Citavi
Reference management software
Education software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$90.00 per license
Free TrialFree version
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What is Citavi
Citavi is a reference management and knowledge organization tool used to collect sources, manage citations, and support academic writing workflows. It is used by students, researchers, and institutions to organize PDFs, quotations, and notes and to generate bibliographies in common citation styles. The product combines reference management with task planning and topic/knowledge structuring features, and it integrates with word processors for in-text citations and reference lists.
Integrated knowledge organization tools
Citavi supports not only bibliographic records but also quotations, annotations, keywords, and thematic categories. Users can structure ideas and evidence alongside sources, which helps with literature reviews and long-form writing. This goes beyond basic citation storage by keeping notes and excerpts tied to specific references.
Strong Word integration workflow
Citavi provides add-ins for inserting citations and generating bibliographies while writing. It supports common academic citation styles and allows users to update formatting as requirements change. This reduces manual formatting work and helps maintain consistency across documents.
Institution-friendly licensing options
Citavi is commonly offered with campus or organizational licensing, which can simplify deployment for universities and research groups. Centralized licensing can reduce individual account management overhead compared with purely consumer-focused tools. This model aligns with education-sector procurement and lab/group usage.
Learning curve for new users
Citavi’s combined reference, knowledge, and task features create a broader interface than minimalist reference managers. New users may need time to understand concepts like categories, quotations, and task planning. Teams may also need internal conventions to keep projects organized consistently.
Collaboration depends on setup
Collaborative work can require specific configurations (for example, shared projects or institutional setups) rather than being purely frictionless by default. This can add administrative steps for groups that want real-time sharing and co-editing. Some teams may prefer simpler sharing models when collaboration is the primary requirement.
Platform and ecosystem constraints
Citavi’s experience and feature parity can vary by platform and deployment model, which may matter for mixed-device environments. Organizations with strict browser-only or mobile-first requirements may find limitations compared with tools designed primarily for web and mobile. Integration expectations should be validated against the specific Citavi edition being deployed.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Citavi (single-user: Web / Windows / Windows + Web) | $90.00 – $500.00 (USD) | Price range shown on Lumivero (Citavi) product page; varies by license type (Student, Academic, Commercial, Government & NFP), license term (annual subscription or perpetual), and OS edition; includes 5 GB Citavi Space by default. |
| Citavi Space (additional cloud storage add-on) | $19.00 – $49.00 per year | 5 GB (annual) and 50 GB (annual) storage add-ons available. |
| Citavi for Organizations / DBServer (enterprise/site licenses) | Contact sales / Request a quote | DBServer and site licenses are quoted; volume and institutional pricing available (contact sales). |
Seller details
Swiss Academic Software GmbH
Wädenswil, Switzerland
1995
Private
https://www.citavi.com/
https://x.com/Citavi
https://www.linkedin.com/company/swiss-academic-software/
