Mendeley
by Mendeley · Reference manager with PDF annotation, Word citations and shared groups
22.7 — BenchRank score out of 100
Screenshots of Mendeley
Homepage Pricing page
Overview
Mendeley is a reference manager that builds a library from PDFs imported by drag and drop, watched folders or a browser extension. It stores references, lets you read and annotate PDFs, and cites as you write via a Microsoft Word add-in. Groups provide shared libraries, and paid plans add AI that answers questions over your PDFs with citations.
- Best for
- Researchers and students who need a reference library, PDF annotation and Word citations.
- Pricing
- Free plan with 2GB storage, then Premium from $4.99/month ($55/year) up to $14.99/month ($165/year).
- Runs on
- Browser extension
Strengths and trade-offs
Strengths
- Imports PDFs by drag and drop or from watched desktop folders
- Web Importer browser extension saves references while browsing
- Groups give shared libraries for annotating with co-authors
- Add-in cites as you write in Microsoft Word
Trade-offs
- Free plan capped at 2GB and 5 Reading Assistant questions
- 14-day trial converts to a paid subscription and renews automatically
- Ask My Library and Compare Experiments need the $9.99 PRO plan or above
- Unlimited storage only on the $14.99 MAX plan
Pricing
Published plans from Mendeley’s own pricing page, in USD. Usage charges and add-ons may apply on top.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PLUS | $4.99 | $4.58 |
|
| PRO | $9.99 | $9.17 |
|
| MAX | $14.99 | $13.75 |
|
| free plan | — | — |
|
How this score is made up
Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.
- MCP support
- 0 out of 100
- API quality
- 0 out of 100
- Documentation
- 0 out of 100
- Agent friendliness
- 57 out of 100
- Pricing transparency
- 85 out of 100
- Changelog
- 0 out of 100
- Marketing site structure
- 50 out of 100
- Operational trust
- 15 out of 100
Measured, but not part of the score
Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.
- Openness
- 60 out of 100
- Maintenance
- 15 out of 100
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