Based on this experience and my preference for
open-source software, I've come to place high importance on the following functionality/characteristics when selecting a reference manager.
Most of the major reference managers check the boxes on 1-6 quite well, although some do particular tasks better than others. It's the addition of 7-10 that makes
Zotero an outstanding reference manager from my perspective. Zotero is a community developed, open-source platform that offers both free and paid levels. The free level comes with all the functionality of the paid, just with restricted cloud storage. Your reference collections and user information are as private as you choose them to be. As a professional platform, some choose to make their information publicly visible, but that's up to you. Regardless, the platform does not scrape and sell your personal information. The interface is quite intuitive for a platform with extensive functionality. And because the code is open source, you can find a wide variety of add-ons to customize the way Zotero works for you.