No. 12 of 27 ·Reference Management Software

Citavi

Web · Windows · Extension

Freedom report

One barScore 5.5

Free tierNo free tier on record
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely2 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Citavi is ranked #12 of 27 in reference management software on Freedom251. It runs on Browser extension, Web, Windows. A free trial is offered.

Citavi plans and pricing

All plans

Citavi Web Not published Annual; price varies by license type Web access shop.lumivero.com · 3 Oct 2026

Citavi Windows + Web Not published Annual; price varies by license type Windows desktop and web · includes 5 GB of Citavi Space shop.lumivero.com · 3 Oct 2026

Citavi institutional licensing Not published Custom licensing Campus and institutional licensing · centralized administration lumivero.com · 3 Oct 2026

Compared on reference management software

PDF annotation: Yes
Browser extension: Yes
Citation styles: 11,000 styles
Word processor support: both
Import formats: BibTeX, RIS, EndNote Tagged, CSV, Excel, Access, OpenOffice Calc, OvidSP, Zotero, Mendeley
Team collaboration: Yes

Best Citavi alternatives

See all 20

Two bars Zotero Free tier No. 1$1.67/mo6.8 Two bars Mendeley Reference Manager Free tier No. 2$4.58/mo6.7 Two bars Sciwand Free tier No. 3Free6.6 Two bars JabRef Free tier No. 4Free6.5 Two bars Jurism Free tier No. 5Free6.5 Two bars Lean Library Workspace Free tier No. 6Free6.5

The record

Purpose: Citavi combines reference management, knowledge organization, and AI-powered insights for research writing.
Reference gathering: It imports books, articles, PDFs, and webpages and can search library catalogs and academic databases.
Knowledge organization: Users can save quotations, summaries, comments, and images linked to references and organize ideas into outlines.
AI features: Its AI assistant can summarize text, generate article key insights, and search for papers using a topic described in plain language.
Browser tools: Browser Pickers capture references, quotations, and images from webpages or PDFs.
Writing integration: The Citavi Word Add-In inserts citations and builds bibliographies in Microsoft Word; Google Docs use is described as copying and pasting formatted citations and bibliography entries.
NVivo integration: Citavi can export references and insights to NVivo, but changes in Citavi do not automatically sync and require re-sharing the project.
Collaboration and storage: Teams can share cloud projects with assigned roles and tasks in real time, and projects can be stored in the cloud, on a local drive, or on an institutional server.
Trial: Citavi offers separate free 30-day trials for Citavi Windows and Citavi Web, each including 1 GB of storage.
Trial requirement: The maker says no credit card is required to start a free trial.
Security: Lumivero says it aligns its solutions to SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001; Citavi’s product page also offers an on-premise DBServer option for organizations.
Support: Citavi support includes a knowledge base, community forum, support tickets, and live chat.
Intended users: The product is presented for students, researchers, faculty, academic writing, literature reviews, and research projects; online individual licensing is aimed at teams of up to 10.

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Reference Management Software in 2026#12 of 27
Best Citation Management Software in 2026#10 of 24

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Sources

lumivero.com/products/citavi/· checked 3 Oct 2026
lumivero.com/resources/free-trial/· checked 3 Oct 2026
lumivero.com/company/· checked 3 Oct 2026
shop.lumivero.com/qda-and-research/citavi· checked 3 Oct 2026