Tool profile
Paperpile: cost, fit and limits
Paperpile is a subscription reference manager made by Paperpile LLC that saves papers and PDFs from the browser, stores and annotates them, and inserts citations into Microsoft Word and Google Docs for students and researchers.
What to know first
Paperpile prices two tiers on annual billing only: Regular at $4.15 a month and Expert at $5.75, with a 30-day trial and no free plan. Expert adds full-text search and shared folders. A 50% academic discount applies, and Enterprise adds SAML and HIPAA on request. The homepage describes no AI capability, and its privacy policy lists data centers in the US and EU on AWS.
Paperpile at a glance
| Maker | Paperpile LLC, United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Free trial only |
| Entry price | $4.15 per month, billed annually |
| API access | No |
| Category | Best AI Reference Management Software in 2026, rank 4 of 11 |
| Website | paperpile.com |
Who Paperpile is best for
Google Docs writers
A Google Docs plugin lets collaborators cite while writing together in the same document, and a separate Word plugin covers the offline case for writers who draft locally.
Graduate students on a budget
Regular is $4.15 a month billed annually, and the page says eligible students, faculty, researchers and nonprofits get 50% off.
Groups that need shared folders
Expert adds shared folders and libraries plus full-text search across PDFs, notes and annotations, at $5.75 a month per user.
Paperpile plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | $4.15 per month, billed annually | Collection, PDF storage and reading, citations in major styles and BibTeX, and basic integrations with Word, Google Docs, databases and publishers. |
| Expert | $5.75 per month, billed annually | Regular plus full-text search, shared folders and libraries, supplementary file storage and advanced integrations with custom citation styles. |
| Enterprise and Institutions | Custom pricing | Expert plus SAML single sign-on, advanced security settings, a custom MSA and SLA, vendor security reviews and HIPAA compliance. |
| Free trial | Free for 30 days | Offered before subscribing; no free plan is listed afterward and monthly billing is not offered, so continued use means a yearly payment. |
Checked November 2026.
What Paperpile does
- One-click save
- A browser extension saves papers and PDFs from anywhere with one click, and the page says the library keeps its organization as it grows, which matters once the collection passes a few hundred items.
- PDF reading and notes
- Highlights and notes are added directly on stored PDFs inside the library, and the Expert tier makes those annotations searchable together with the PDF text and any notes the user typed.
- Word and Google Docs plugins
- Citations and bibliographies are inserted through a Word plugin and a Google Docs plugin, with BibTeX and LaTeX support noted on the page without detail, so LaTeX users should test their workflow in the trial.
- Mobile apps
- Apps on Google Play and the Apple App Store exist for reading and saving on a phone or tablet, but the page says sign-up has to be done on a desktop computer first.
- Academic discount
- A 50% discount applies for eligible students, faculty, researchers and nonprofits, and expert seat groups get up to 20% off, growing with the number of seats, which lowers the cost for labs.
How Paperpile handles your data
The Paperpile privacy policy states that account and library content is kept while the account is active and that deleting the account removes it immediately from the main databases. Server and application logs are kept up to six months, and backups are deleted on a routine schedule. Data centers sit in the US and EU on Amazon Web Services. The policy says OpenAI and Google Gemini API requests are not used for training, and Google Workspace API data is not used to train generalized models. No Paperpile certification is named.
Where Paperpile falls short in practice
- Annual billing only. The pricing page answers the monthly question with a plain No, so even the cheapest route requires paying for a full year up front, which is awkward for a short project.
- No free plan. After the 30-day trial a subscription is required to keep using the library, so a student with one term-long project has to buy a year to finish it.
- Security features gated. SAML single sign-on and HIPAA compliance exist only in the custom tier, and the privacy page names no Paperpile certification, so security-minded institutions must go through a quote.
Works with
Alternatives to Paperpile
Paperpile: common questions
Can I pay for Paperpile monthly?
No. The pricing page answers that question with No and lists Regular at $4.15 a month and Expert at $5.75, both billed annually, with taxes that may apply on top. A 30-day trial comes before the subscription starts, and no monthly option exists.
What does Paperpile Expert add over Regular?
Expert adds full-text search across PDFs, notes and annotations, shared folders and libraries, supplementary file storage and advanced integrations with custom citation styles. Regular covers collection, PDF storage, citations in major styles, BibTeX and basic integrations only. Both tiers are billed annually, and Expert costs $1.60 a month more.
Does Paperpile use my library to train AI?
The privacy policy states that OpenAI and Google Gemini API requests are not used for training and that Google Workspace API data is not used to train generalized models. It does not describe a model of Paperpile's own, and the homepage names no AI feature.
Does Paperpile have a student discount?
Yes. The page states a 50% academic discount for eligible students, faculty, researchers and nonprofits. Expert seat groups get up to 20% off, rising with seat count, and taxes may apply. Check the eligibility rules on the pricing page before you order.
Where is Paperpile data hosted?
The privacy policy names data centers in the US and the EU on Amazon Web Services. It cites Standard Contractual Clauses for EU transfers. It does not say which customer's library data lives in which region, so ask support if residency matters.