Citavi
Citavi combines reference management, knowledge organization, and AI-assisted insights for research writing.
What Citavi is
Citavi combines reference management, knowledge organization, and AI-assisted insights for research writing. It imports books, articles, PDFs, and webpages, and can search library catalogs and academic databases. Browser Pickers capture references, quotations, and images from webpages or PDFs; users can attach quotations, summaries, comments, and images to references and arrange ideas into outlines. Its AI assistant can summarize text, identify article insights, and search for papers from a topic described in plain language. Citavi offers over 11,000 citation styles, which users can switch, upload, or customize. The Word Add-In inserts citations and builds bibliographies in Microsoft Word. For Google Docs, formatted citations and bibliography entries are copied and pasted. Teams can share cloud projects with roles and tasks, or store projects in the cloud, on a local drive, or on an institutional server. Citavi exports references and insights to NVivo, but later changes do not sync automatically. Separate free 30-day trials for Citavi Windows and Citavi Web include 1 GB of storage; no credit card is required to start. Annual paid plans are available, with prices varying by license type.
Good
- Imports books, articles, PDFs, and webpages.
- AI assistant summarizes text and surfaces article insights.
- Offers over 11,000 citation styles.
- Word Add-In inserts citations and creates bibliographies.
- Windows and Web each have a free 30-day trial.
Watch out
- Google Docs use requires copying and pasting formatted entries.
- NVivo exports do not sync later Citavi changes automatically.
- Trial storage is 1 GB.
- Paid plan prices vary by license type.
Who it suits
Citavi suits students, researchers, faculty, and teams organizing literature reviews or other research writing. Its project-sharing options and separate Windows and Web trials may also fit academic groups evaluating collaborative workflows.
Verdict
Citavi combines reference organization, citation tools, project collaboration, and AI-assisted research features. Check the Word and Google Docs workflows and the NVivo re-sharing requirement against your needs before choosing a license.
Plans and prices
From Citavi's own pricing page, checked 3 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Citavi institutional licensing | Priced on request | Campus and institutional licensing · centralized administration · Custom licensing |
| Citavi Web | — | Web access · Annual; price varies by license type |
| Citavi Windows + Web | — | Windows desktop and web · includes 5 GB of Citavi Space · Annual; price varies by license type |
The facts
Each one read from Citavi's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- AI features
- Its AI assistant can summarize text, generate article key insights, and search for papers using a topic described in plain language.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Citation styles
- Citavi offers over 11,000 citation styles and lets users switch, upload, or customize styles.checked 3 Oct 2026
- 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.checked 3 Oct 2026
- 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.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Knowledge organization
- Users can save quotations, summaries, comments, and images linked to references and organize ideas into outlines.checked 3 Oct 2026
- NVivo integration
- Citavi can export references and insights to NVivo, but changes in Citavi do not automatically sync and require re-sharing the project.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Citavi combines reference management, knowledge organization, and AI-powered insights for research writing.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Reference gathering
- It imports books, articles, PDFs, and webpages and can search library catalogs and academic databases.checked 3 Oct 2026
- 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.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Support
- Citavi support includes a knowledge base, community forum, support tickets, and live chat.checked 3 Oct 2026
- 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.checked 3 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Browser tools
- Browser Pickers capture references, quotations, and images from webpages or PDFs.checked 3 Oct 2026
Money
- Trial
- Citavi offers separate free 30-day trials for Citavi Windows and Citavi Web, each including 1 GB of storage.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Trial requirement
- The maker says no credit card is required to start a free trial.checked 3 Oct 2026
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