Writing software for
students and academics
This is the smarter way to write your next academic paper
ButterDocs makes it easier to write complex documents. From notes to outlining to writing and collaborating, every stage of the journey from idea to finished paper has now improved
Watch video
Import directly from Zotero
Add citations automatically
Free for students
Used by academics at top universities and research institutions
ButterDocs has improved my entire writing process
“As a development economist, I’m often navigating complex research and writing processes. ButterDocs has improved my entire writing process—from research and note-taking to outlining, writing, and editing. It’s made working on complex papers far more manageable and efficient. I honestly can’t imagine going back to how I used to manage my workflow!”
Varna Sri Raman, India Health & Climate Resilience Fellowship (IHCRF)
Writing quality academic papers is difficult. Word and GoogleDocs do not make it easier
Sure, they’re good word processors. But really they’re just digital paper. You type, you scroll up, you scroll down. They do not help you handle the chaos of endless notes, the constant context switching, or just the sheer challenge of going from idea to finished paper.
The note monster
Making good notes is essential. But before you know it, you have notes about notes about notes. Turning them into one coherent paper feels far-fetched. At best, it's organized chaos. At worst, intellectual overload.
The toggling tax
Constantly switching between documents and apps is a hidden tax on your time. Studies show it takes 9.5 minutes to regain focus after each switch. The worst part? You don’t notice this time you’re losing.
The lost writer
Writing clear, concise and impactful academic papers is hard work (with the added hassle of citations and bibliographies). It’s normal to feel stressed or overwhelmed during the writing process. There is a better way…
Introducing ButterDocs
Your notes, research, outline, and writing are now in one easy-to-use tool
Instead of document chaos, every idea or note is neatly contained in digital index cards, which then form your outline and guide your writing. Citations and bibliography are handled automatically. And research and editing assistants give you the power of ethical AI.
Put the flow
back into your workflow
Flow from research to notes
Literature review
Your lit review starts smoothly, but soon you're buried in PDFs and notes, shuffling between documents and losing track of key quotes.
With ButterDocs, your papers and notes stay side-by-side. You can read and take notes seamlessly, keeping everything connected and organized.
Import papers from Zotero
Connect your Zotero account to access your full library, including past highlights. Drag and drop quotes into your notes, with citations automatically added and page numbers preserved.
Keep notes organized
Note-taking mimics how you like to research. Underline and highlight as you read. Then drag key ideas and quotes to note Blocks (they’re like digital index cards), to get organized before you write.
Extract useful insights
Need a paper summarized? Want to ask a question? Need a quote that supports a specific idea? Just ask the built-in research assistant for help. Then drag those insights into your notes. Et voila!
My system was messy and difficult to manage
“The research phase of a paper can be particularly demanding. Before using ButterDocs, my system for PDFs and notes was messy and difficult to manage. Now, I can import my research directly from Zotero, and everything stays organized in one place. I no longer need to juggle multiple windows or worry about losing track of key quotes.”
Create a roadmap for your paper
Notes
Document outline
You’ve reviewed the literature and taken extensive notes, but organizing your paper can be chaotic with scattered documents and an outline hidden from sight.
With ButterDocs, your notes are in moveable Blocks, making it easy to visually arrange and structure your outline. So you know exactly what goes where before you write.
Adjust your outline
When writing, your outline often changes. With ButterDocs, it’s easy to reconfigure the structure. And when you move a section in your outline, it will automatically edit the actual document.
Save outline templates
The papers you write will often follow similar structures. You can now save these common outlines for future use. Plus, you can save individual note Blocks to be imported into any future document.
Plan documents together
Each collaborating author can have input during the outlining stage. They can add comments to individual Blocks, attach images, such as charts, and assign sections to specific contributors.
Outlining used to feel overwhelming
“Especially with complex papers. But with ButterDocs, I can visually organize my outline, drag and drop sections, and really map out the whole paper before I start writing. This has been a huge help in managing complex topics and ensuring that my argument flows logically.”
Let the words pour out
Write
Edit
When constantly switching between documents and searching for notes, it’s easy to lose focus, lose time, and lose track of the bigger picture.
With ButterDocs, your research, notes, and outline are all in view. This helps you minimize context switching and stay in a writing flow. Plus, when you drag quotes in, it automatically creates footnotes.
Stash text for later
Written a great sentence that doesn’t work in its current spot, but you don’t want to delete? Just put it in the Stash for safekeeping. When you want to use it, drag and drop it back into your document.
Write productively
Writing timers give you a productivity boost. Nag notifications can nudge you back on task when distracted. And drunk mode won’t allow you to edit while writing, so you can only move forwards.
Get help editing
Great writing happens during editing. With an in-built AI editor, you can edit for concision, clarity, and accuracy. It’s like having a professional editor to take your writing to the next level.
The writing stage is much more streamlined
“Having my notes and outline visible while I write keeps me in the zone, without needing to switch between apps or hunt for documents. With my current paper, where I’m drawing on a lot of research, the ability to quickly drop quotes into my draft with automatic citations is fantastic.”
Work smarter with others
Collaboration
Versioning
Branch & Merge
Collaboration often leads to multiple versions of the same document and chaotic comments. And no one enjoys writing in front of other people.
The solution: one document with multiple versions. Share a public version that other folks can edit and comment on, then accept or reject changes to merge with your original.
Simplify versioning
Create branch copies of your doc that you or collaborators can edit without affecting the main draft. You can now work synchronously, but privately, then merge your efforts with one click.
Avoid comment chaos
Use custom tags to filter relevant comments. Make public comments, like GoogleDocs, but also private ones that only you can see. And notify contributors to nudge procrastinators along.
Control document history
Going back in time in GoogleDocs is clunky and confusing. With ButterDocs, you have more control. Name your drafts, then later visit those versions to see what’s changed and undo any specific edit.
The collaboration features have been incredibly useful
“I often work with colleagues, and ButterDocs makes it easy to keep track of comments, assign sections, and manage multiple versions of the document. It has streamlined the back-and-forth that used to happen with email or other platforms, especially when working across different institutions.”
And now your entire writing workflow has improved, it’s time for a little magic.
Ethical AI that supercharges your workflow without hijacking the writing process
ButterDocs is not designed to research or write for you (sorry college freshman with a paper due at 9am tomorrow). Instead, AI-powered research and editing assistants help you process data faster and improve the quality of your writing. Not interested? Turn off AI features with a click.
AI research assistant
You can now chat with your uploaded research documents to instantly extract insights, quotes and summaries. This is not a substitute for deep reading, it’s simply a research assistant to help you get the most value from that work.
Summarize
Get a summary of a paper in seconds
Enquire
Ask questions of your imported research
Extract
Pull out a quote that supports your point
AI editing assistant
The AI editor works quietly in the background, with improvements waiting for you to approve or reject when you finish. Or you can ask it for help when writing. Either way, all suggestions live in a branched version, so it doesn’t mess with your document.
Shorten
Reword sentences for maximum concision
Cut fluff
Remove filler words that don't add meaning
Proofread
Correct spelling, grammar and punctuation
Writing complex documents is easier in ButterDocs
Get a 30-day free trial to write your next paper the smart way
$100 / year
$0
/ year
Distraction-free writing
Zotero Integration
Notes, Outlining, Research
$30 / month
$15
/ month
Chat with your PDF sources
Edit for typos, clarity, brevity, ...
Paraphrase quotes, find synonyms, ...
Outlining suggestions
First draft based on notes
Can I export to Word and other common questions
Everyone says “easy to use”, how steep is the learning curve really?
That’s a great question. The core features of ButterDocs are really intuitive. You can start importing research papers, making notes, outlining and writing your document without any help. If you can use Word, you can easily use ButterDocs. That said, to master the tool, it would be wise to watch a couple of onboarding videos – you’ll learn some really neat tricks.
How do I work with people who are not using ButterDocs?
It doesn't matter if your institution primarily uses another tool. Once you’re ready to share your finished document, you can easily export it to other formats. Plus, inviting people to collaborate within ButterDocs is easy and they do not need to open an account.
Can I export to Word?
Yes. And it’s very easy to do. When you do, your citations and bibliography will automatically populate your document in your preferred style.
What will happen to my work if your company goes bust?
Don’t worry, all your work is backed up and always safe. So if that situation arose, you would be able to export all your notes and documents to Word, GoogleDocs, or PDF formats. ButterDocs is in a very strong financial position. And we’re on a mission to make the writing journey from idea to finished document as smooth and stress-free as possible. Put simply, we’re not going anywhere soon.
Will this work in my language?
Yes, ButterDocs is compatible with over 45 different languages. You can easily toggle the language to suit your needs.
Does ButterDocs have the same formatting features as Word?
No, not yet. Universities, journals and research institutions all have different formatting demands. So prior to submission, you can export to Word or Google and make the necessary formatting changes. ButterDocs is where you go to get the work done.
Is my work secure inside ButterDocs?
Yes, we are hosted on the industry-leading Amazon Web Services platform, using their security tools and following data protection best practices. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Plus, our security procedures and their implementation have been audited by third party security experts.
