Causaly vs Elicit (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Elicit: it is first in our ranking of AI research tools, and it grades higher too, 2.4 against 1.6.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Causaly grades higher on value for money. Elicit grades higher on the free plan, features and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Elicit
AI research assistant for literature search and systematic reviews
Which one is for you
Pick Causaly if
- Fits if you're on a pharma or biotech R&D team looking for evidence behind a claim
- Makes sense if your company buys scientific tooling through sales
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a price before a call, since none is published
- Skip it if you're a student or an academic on your own, as it's aimed at life sciences companies
- Watch out: the 93% accuracy figure on biomedical claims is the vendor's own number
- Watch out: no integrations or apps are listed, only a web platform
Pick Elicit if
- Fits if you're running a systematic review and want the screening and data extraction automated
- Works for students and casual readers, since free search, summaries and paper chat are unlimited
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're outside a university, with Pro at $49 a user a month billed yearly and $75 monthly
- Skip it if you want real-time collaboration or extraction from figures on a budget, as both need Scale at $229 a user a month billed yearly, $375 monthly
- Tight if your workload is lumpy, because monthly usage doesn't roll over and extra is billed in $100 steps
- Watch out: the pricing page opens on industry rates, and the $11 academic Plus plan shows only once you switch
- Too light for phone or desktop use, with a web app and Chrome extension only, and an integration list that stops at Zotero
How we grade them
| 1.6GPACausalyWeak | 2.4GPAElicitFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published and the site pushes visitors to a demo, so there is nothing to compare with the category's $10 middle. It sits at C. | DPro is $49 a user a month billed annually, $75 monthly, where paid plans in this category usually start around $12. Everything you'd come for sits up there: the review workflow, Routines, the API. Academic pricing only brings Pro to $39, and unused usage doesn't roll over. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free on record: no free plan and no trial. | BBasic costs nothing and gives you unlimited search over 138 million papers, unlimited summaries and unlimited chat with papers, plus Zotero import. One person could really live on that. The Research Agent and reports are capped on Basic, and the listing can't say by how much. |
| Features | CAn agentic research tool, a biomedical knowledge graph and workflows with linked evidence. The listing is thin on what it covers beyond life sciences, so the gaps are unknown. | BIt covers the whole job: search from a question across papers and 545,000 clinical trials, cited reports with tables and figures, screening and data extraction for a systematic review, a Zotero library, Routines and an API. Rivals here run systematic reviews too, so there's no trick that's Elicit's alone. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A demo-led enterprise product means setup before use. | CNo store rating on record, and this isn't a box you type into and walk away from: there are screening workflows, extraction columns and a monthly usage pool to watch. The pricing page doesn't help, opening on industry rates with the $11 academic plan hidden until you switch. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with no integrations or apps on the listing. | BA web app plus a Chrome extension that fetches full texts through your institution's journal access, and it takes in Zotero, PDFs and .ris or .bib files. The integration list stops at Zotero though, the API starts at Pro, and there's no phone or desktop app. |
| Best for | evidence searches for life sciences R&D teams | systematic reviews and evidence tables |
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: Causaly and Elicit. How we grade
Where they differ
- Elicit also covers citations.
At a glance
| Causaly | Elicit | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $49 per user / month, billed annually ($11 on academic pricing) |
| Free plan | None | Basic plan: unlimited search over 138 million papers, unlimited paper summaries and chat with papers, Zotero import, and limited Research Agent and report usage. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Causaly | Elicit Research, PBC |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | elicit.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Causaly
- No prices are published; pricing is unverified, and the site pushes visitors to request a demo.
- It is aimed at life sciences companies rather than individual students or academics.
- Accuracy figures on the site, such as 93% on biomedical claims, are the vendor's own claims.
Elicit
- The pricing page defaults to industry rates; the $11 Plus plan appears only when Academic is selected.
- The systematic review workflow, Routines and API access start at the Pro plan.
- Monthly usage does not roll over. Extra usage on Pro and Scale is billed in $100 increments, up to a limit you set.
- Real-time collaboration, extraction from figures and the admin panel need Scale or Enterprise.
Key features
Causaly
- Agentic Research
- A conversational interface, a biomedical data fabric and autonomous research agents in one platform.
- Biomedical knowledge graph
- The site describes a high-precision knowledge graph, offered as Bio Graph, and a Pipeline Graph for competitive intelligence.
- Scientific workflows
- Workflows meant to turn repeatable scientific tasks into scalable runs.
- Use cases for R&D
- Pages cover target identification, biomarker discovery, disease pathophysiology, indication expansion and clinical development.
- Linked evidence
- The site says each claim is linked to evidence and that logic and limitations are shown.
Elicit
- Research Agent
- Gathers evidence from scientific databases, journals, public data sources and uploaded documents, then produces cited reports, tables, figures and slides.
- Paper and clinical trial search
- Semantic search over more than 138 million papers from Semantic Scholar, PubMed and OpenAlex, plus about 545,000 clinical trials, so a query does not depend on exact keywords.
- Research reports
- Generates research briefs through a process modeled on systematic reviews. You can change which papers and what information a report covers.
- Systematic review workflow
- Automates screening and data extraction, with a Pro workflow that can screen 5,000 papers. A Chrome extension fetches full texts through your institution's journal access.
- Library and Zotero import
- Stores sources in collections with tags so they can be reused across projects, and takes in papers from Zotero, PDFs, and .ris or .bib files.
- Routines and API
- Routines rerun Research Agent work to pick up new evidence, and an API covers search, reports and systematic reviews. Both start at the Pro plan.
Plans
Causaly
Pricing could not be confirmed. See causaly.com.
Elicit
Basic$0
Unlimited paper search, summaries and chat with papers, Zotero import, and limited Research Agent and report usage.
Pro$49
per user / month, billed annually ($588); $75 billed monthly
Standard usage, a systematic review workflow that screens 5,000 papers, 20 table columns at a time, Routines and API access.
Scale$229
per user / month, billed annually ($2,748); $375 billed monthly
5x the usage of Pro, real-time collaboration, extraction from figures, 30 table columns at a time and an admin panel with seat management.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom usage, SSO and SAML, screening of 40,000 papers, 40 extraction columns, custom data sources and unlimited API access.
Ways to pay less
Causaly
No public discounts listed.
Elicit
- Annual discount
Save 35% to 39% with annual billing
On industry pricing, Pro is $49 a month billed annually against $75 billed monthly, and Scale is $229 against $375. The pricing page labels these as savings of 35% and 39%.
- Education
Academic pricing from $11 per user / month
Choosing Academic on the pricing page shows Plus at $11, Pro at $39 and Scale at $89 per user / month, billed annually, or $19, $69 and $149 billed monthly.
- Nonprofit
Nonprofits can use the academic plans
Elicit has no separate nonprofit discount, but its help center says nonprofits can subscribe to the academic plans, its lowest pricing tier.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Causaly or Elicit?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Causaly has no price we could confirm, and Elicit starts at $49 per user / month, billed annually ($11 on academic pricing).
Which has a free plan, Causaly or Elicit?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Elicit has a free plan. Causaly does not.
Which platforms do Causaly and Elicit run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Elicit lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.