# Paperpile Reviews **Vendor:** Paperpile **Category:** [Reference Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/reference-management) **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 26 ## About Paperpile Clean, simple reference management for the web. Sync your library to all your devices and read and annotate like on paper on your iPad, iPhone, or Android device. Cite your papers in Google Docs and Microsoft Word. ## Paperpile Reviews ### 1. Great citation tool **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sam W. | Staff Scientist, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 20, 2024 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** Paperpile is great - convenient and easy to use. I love that it can automatically change the reference style with zero effort and it can find the paper I want to cite by title DOI, link, whatever I throw at it. I reecently stumbled on a bug after Google updated - the Paperpile support team were really responsive, provided a work around and then got back to me when they had patched the software. Overall, just a stellar experience and I'll be using Paperpile for years to come. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** Nothing much to dislike. Every now and then it'll import the citation information from teh paper incorrectly but given the vast array of different formats that academic papers come in, I find this a negligible problem **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Quick and easy referecing while writing academic papers. Allows me to focus on the actual research rather than fiddling around with references and potentially muddling them up. ### 2. A game changer for usability and multi-device working **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dave P. | Consultant in GUM / HIV Medicine, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 12, 2021 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** Paperpile has transformed my ability to reference papers, websites, books etc. I am farly tech-savvy but I find all the popular bibliography tools almost impossible to use. I simply do not understand how they work and I just end up frustrated. Paperpile is super intuitive. Within minutes I had a system that I could use, and a bibliography that I could build. I use it on Chrome (Mac and iOS), and write on Word. It is so intuitive, with pdf annotation as well. Support is responsive, personal and friendly. MY BIG TIP - sign on with your personal email, not your work email - you will want this with you for life, even if you change jobs! Bravo Paperpile. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** Occasionally the 'search for pdf' is a bit hit and miss. But if you have favourite pdfs stored on your hard drive, you can just upload them very easily. **Recommendations to others considering Paperpile:** MY BIG TIP - sign on with your personal email, not your work email - you will want this with you for life, even if you change jobs! Bravo Paperpile. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Life changing for my PhD. ### 3. Simply the best! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lincoln S. | Coordinator, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 27, 2021 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** I can't say enough! - seamless and thorough integration with Google Docs and Google Drive - in-app annotations on PDFs (especially amazing when using Apple Pencil and the iPad app!) - easy organization and search - easy integration with Google Scholar - the chrome extension is really easy to use - solid syncing I'm working on my PhD and all of my papers and books are stored here. I use it almost every (working) day. With the new iPad app, Paperpile now does everything that I want it to. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** - The main thing I don't like is that not everyone uses it. It frustrates me that it isn't up there with Zotero, Mendeley, Endnote etc. I think this is because they're only now getting into their Word integration. It is awesome for collaborating - but only if your collaborators are up for using it as well! - Every once it in a while (maybe once very couple of months?) it glitches so that I can't open a PDF or annotate an opened PDF, but this is resolved by reloading Chrome. - It's inconsistent at picking up references on my library search page. I have to open the PDF itself before it recognizes the information. That said, I'm using opening the PDF anyway so this is rarely an issue! **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Problems I'm solving: - The need for in-text citations and reference list in Google Docs. I can easily cite ideas and quotes etc., and then Paperiple formats it all and adds my references according to the style I want without issue - The need for one place to store, read through and annotate my papers and books (PDF versions for reading/annotating, otherwise just the citation info) - A PDF annotation system that is robust enough for my annotation system (contrast with Kobo's desktop app's depressingly simple annotating system or Kindle App's lack of support for handwritten annotations (via iPad app)). Benefits I've realized: - annotating within the citation service is a godsend - the ease of collecting papers for later review as I come across them (providing I label them well :) has been a surprise boon for me many times - the ability to edit citations is easy and very useful - the Chrome extension is extremely useful for easily collecting papers etc. - I have yet to experience a "drawback!" ### 4. Possibly the perfect tool for research and writing? (Especially if you use GoogleDocs and Scholar!) **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Thatcher M. | Member Board Of Directors, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 23, 2022 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** The workflow is so good: - Browser extension just *works* making it easy to import citations and PDFs - PDF annotation tool is great - Support people are AMAZING! **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** Hard to complain about anything, but... I did wish there would be search across all my notes/comments in PDFs, but this is something no other tool I tested had. ePub support would be a bonus. Recommendations for related and relevant articles (compared to those I've added to the tool already on a given topic) is on feature I really liked in another tool I tested (but that tool was very weak in more important areas where PaperPile just works about perfectly!) **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Reading, notetaking, and research. Organizing sources. Citations for academic writing. I've now found that I like the PDF annotation tool so much that I am using it for other (non-research) purposes too. ### 5. A fantastic tool for all of my scientific writing **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jason S. | Assistant Professor, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 25, 2021 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** As soon as I saw my first ad for Paperpile I subscribed and have been very happy with it ever since. It is fully integrated into Google Docs, which I use for all of my manuscript and grant writing. It has a full suite of formatting options for all journals I have needed. There is also a mobile app available, so I can add papers via my computer then access them via a mobile device to read. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** It uses space in my Google drive and some of the PDFs can be quite large. It also sometimes stops working but after reloading the browser it will work again. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** It allows me to be very flexible and through integration, with Google Docs I can switch between computers and operating systems. I often will work on a Linux computer at work and a MacBook at home. I have no issues with this switch because everything is integrated into a Chrome browser. Paperpile also makes it easy to share citations and PDFs with my students and colleagues. ### 6. Great experience with Paperpile **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dilan P. | Resident Physician, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 25, 2021 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** Paperpile allows seamless organization of academic articles from the web with Google products, including Google docs, along with Word. I am impressed most by the time to annotation. Within seconds, I can pull an article, add it to my library, and start highlighting and writing notes that are saved indefinitely. Articles can also be downloaded and are actually already named in a reasonable way, which saves time and effort. Paperpile also does not require any downloaded app for use. It is a website that is easily accessible from any computer. The software has improved my efficiency with making notes on papers in an organized fashion and then adding citations. It is both a reference manager and a complete library of files. Anyone who has a Gmail account can easily use Paperpile. In addition, the support staff are fantastic in terms of quickly and courteously responding to questions. It feels very personal. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** The Paperpile staff is working hard to be able to search the entire library for keywords and phrases, which is currently an option only within an article. I do not really dislike anything else. The software is the best. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** How to quickly add files to an online library that can be accessed from anywhere. How to have a reference manager also be a comprehensive library of files. I am benefitting most in terms of ease of use and time saved for searching for and adding files to my subfolders. ### 7. Great product, lovely, simple integrations **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sam M. | student, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 25, 2021 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** Ease of integration with Google Drive, clever gathering of data behind the scenes and a simple institutional proxy integration which makes it so simple to read papers behind firewalls. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** some fo the tagging and organising tools could be better **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Reference management & linking to my MSc project dissertation ### 8. The best reference manager **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Angela R. | Freelance Writer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 09, 2021 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** Paperpile is easy to use on a Chromebook with web access, chrome extension, Google Docs add-on, and an iOS/Android app. Basically, it's the only reference manager that is usable in the Chromebook/ Android ecosystem. It's also just really intuitive and does so much for you. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** I'd like a few more features on the Android app. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** My assignment reference lists are amazing now. Also, I can use Paperpile to manage my reading list and notes. ### 9. I would like to recommend Paperpile to all students because it is easy to use . **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Peter G. | Student **Reviewed Date:** November 15, 2021 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** Paperpile is easy to use and help organise your sources in a good manner. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** Using numeric referencing on paper pile is quite complicated. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** It helps me generate automatic references, annotates texts and export electronic notes. ### 10. Best citation manager for Google Docs **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Noor H. | Student Researcher, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 19, 2021 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** I love that our team is able to collaborate on citations in real-time when writing a paper in Google Docs! It's also incredibly user-friendly and easy to train team members in. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** I sometimes encounter resistance when proposing to use Paperpile because it's not as well-known as other citation managers like Endnote or Mendeley- but not a fault of the product itself! **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Paperpile saves one person on the team from having to gather and format all the citations when we're collaborating on a paper. ### 11. A great tool to manage your research **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mauro Javier G. | Cardiovascular Critical Care Unit Physician, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 06, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** It works really well integrated with the internet browser to incorporate articles from the databases (PubMed, Google Academic, etc). Its interface is friendly and has all the options to catalog and recover the material quickly. Its integration with Google Docs allows you to easily insert appointments. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** It is difficult to find a negative point ... maybe when synchronizing with the PC or downloading the base of articles is somewhat slow **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have used this tool for a while for the development of my research (I am a doctor) and it has been extremely useful for me to comply with all the stages of the process. From the search for papers, their categorization and subsequent inclusion in the text, they meet expectations! It has integration with the internet browser to easily include an article in the library. It has an excellent search engine and the ability to incorporate the full text in addition to the appointment and add multiple labels. You have the possibility to insert appointments directly in Google Drive in various formats (such as APA, Vancouver, etc.) ### 12. Great application for managing scientific papers and citations **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Research | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** I use Paperpile to manage my citations and scientific papers for many different projects. It's a wonderful tool that helps keep my citations organized and formatted when writing papers. I especially like that it integrates with Google Docs to be accessible whenever I need to work, not just at my office computer. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** It took some time to get used to the formatting settings, and I would rather buy software once rather than pay for a subscription. **Recommendations to others considering Paperpile:** If you are still using endnote, I recommend switching to Paperpile, for ease of integration with Google Docs. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are collaborating to write papers and coordinate scientific projects. Paperpile helps us keep our citations organized and keep the team on the same page. ### 13. Great consolidation tool **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jehn K. | Publicity Chair, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** The ability to merge files from various databases into one folder; makes research very easy! **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** Can't upload .docx files, and this program only supports a couple file types. More versatility would be great. Also, if you could import files from Google Drive instead of just syncing the program to your Drive. **Recommendations to others considering Paperpile:** Make sure you convert files to PDF because you can't upload .docx files. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Allowing everyone to collaborate on research and share new ideas. ### 14. Paperpile lover **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** vg n. | student, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 09, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** I like that it integrates well with google drive because I use that a lot. It's also so easy to use! **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** it requires a google account and doesn't work with other places other than chrome, which I mainly use, so I dont run in to this problem, but I know there are other people that this might affect **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** it helps me organize all my articles in 1 place so that I don't get overwhelmed and am able to access them when I need to. It is also easy to share articles and files with the other research assistants in my lab ### 15. Finally a Citation Manager that simply works **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 08, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** I have tried literally every citation manager there is for macOS. And managing hundreds of papers and citing in the right style has always been time-consuming and never really worked well until I found Paperpile. It just does the things you expect from a citation manager and does them really well. It works fast, stable and without bells and whistles. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** The downside of using Paperpile is that there is no longer any excuse for procrastinating work. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Since you always work in the cloud on Google Drive you can work anywhere and don't have to worry about backups or saving. ### 16. Citation Management - Look no further! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 04, 2018 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** It just works. I've tried many citation managers, including RefWorks and Mendeley. This one just grabs the right information, formats it correctly and inserts it on the fly, Managing your bibliography and your references has never been easier - a breeze. The nice thing about it, no need to install some clunky software on your computer, just open your browser - or soon iOS, Android app to organize and annotate your research on any device. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** I don't even miss the Word integration. I've even started using Google Docs to be able make the most of Paperpile. I may eventually download the doc to format it in word. But most likely i might just stay in Google Docs. **Recommendations to others considering Paperpile:** just try it - you will be amazed **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Citation or Reference Management made extremely easy and fun. It's working so much better than any of the other Citation Managers. Just try it and you will see. Not working for the company by the way. ### 17. A great mix of old style research comforts with new high tech tools **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Professional Training & Coaching | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** We have just started a project to stress this software to see if it can become a mainstay of our research collection. Early on I find it has a nice mix of old comforts in research and new powerful technology tools that can be very useful. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** I think so far I find its somewhat challenging for users to grasp how to collect, contain and use the software but I believe this could be eased with some organizational user tips early on. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have needed to find a modern solution for aging data and research and this could be the answer. ### 18. Needs a little work. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Amanda K. | HR Coordinator, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 12, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** I like that all of my files are in one place. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** I think that getting started is a little confusing. I think that it would help if there were an easy to follow, step-by-step tutorial. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** I just think it works well to have everything in one location, easy to find, and backed up. ### 19. Easy to Organize Files **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** It was helpful to have a place to store all of our PDF'S as a staff, everyone can access it. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** The uploading of our PDF's took a bit of time. But it was definitely worth it. You just need the time to make it happen. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Some staff would have access to important documents on their computers, while other staff didn't have access but needed the files. Now everyone can share and access our files within our staff. ### 20. Paperpile Review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** It is awesome and very easy to use. Very user friendly. You can teach any employee how to use in a very short amount of time **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** I honestly like everything about Paperpile. I have nothing negative to say about it! **Recommendations to others considering Paperpile:** Awesome! Get it! **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Easy access to documents. Cannot lose papers or documents like we did in the past. ### 21. Paperpile keeps me organized! **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** I love being able to use PP to organize research papers for my classroom. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** I honestly haven't found anything I dislike except for the fact I have to use Google chrome. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** I like having all my research in one place! ### 22. Paperpile is a reference management software designed to help researchers and academics organize and manage their research papers and references efficiently. It integrates with various platforms and offers features such as citation management, PDF annotation, and collaboration tools. **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Legal Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 08, 2019 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** Paperpile software est une extension utile qui aide à gérer les références. Vous pouvez collecter des références d'articles facilement et télécharger des PDF simplement. Idéal pour la recherche. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** No dislikes yet for using Paperpile software **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Research efficiency ### 23. I use paperpile to manage my references **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Phuong L. | Graduate Research Assistant, Higher Education, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 15, 2018 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** I love Paperpile. Before paperpile, I use EndNote for my PC. However, my EndNote is not compatible with my Mac so I have to buy a new version. My friend told me about Paperpile, and I love it. One of the best feature is that I can change my citation style to any style I want. And the software will update entire file to the new citation style for me. That is a wonderful feature. Additionally, another plus is that Paperpile is compatible for both Mac and PC, and it compatible for Google Drive as well. Lastly, I can embedd my reference simply by looking for the title. This feature is much better than Endnote, where I have to download the file and embedd them into my paper. Sometime, if I have 200 references, the amount of files I am downloading can be overwhemming. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** Nothing. I love paperpile. They are very easy to use. Sorry, can't help you there! Althought, if you can make it run faster, that would be great. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use paperpile to manage my references ### 24. Intuitive Referencing Manager; a MUST HAVE for google docs users **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Emily S. | Teacher of English, Education Management, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 16, 2018 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** Paperpile is smart technology at its finest -- 100% user-friendly and very intuitive. I've tried several citation managing applications (zotero, endnote, mendeley) and Paperpile rises to the top of the stack. I love that it is cloud based and stores all of my papers as PDFs and lets me add citations as I write. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** Wish that I had found Paperpile sooner! No yearly fee would make me happier. :o) **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Paperpile is one of those inventions that makes your life so much easier. Clean layout and no data loss worries! Whether you are working on your PhD, writing for publication or teaching students to write publishable academic papers (esp collaborative ones), Paperpile is a magic bullet. Works well with google scholar and google docs. ### 25. Paper Pile detailed review. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Utilities | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 17, 2018 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** Allows you to save important files and data into your google drive. Highly useful during project times. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** inability to access few files which are locked. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Use it highly during projects for research purpose and allows you to store files in your google drive. ### 26. Making college easier **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Christina P. | Administrative Assistant, Education Management, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 25, 2017 **What do you like best about Paperpile?** I liked that I could use Paperpile on any device (Mac, Chrome, or Windows HP) which was very helpful and convenient when using different computers at work, school, and home. **What do you dislike about Paperpile?** Sometimes Paperpile would malfunction, and not work. I think is just a glitch or bug in the system. **Recommendations to others considering Paperpile:** Paperpile is great for students or employees who have jobs in writing. **What problems is Paperpile solving and how is that benefiting you?** Paperpile became a must have necessity by allowing me to keep track of the research for my college papers. One of my favorite features is that it cites as I am writing. BIG PLUS!!! ## Paperpile Discussions - [Can you use Paperpile with word?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/can-you-use-paperpile-with-word) - 1 comment - [Can you use Paperpile offline?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/can-you-use-paperpile-offline) - 1 comment - [Does Paperpile have an app?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/does-paperpile-have-an-app) - 1 comment - [What are things you can do using Paperpile as a citation manager?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-things-you-can-do-using-paperpile-as-a-citation-manager) - 1 comment - [View Paperpile pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/paperpile/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-14+14%3A30%3A37+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=7ca763d2-5b6e-43b6-9c77-27377418914e&secure%5Btoken%5D=e0489c2068d72c0fb2065c61660385ac34c7f73452a1c70b45bdff0eae9c0da0&format=llm_user) ## Top Paperpile Alternatives - [Mendeley](https://www.g2.com/products/mendeley/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (247 reviews) - [EndNote](https://www.g2.com/products/endnote/reviews) - 4.1/5.0 (181 reviews) - [ReadCube](https://www.g2.com/products/readcube/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (172 reviews)