Zettlr

Modern academic and professional writing demands flexibility, organization, and powerful tools that adapt to complex workflows. Zettlr emerges as a comprehensive publication workbench designed specifically for researchers, academics, journalists, and writers who need more than a basic text editor. This free and open-source application transforms how you manage everything from initial research notes to final manuscript submission.

At its core, Zettlr is built around Markdown formatting, providing a distraction-free writing environment that keeps you focused on content rather than formatting. The interface strikes a perfect balance between simplicity and power, offering customizable views that range from bare code to rich WYSIWYG rendering. You can see LaTeX equations and Mermaid charts rendered in real-time, allowing you to spot issues immediately without switching between preview modes.

What truly distinguishes Zettlr is its first-class citation support. The software integrates seamlessly with reference managers like Zotero, JabRef, and Juris-M, giving you instant access to your entire research library. With support for over 9,000 citation styles, you can format references according to any journal or publisher requirements. Simply load your bibliography and begin citing—Zettlr handles the rest, following industry-standard citation practices throughout.

The application excels at project management and organization. Whether you're working on a dissertation, book manuscript, or research paper, Zettlr provides robust tools to keep everything structured. The powerful search function helps you find specific content across thousands of notes instantly. Split-view functionality lets you reference multiple documents simultaneously, while the graph view visualizes connections between your notes, revealing patterns and relationships you might otherwise miss.

Zettelkasten methodology receives comprehensive support, making Zettlr an excellent choice for knowledge management. The software supports note IDs, internal Wiki-style links, related files, and seamless navigation between connected ideas. You can build a sophisticated personal knowledge base that grows with your research, creating a web of interconnected insights that enhance your thinking and writing.

Privacy and data ownership remain paramount, your notes stay on your computer with no forced cloud synchronization or telemetry. Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, Zettlr respects your workflow preferences while offering extensive customization through settings and custom CSS. You control every aspect of the interface, from theme selection to pixel-perfect adjustments.

The powerful export system powered by Pandoc supports over 30 output formats, from standard Word documents to specialized academic templates. Create custom export profiles for different journals or conferences, then export papers with appropriate formatting in a single click. Need a presentation? Zettlr generates Beamer, reveal.js, or PowerPoint slides from your Markdown content. The snippet system automates repetitive tasks, allowing you to define templates with variable support, tabstops, and more.

Writing statistics, code highlighting, dark mode support, and multi-language availability (over 25 languages) round out a feature set that adapts to your specific needs rather than forcing you into predetermined workflows. Supported by an active community through forums, Discord, and Reddit, Zettlr continues evolving based on real-world academic and professional writing requirements.