alphaXiv vs SciSpace
We give alphaXiv a 3.0 GPA and SciSpace a 3.2, out of 4.0. SciSpace grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
alphaXiv
arXiv reading and discovery site with an AI research assistant
SciSpace
AI research platform for literature review and reading papers
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAalphaXivVery good | 3.2GPASciSpaceVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BGo is $8 a month, under the $12 or so that tools like this usually start at, and $5 if you link an academic email. But Go only raises limits on the cheaper open-source models, and the listing can't say by how much. Choosing any model means Pro at $20. | BPremium is $12 a month billed annually, or $20 monthly, which is typical here. It comes with 1,200 credits a month and up to 4 tasks at once. Need more and it's a big step: Advanced is $70 for 10,000 credits. These prices are from an archived copy of the pricing page, captured on September 30, 2026. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree lets you chat with any arXiv paper, which is a decent start. But it's preset models only, and the assistant's limits are described as strict with no number put on them. There's no public pricing page either: the plans sit in your account settings. | BA free tier is reported, but SciSpace's site turned automated readers away, so its limits couldn't be confirmed on a SciSpace page. We'd sign up and look before planning a project around it. |
| Features | BA trending feed, an assistant that writes literature reviews from the papers it cites, a reader with highlights and notes, one-click blog explainers and a library with BibTeX. That's a lot. But it's all built on arXiv, and a paper that's missing has to be uploaded. | ALiterature Review answers from more than 270 million papers with references, Chat with PDF explains a single paper, and Extract Data pulls the findings out of several PDFs so you can compare them. Add agents, an AI writer, a paraphraser and a citation generator with more than 2,300 styles. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. Each paper in the feed gets a short summary, and you can highlight a passage and ask about it right there. | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. Ask in plain language, or highlight a bit of maths or a table and have it explained. The part to learn is credits, since the agents draw on a monthly allowance. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, an iPhone and iPad app and a Chrome extension. There's also an MCP server that gives agents like Claude Code and Cursor 19 tools for searching and reading papers. The site lists no Android or desktop app. | BWeb, an iPhone and iPad app, and a Chrome extension that explains highlighted text on any page and replies in 13 languages. No Android app was found on Google Play in the US when checked, and the listing shows no integrations with other tools. |
| Best for | following and reading arXiv papers | search, reading and writing in one place |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: alphaXiv and SciSpace. How we grade
Where they differ
- alphaXiv starts at $8 per month (alphaXiv Go). SciSpace starts at $12 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
- alphaXiv also covers highlights.
- SciSpace also covers AI agents and citations.
At a glance
| alphaXiv | SciSpace | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8 per month (alphaXiv Go) | $12 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Chat with any arXiv paper, with preset models only and strict usage limits on the assistant. | Third-party listings report a free tier, but its current limits could not be read: SciSpace's site turned automated readers away, and the archived pricing data covers paid plans only. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | alphaXiv Inc. | PubGenius Inc. |
| Price read from | alphaxiv.org | web.archive.org (not the vendor's own page) |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
alphaXiv
- Following new machine learning and AI research on arXiv
- Asking questions about a paper while reading it
- Reading papers on an iPhone or iPad
- Developers who want paper search inside a coding agent
SciSpace
- Students and researchers who want search, reading and writing tools in one place
- Getting plain-language explanations of dense papers, equations and tables
- Research teams of 2 to 300 people billed per user
Worth knowing
alphaXiv
- The site has no public pricing page; plans and prices are shown on the Subscription/Usage page in account settings.
- The free plan limits the assistant to preset models with strict usage limits; choosing any model needs alphaXiv Pro.
- alphaXiv Go raises limits on open-source models only and does not include Pro-tier models.
- There is an iPhone and iPad app and a Chrome extension; the site lists no Android or desktop app.
SciSpace
- SciSpace's site blocked automated reading, so prices come from an Internet Archive copy of its pricing page captured on September 30, 2026.
- The limits of the free tier could not be confirmed on a SciSpace page.
- Paid plans meter usage in monthly credits: 1,200 on Premium, 10,000 on Advanced and 40,000 or more on Max.
- The mobile app is listed for iPhone and iPad; no Android app was found on Google Play (US) when checked.
Key features
alphaXiv
- Trending feed
- A feed of research curated by what the community is reading, with a short summary for each paper and a view tailored to your research interests.
- AI assistant
- Answers research questions and produces literature reviews grounded in the underlying papers, and can point to who is working on a topic.
- Paper reader
- Read a paper with highlights and personal notes, chat with the assistant about a highlighted section, and add other papers to the conversation with an @ mention.
- AI visual blogs
- Turns a paper into a blog-style explanation with figures, equations and key insights in one click, readable in several languages.
- Library
- Bookmark papers to read later with BibTeX citations generated automatically, and upload a paper that is missing to get the same assistant and overviews.
- MCP server
- Gives AI agents 19 tools to search and read papers, analyze PDFs, explore paper codebases and find researchers. It works with clients such as Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code.
SciSpace
- Literature Review
- Ask a research question in plain language and get answers drawn from a repository of more than 270 million papers, each with references to its sources.
- Chat with PDF
- Ask questions about a paper or PDF and get answers backed by citations that point to where in the source they came from.
- SciSpace Agent and Biomedical Agent
- Agents take on research tasks and draw on the plan's monthly credits. Each plan also caps how many tasks run at once: 4 on Premium, 8 on Advanced and 16 on Max.
- Writing and citation tools
- AI Writer, Paraphraser and AI Detector sit beside a Citation Generator that formats references in APA, MLA and more than 2,300 other styles.
- Extract Data
- Pulls the summary, conclusions and findings out of several PDFs at once so papers can be compared side by side.
- Chrome extension
- Explains highlighted text, math and tables on any web page or PDF, answers follow-up questions with citations and replies in 13 languages.
Plans
alphaXiv
Free$0
For occasional reading and quick follow-up questions: chat with any arXiv paper on preset models, under strict usage limits.
alphaXiv Go$8
per month
Higher limits on lower-cost open-source models; Pro-tier models are not included. $5 a month for student researchers.
alphaXiv Pro$20
per month
Higher assistant usage limits, a choice of any model, longer context windows and early access to beta features.
alphaXiv Pro 5× usage$100
per month
The Pro plan with 5 times the assistant usage and priority routing.
SciSpace
Premium$12
per month, billed annually ($144); $20 billed monthly
1,200 credits a month and up to 4 concurrent tasks.
Teams (Premium)$15
per user / month, billed annually ($180); $25 billed monthly
For 2 to 300 users, each with 1,200 credits a month and up to 4 concurrent tasks.
Advanced$70
per month, billed annually ($840); $90 billed monthly
10,000 credits a month and up to 8 concurrent tasks.
Teams (Advanced)$75
per user / month, billed annually ($900); $100 billed monthly
For 2 to 300 users, each with 10,000 credits a month and up to 8 concurrent tasks.
MaxFrom $160
per month, billed annually ($1,920); from $200 billed monthly
Priced by credit tier, from 40,000 credits a month up to 300,000, with up to 16 concurrent tasks.
Teams (Max)$175
per user / month, billed annually ($2,100); $220 billed monthly
For 2 to 300 users, each with 40,000 credits a month and up to 16 concurrent tasks.
Ways to pay less
alphaXiv
- Education
alphaXiv Go at $5 a month for student researchers
Linking a recognized academic email, such as an .edu address, to the account lowers alphaXiv Go from $8 to $5 a month.
SciSpace
- Annual discount
Save 20% to 40% with annual billing
Annual billing brings Premium from $20 to $12 a month (40% off), Advanced from $90 to $70 (22% off) and the entry Max tier from $200 to $160 (20% off).
