How paperful compares¶

A plain-language map of where paperful sits next to Zotero plugins, bibliography fixers, Mendeley export cleaners, and DOI-centric download scripts.

Last reviewed: 2026-09-10. Feature lists for other products are based on public docs and positioning — not paid pilots or exhaustive release testing.

Vendor-by-vendor notes live in the comparison reference. Prefer this page for “is this the right tool?”

Short answer¶

If you need…	Look at…
Bulk missing-PDF fetch for a Zotero library (OA → campus proxy → optional Sci-Hub), collection-shaped folders, resumable CLI	paperful (this repo)
In-Zotero “find OA PDF” plus optional grey-zone sources in one plugin UI	zotero-zotadata
Attachment hygiene (broken links, rename, linked-file layout, merge duplicate files)	StorScan, Attanger, ZotMoov
Metadata repair (DOI/ISBN/arXiv bulk update, parent-from-PDF)	paperful `lint` / `fix-metadata`, or ZotMeta
Scriptable library surgery (dedupe, enrich, `pdf-fetch`, disk GC) via CLI/MCP	zotero-agent
AI assistant read/write over the library	zotero-mcp forks (richardjlyon, cookjohn, mcp-zotero)
`.bib` normalize / dedupe / upgrade preprints (no Zotero required)	bibcite, bibtex-tidy, bibmanager
Mendeley dedup inside the app; clean exported BibTeX	Mendeley Duplicates smart collection; export cleaners such as mendeley_bibtex_cleaner
DOI-list PDF batch without Zotero	paperscraper
“Just use what ships in Zotero”	Built-in Find Available PDF plus custom PDF resolvers

paperful does not replace a full metadata editor, an attachment reorganiser, or a .bib linter. Fetch and lint run on disk; the manager is a write-back adapter (manager = "zotero" today).

Architecture: architecture.md.

Where paperful sits¶

Most tools in this space optimise one or more of:

Acquire PDFs — open access, proxy, optional Sci-Hub, Scholar
Fix metadata — DOI discovery, Crossref/OpenAlex fills
Fix files — rename, linked paths, broken attachments, duplicate PDFs
Fix .bib / exports — keys, duplicates, Mendeley-specific fields
Automate / agent — MCP, CLI, batch undo

paperful is built for (1), with (2) as lint / fix-metadata (patches on disk, --apply to the adapter; PubMed PMID→DOI, Crossref/OpenAlex verify). Disk layout is a collection mirror plus attach — not in-library reorganisation ((3)). (4) and (5) are usually other tools.

Zotero library  →  paperful run  →  out/<collection>/…pdf  →  attach (Zotero 10+)
                      ↑
        OA / CORE / arXiv / EZProxy / Scholar / htmlpdf / (opt-in Sci-Hub)

Parallel tracks:
  Metadata: paperful lint/fix-metadata, ZotMeta, zotero-agent
  Attachment plugins (StorScan, Attanger)
  Bib CLI (bibcite, bibtex-tidy)

Capability snapshot¶

Legend: Yes = first-class · Partial = adjacent or lighter · No = absent or out of scope.

Capability	paperful	Zotero built-in	zotero-zotadata	StorScan	ZotMeta	zotero-agent
Bulk fetch missing PDFs	Yes	Partial	Yes	Partial	No	Partial
Collection-scoped batch runs	Yes	No	Partial	Partial	Partial	Yes
Resumable manifest / retry	Yes	No	Partial	Partial	Partial	Partial
Open-access source stack	Yes	Partial	Yes	Partial	No	Partial
Campus EZProxy (cookie session)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Sci-Hub (explicit opt-in)	Yes	Partial	Yes	No	No	Partial
Metadata verify / lint	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Metadata apply to library	Yes (`fix-metadata --apply`)	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Broken link / file layout repair	No	Partial	Partial	Yes	No	Partial
Dedupe / merge items	No	Partial	No	Partial	No	Yes
Runs outside Zotero UI (CLI)	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Work on disk, then write-back	Yes	No	No	Partial	No	Partial

zotero-mcp and BibTeX-cluster columns: comparison reference.

What paperful does not do today¶

Mendeley write-back (config key reserved)
Attachment path surgery (author folders, stored→linked conversion)
Item merge/dedupe
Hosted multi-user service
Jeffersonian transcription or qualitative coding

Choosing in one glance¶

Have Zotero, many items without PDFs, want a resumable CLI + folder tree?
  → paperful

Library DOI looks wrong but you already have the PDF?
  → paperful lint, then fix-metadata --apply

Want the same job but stay inside Zotero with one plugin?
  → zotero-zotadata (review legal/ToS for its extra sources)

Library is messy on disk (broken links, dup PDFs, author folders)?
  → StorScan (+ Attanger for incoming downloads)

Only a .bib from Mendeley/Zotero export?
  → bibcite / bibtex-tidy / JabRef

Just a list of DOIs, no Zotero?
  → paperscraper

More branches: comparison reference.