Free Citation Generator — APA, MLA & Chicago
Citation Generator is a free citation generator for APA 7th, MLA 9th, and Chicago — pick a style, enter the source details, and copy a correctly formatted reference and in-text citation. There are no ads, no popups, and no signup: the styles run in your browser, so it works offline and nothing you type is uploaded. It is both a reference generator and a bibliography generator, free online, with rich-text copy that keeps your italics intact.
Pick a citation style and source type above, fill in the author, title, and date, then tap Copy to grab the formatted reference or the in-text citation. It updates live as you type, and the italics paste cleanly into Word or Google Docs.
Need a citation right now? Pick a style and start typing — it formats as you go.
Use the free Citation Generator →How to Generate a Citation
This is a free online citation maker that runs entirely in your browser — nothing to install, no account to create. To generate a citation:
- Open capsuletools.app/citation-generator/ in any browser
- Choose your citation style — APA 7th, MLA 9th, or Chicago
- Choose the source type — Website, Book, or Journal. The form adapts to show the right fields
- Enter the author, title, date, and the website, journal, or publisher name. Add volume, issue, pages, edition, editors, or a DOI under Additional details if you need them
- The reference and in-text citation update live in the panel at the bottom. Tap Copy to grab either one
Enter one author per line as “Last, First.” A year is enough for the date — leave it blank and APA and Chicago will show “n.d.” automatically.
Supported Citation Styles
The tool formats three of the most-requested academic styles, and for each one it produces both the full reference and the matching in-text citation. Because it is a citation generator with no ads and no signup, you can switch styles freely and re-copy as often as you like — handy when a class wants APA but a journal wants Chicago. The formatting follows the official Citation Style Language stylesheets, the same rule sets that reference managers such as Zotero use.
APA 7th Edition Citations
As an APA citation generator (free, 7th edition), it builds the reference-list entry and the parenthetical in-text citation from the same details. The apa 7th edition citation generator applies sentence-case titles, italic journal and book titles, the ampersand before the final author, and a formatted DOI link.
(Smith & Doe, 2021)
MLA 9th Edition Citations
Select MLA 9th to use it as a works cited generator, free — the formatted reference is a Works Cited entry that follows the MLA Handbook 9th edition rules for title case, containers, and contributor order. As a free MLA citation generator it gives you the author-and-page in-text citation alongside the works cited line.
(Garcia)
Chicago (Author-Date) Citations
The Chicago citation generator (free) covers the author-date system — the reference-list entry plus a (Author Year) in-text citation. This tool focuses on author-date rather than the footnote/notes-bibliography style, which suits most science and social-science writing.
(Brown 2019)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this citation generator really free with no ads?
Yes. It is a free citation generator with no ads, no popups, and no signup. There is no paywall and no premium tier — you format as many citations as you like, in any of the three styles, completely free. Looking for a citation machine free of ads? This works the same way, without the ads or upgrade prompts, because it runs entirely in your browser and nothing tracks what you cite.
How do I generate an in-text citation for APA 7th edition?
Choose APA 7th as the style, fill in the author and year, and the tool shows the in-text citation underneath the full reference — for example (Smith, 2023). It is an in-text citation generator and a reference generator at the same time, so you get both forms from one set of details. Tap Copy on the in-text line to paste just the parenthetical.
Can I use this as a works cited generator for MLA?
Yes. Select MLA 9th and the formatted reference is a works cited entry, ready to drop onto your Works Cited page. It is a free works cited generator that follows the MLA Handbook 9th edition rules for author order, title case, and container formatting, and it gives you the matching in-text citation too.
Does it work offline as a bibliography generator?
Yes. After the page loads once, the whole bibliography generator works offline — the citation styles are stored in your browser, so you can format references on a plane or with no connection. Nothing you type is ever sent to a server, which is also why it needs no account.
Can I generate a citation for a website or PDF?
Yes. Set the source type to Website and enter the page title, site name, author, date, and URL — that covers most web pages and online PDFs you would cite. For a journal article you read as a PDF, choose Journal instead and add the volume, issue, pages, and DOI under Additional details.
Does the citation generator work without signing up?
Yes — there is no sign up, no login, and no email required. You open the page and start formatting citations immediately. Because everything happens in the browser tab, it works the same on a school computer or a borrowed laptop without leaving an account behind.
Will the formatted citation paste correctly into Word or Google Docs?
Yes. The Copy button copies rich text, so the italics, hanging indent characters, and punctuation come through when you paste into Microsoft Word or Google Docs — the title of a journal stays italic, for example. The APA citation generator 7th edition output and the MLA and Chicago output all paste as properly formatted references, not plain text.
Use the free Citation Generator →
