Compare
Mosaic vs Mendeley
Checked against Mendeley's own pages on
The short answer
Mosaic is a web workspace organized around research projects. Each project holds its papers, a PDF reader with highlights and notes, tasks and goals, the Google Docs and Word files you write in, a briefing of new papers, and an assistant that answers from that project library with sources. Planning the work and keeping up with the literature happen in the same place as the references, so one tool covers what usually takes a reference manager plus several others.
Mendeley is a free reference manager with a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, a web library, a browser importer and a citation add-in for Word. Pick Mendeley if you need a desktop app you can use offline, or you move references as BibTeX, RIS or EndNote XML files.
You can try Mosaic without leaving Mendeley: Mosaic imports a Mendeley library once, and your Mendeley library stays as it is.
Side by side
| Feature | Mosaic | Mendeley |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A project workspace: each project holds its library, PDF reader, tasks, documents, briefing and assistant | A reference manager to store, organize, read, annotate and cite references |
| Tasks and goals | Per-project tasks and goals with assignees and due dates, in Table, Cards and Timeline views | Not part of the feature set described on the Mendeley pages we read |
| New papers | A briefing of new papers for each project, from PubMed or Semantic Scholar, on a schedule, with optional email | Not part of the feature set described on the Mendeley pages we read |
| AI | An assistant that answers from the project papers, notes and tasks with sources, searches OpenAlex, PubMed, Semantic Scholar and the web, and writes a staged deep research report | Mendeley advertises AI that draws insights from the documents in your library |
| Word processors | Word add-in and Google Docs add-on that insert citations, keep a reference list that updates itself, and find a source for a highlighted sentence | Mendeley Cite add-in for Word, including Word on the web and Word for iPad |
| Sharing | Workspaces with owner, admin and member roles, and per-project access | Groups with shared libraries where members add references and annotate PDFs |
| PDF reading | Reader with highlights, underlines and notes, next to the project tasks and documents | Read, highlight and annotate PDFs in the library |
| Saving from the browser | Chrome extension that saves a paper straight into a project | Mendeley Web Importer for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge |
| Cost and access | Free during the beta, which is invite-only behind a waitlist | Described by Mendeley as free, with a free storage allowance. Open to anyone |
| Citation styles | Nine styles covering the common ones: APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago author-date, Chicago notes, Harvard, Vancouver, IEEE, AMA, Nature | Styles can be created or modified with the CSL Editor that Mendeley hosts |
| Platforms and offline use | Web app: open it in any modern browser, nothing to install | Desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus a web library. The desktop app can be used offline, with some limits listed in its support center |
| Import and export | Imports from Mendeley and Zotero, and adds papers by DOI, PubMed ID, link or PDF; exports your data as a zip | Imports and exports BibTeX, RIS and EndNote XML. The export holds references, not PDFs or annotations |
Choose Mosaic if
- You organize your work by project and want each project to keep its papers, notes, tasks and goals in one place instead of spread across several apps.
- You want new papers for each project to arrive on a schedule, drawn from PubMed or Semantic Scholar, instead of checking alerts by hand.
- You want an assistant that answers from the papers in your own project library, shows its sources, and can also search the literature.
- You write in Google Docs as well as Word. Mosaic has an add-on for Google Docs and an add-in for Word, both citing from the same project library.
- You work with a lab or co-authors and want roles, per-project access and assigned tasks next to the shared papers.
When Mendeley is the better fit
- You need a desktop app, including on Linux, that you can keep using without an internet connection.
- You need to move references in or out as BibTeX, RIS or EndNote XML files.
- You need a custom citation style, or one outside the nine Mosaic ships. Mendeley hosts a CSL Editor for creating and changing styles.
Using Mendeley and Mosaic together
Adding Mosaic to a Mendeley setup gives one project a home for its tasks, its briefing and its assistant, with the papers already in place. Connect your Mendeley account, choose folders or single items, and Mosaic copies them into a project. See the Mendeley integration for what it covers.
The import is a one-time copy, not a sync. Nothing in your Mendeley library is changed, so you can keep citing with Mendeley Cite while you try Mosaic on one project. References you add to Mendeley later come across when you import again, and notes and annotations stay in Mendeley.
Questions
Is Mosaic a Mendeley alternative?
Yes, for researchers who want their references inside the project they belong to. Mosaic stores papers, has a PDF reader, and inserts citations in Word and Google Docs in nine styles. Around that it adds per-project tasks and goals, a briefing of new papers and an assistant over your project library. Mendeley stays the fit for a desktop app, offline use and BibTeX or RIS files.
Can I bring my Mendeley library into Mosaic?
Yes. Connect your Mendeley account, pick folders or single items, and Mosaic copies them into a project. It is a one-time import that you can run again when you choose, and it carries the references across while notes and annotations stay in Mendeley. Steps are in the help article.
Can I use Mosaic and Mendeley together?
Yes. Mosaic copies from Mendeley and changes nothing there, so you can keep Mendeley as your reference archive and run an active project in Mosaic. The connection is an import you run when you choose, so changes in one tool stay in that tool until you import again.
Does Mosaic work with Google Docs and Word?
Yes. Mosaic has a Google Docs add-on and a Word add-in. Both insert citations from a project library and keep the reference list up to date as you write, in nine styles listed in the help center.
Is Mosaic free?
Mosaic is free during its beta, which is invite-only behind a waitlist. Mendeley describes itself as free and is open to anyone now.
Sources
Everything this page says about Mendeley comes from its own public pages, read on November 10, 2026. Tools change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.