Reddit, though G2 users praise its sorting and tagging speed.¹ | Users praise its speed, clean interface, and Google Docs citing; main gripes are library-size limits, broad permissions, and network blocks. |
| Biggest gotcha | Free tier now 2GB of PDFs . fills quickly, pushing you toward paid storage plans.² | Web- and Google-account dependent; schools and workplaces have blocked it mid-writing. |
Pick Mendeley when
- Students needing a free citation manager
- Researchers already using Elsevier tools
- People sorting and tagging large reference piles
- Desktop-first users
When Mendeley is not a fit
- 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
Pick Paperpile when
- Google Docs / Workspace users
- Grad students and academics
- Labs sharing PDF libraries
- Literature review and grant writers
When Paperpile is not a fit
- Anyone needing a free tool . use Zotero
- Libraries of 5,000+ papers
- Users on locked-down school or work networks
- Non-Google shops wanting mature Word support
Sources
- Trustpilot reviews of mendeley.comtrustpilot.comreview
- Mendeley Reviews . G2g2.comreview
- Mendeley Reviews . Capterracapterra.careview
- Mendeley Reviews . SoftwareAdvicesoftwareadvice.comreview
review
- Mendeley annotations lock-in . MacPowerUsers forumtalk.macpowerusers.comreview
- NOTICE: Elsevier Data Leak . Brown University Librarylibrary.brown.edusecurity
- Mendeley Cite . Microsoft 365 App Certificationlearn.microsoft.comsecurity
- Elsevier swoops on open science start-up Mendeley . Science|Businesssciencebusiness.netnews
- Mendeley plans with pricing and storage detailstcsedsystem.libguides.comreview
- Mendeley Homepagemendeley.comofficial
- Paperpile Pricingpaperpile.comofficial
- Paperpile subscriptions explainedpaperpile.comofficial
- Paperpile - Google Workspace Marketplaceworkspace.google.comofficial