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Head-to-head · Literature Review Software

Buhos vs EPPI-Reviewer

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Buhos #1 in Literature Review Software 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit Buhos

Buhos leads on 1 check, EPPI-Reviewer on 0, and 4 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreBuhos · 9.4/10
  • Free planonly Buhos
  • Most featuresBuhos · 4 of 5

Buhos scores higher on our rubric for literature review software: 9.4 against 8.6 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #8.

Buhos offers free plan; EPPI-Reviewer doesn't.

Buhos is the better fit for free, end-to-end systematic review teams. EPPI-Reviewer is the better fit for advanced mixed-methods evidence synthesis.

  • Buhos fits best

    Free, end-to-end systematic review teams

  • EPPI-Reviewer fits best

    Advanced mixed-methods evidence synthesis

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Side by side

Feature Buhos 9.4/10 Visit ↗ EPPI-Reviewer 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.4 8.6
Ranking #1 in Literature Review Software #8 in Literature Review Software
Best for Free, end-to-end systematic review teams Advanced mixed-methods evidence synthesis
Pricing model Free Paid
Starting price Free plan —
Free plan ✓ (best) —
Free trial — —
Deployment Self-hosted, Desktop Cloud
Platforms Web, Windows, macOS, Linux Web
Support Email, Docs Email, Docs
Integrations 8 integrations 2 integrations
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Buhos 4/5 · EPPI-Reviewer 1/5
Screening workflow ✓ ✓
Full-text management ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Systematic review tools ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Collaboration ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Evidence mapping Not checked yet Not checked yet
Specs
Discovery tools Search Not checked yet
Citation import limit Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Covers screening, extraction, quality assessment, reporting, and full-text review
  • Imports BibTeX, RIS, PubMed/NBIB, JSON, and CSV references
  • Supports collaboration with reviewer assignments, comments, tags, and messaging
  • Combines screening, coding, analysis, meta-analysis and synthesis
  • Supports discovery, review updating, deduplication and automated clustering
  • Offers Zotero integration and LLM-assisted screening and extraction
Cons
  • Local or independent-server deployment requires technical setup
  • Focused on systematic literature review workflows rather than broader research work
  • Export options are limited to BibTeX, Excel, and GraphML
  • No permanent general free plan
  • Shared reviews add £35 per review per month
  • LLM features require separate credits and are evaluation-only
Our verdict

Buhos is open-source software for developing and managing systematic literature reviews. It supports both individual and group-based reviews, making it suitable for researchers who need a structured process from literature discovery…

Read the review →

EPPI-Reviewer is web-based software for managing and analysing literature reviews. It supports systematic reviews, meta-analyses, framework synthesis and thematic synthesis, making it suitable for individual researchers and collaborative…

Read the review →
  1. BuhosLiterature Review Software 9.4Free plan
  2. EPPI-ReviewerLiterature Review Software 8.6Paid

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Buhos — where it wins

    • Covers screening, extraction, quality assessment, reporting, and full-text review
    • Imports BibTeX, RIS, PubMed/NBIB, JSON, and CSV references
    • Supports collaboration with reviewer assignments, comments, tags, and messaging

    Where it doesn't

    • Local or independent-server deployment requires technical setup
    • Focused on systematic literature review workflows rather than broader research work
    • Export options are limited to BibTeX, Excel, and GraphML
  • EPPI-Reviewer — where it wins

    • Combines screening, coding, analysis, meta-analysis and synthesis
    • Supports discovery, review updating, deduplication and automated clustering
    • Offers Zotero integration and LLM-assisted screening and extraction

    Where it doesn't

    • No permanent general free plan
    • Shared reviews add £35 per review per month
    • LLM features require separate credits and are evaluation-only

More comparisons

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update