AnswerThis vs Sourcely (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, AnswerThis and Sourcely share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan, and Sourcely starts cheaper, at $9 a month against $14 a month.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
AnswerThis grades higher on features. Sourcely grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
AnswerThis
AI literature review assistant with a library and writer
Sourcely
Paste an essay and find academic sources to cite
Which one is for you
Pick AnswerThis if
- Fits if you're a graduate student with a literature review to write for a thesis
- Works for clinical teams running systematic reviews with screening and PRISMA reporting
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you pay month by month, at $35 against $14 on the yearly plan
- Tight if you run systematic reviews often, since Pro allows 2 a month and unlimited needs Research at $30
- Tight if you stay free: 5 saved projects, and unlimited basic queries only start on Pro
- Watch out: the marketing and in-app pricing pages disagree on plan names and limits, and Industry plans start at $90 a seat
- Not for you if you want a phone or desktop app, as only a web app is listed
Pick Sourcely if
- Fits if you've drafted an essay and need papers to back it up
- Works for someone who uses ChatGPT or Claude and wants source search there
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you do a lot of searching: 10 deep searches a month on Pro, 30 on Ultra
- Not for you if you want to know the free limits first, as they aren't on the pricing page
- Watch out: the free version is mostly English-language sources
- Watch out: Ultra's monthly price isn't shown, and there's no app
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAnswerThisFair | 2.4GPASourcelyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro is $14 a month billed yearly, $168 up front, which sits between this category's middle and its dear end. Pay month by month and it's $35, and unlimited systematic reviews mean Research at $30. Ordinary money if you pay yearly, dear if you won't pay a year ahead. | CPro is $9 a month billed yearly ($17 monthly), in the middle of the research range. Ultra is $19. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo card needed, and you get cited answers across 250M+ papers plus export to Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote. But it's 5 saved projects, and unlimited basic queries only start on Pro, so there's a ceiling here whose height you aren't told. Caps you'll hit, then. | CA free version exists, but its limits aren't on the pricing page beyond being mostly English-language sources. |
| Features | BIt covers the job end to end: filters for journal quality and study type, citations that jump to the passage they rest on, a library with full-text search, an AI Writer with 2,000+ styles, and a systematic review pipeline with screening and PRISMA reporting. Rivals here do each of those too, so no A. | CSource finding from text, deep search, summaries, chat, citation export and filters. Deep searches are capped monthly on both paid plans: 10 on Pro, 30 on Ultra. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and this isn't something you just start using: the systematic review pipeline asks you for screening and evidence-grading decisions, and the Research plan throws in an onboarding call. Two pricing pages that disagree on plan names don't help either. | BNo store rating on record. Paste your text and get sources back, with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only — the site mentions no phone or desktop app at all. What lifts it off a C is what it plugs into: sync with Zotero and Mendeley, export to EndNote, and searches across PubMed, Embase and Cochrane. | BWeb only, with MCP support for ChatGPT and Claude. |
| Best for | literature reviews from search to draft | finding academic sources for an essay you've written |
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: AnswerThis and Sourcely. How we grade
Price against what you get
AnswerThis starts at $14 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Sourcely starts at $9 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Sourcely starts $5 a month lower. Of the other AI research tools on the chart, 4 score higher than AnswerThis for less, and 3 score higher than Sourcely for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- AnswerThis also covers AI agents and long-form writing.
- Sourcely also covers chat assistant.
At a glance
| AnswerThis | Sourcely | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $14 per month, billed yearly ($35 billed monthly) | $9 per month, billed annually ($17 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Search across 250M+ papers with cited answers and summaries, 5 saved projects and export to Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote. No card required. | A free version exists, limited mostly to English-language sources; its other limits are not on the pricing page. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | AnswerThis | Sourcely |
| Price read from | app.answerthis.io | sourcely.net |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
AnswerThis
- Pro includes 10 Max queries and 2 systematic reviews a month; unlimited systematic reviews start on Research.
- The marketing pricing page and the in-app pricing page disagree on tier names and limits; the plans here follow the in-app page.
- The marketing page also lists separate Industry plans at higher prices, starting at $90 per seat a month billed monthly.
- Only a web app is listed; the site mentions no mobile or desktop apps.
Sourcely
- Deep searches are capped monthly on both paid plans.
- The free version is mostly limited to English-language sources.
- The monthly price for Ultra is not shown on the pages read.
Key features
AnswerThis
- Cited search and chat
- Ask a question or paste a protocol, then filter by database, journal quality, date and study type. Each answer carries clickable citations that jump to the passage they rely on.
- Library
- Collections, tags, highlights and full-text search across the papers you save or upload, with sync to Zotero and Mendeley.
- AI Writer
- Import a draft or start a new one, cite from the library in one click, check for AI-written or plagiarized text and switch between more than 2,000 citation styles.
- Systematic review pipeline
- Screening, data extraction, meta-analysis and evidence grading run in one workflow with each change logged. The site describes it as PRISMA and Cochrane compliant.
- Shared workspaces
- Co-authors can be invited into a shared workspace to suggest changes, with roles and permissions set by the owner.
- Research gaps and citation maps
- Separate tools look for research gaps, map citations, run bibliometric analysis and draw diagrams from the literature.
Sourcely
- Source finding from text
- Paste an essay or paragraph and Sourcely highlights citation-worthy parts and suggests sources.
- Deep search
- Quick and Deep modes; paid plans include a monthly number of deep searches.
- Summaries and chat
- Gives a summary of each source and lets you ask questions about it.
- Citation export
- Exports references in more than 700 citation styles and saves sources to a library.
- Filters
- Narrow results by publication year, authorship and relevance.
- MCP support
- Paid plans list MCP support for ChatGPT, Claude and similar assistants.
Plans
AnswerThis
Free$0
Search across 250M+ papers with cited answers and summaries, 5 saved projects and export to Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote.
Pro$14
per month, billed yearly ($168); $35 billed monthly
Unlimited basic queries, 10 Max queries and 2 systematic reviews a month, unlimited library storage and the AI Writer on standard models.
Research$30
per month, billed yearly ($360)
Unlimited systematic reviews, 50 Max queries a month on advanced research models, full-text AI screening and an onboarding call.
Max$100
per month, billed yearly ($1,200)
300 Max queries a month on frontier models, unlimited systematic reviews and library, and priority support.
Sourcely
Pro$9
per month, billed annually ($17 billed monthly)
10 deep searches and 25 source credibility checks a month, plus MCP support.
Ultra$19
per month, billed annually
30 deep searches and 100 credibility checks a month, on a smarter AI model.
Ways to pay less
AnswerThis
- Annual discount
Save 60% with annual billing
The in-app pricing page labels annual billing as saving 60%. Pro is $14 a month billed yearly ($168 up front) against $35 a month billed monthly.
Sourcely
- Annual discount
Save 50% with yearly billing
The pricing page shows a Yearly toggle labeled as saving 50% against monthly billing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AnswerThis or Sourcely?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Sourcely is cheaper to start with: $9 a month, against $14 a month for AnswerThis. AnswerThis starts at $14 per month, billed yearly ($35 billed monthly), and Sourcely starts at $9 per month, billed annually ($17 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, AnswerThis or Sourcely?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both AnswerThis and Sourcely have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.