Citely vs Paperguide (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Citely if

• Fits if you need to check a thesis for invented references before submitting
• Works for labs that screen many papers and would buy the 5,000-credit pack

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay free, as you get two checks per new account
• Pricey if you cram it monthly at $19 for 150 credits and a 4,000-character cap per check
• Watch out: no refund once more than 10 credits are used, and one-time packs are non-refundable
• Too light for managing a library or writing the paper, as it only verifies references

Pick Paperguide if

• Fits if your team runs systematic reviews and needs every screening decision documented
• Works for students and academics, who get 30% off with a university email

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're staying free, with 20 AI searches and 2,000 credits a month, and no systematic reviews or shared workspaces
• Pricey if you need dual-reviewer screening, which sits on Evidence at $89 a seat a month billed annually
• Watch out: every AI feature draws on one monthly credit pool, 12,500 on Plus and 50,000 on Pro
• Skip it if you were counting on image and table extraction, as that's still marked coming soon
• Not for you if you want a phone or desktop app, as only a web app and browser extension are listed

Citely

• Usage runs on credits, and each plan caps how many characters one check can cover.
• Monthly and Yearly plans renew automatically; the refund policy gives no refund once more than 10 credits are used.
• One-time packages are non-refundable and their credits expire after 1 month (Trial) or 3 years (Believer).
• It verifies references but does not manage a library or help write the paper.

Paperguide

• The Free plan has no systematic reviews or shared workspaces and is limited to 20 AI searches and 2,000 AI credits a month.
• AI features draw on a monthly credit pool: 12,500 on Plus, 50,000 on Pro and 150,000 on Evidence.
• Dual-reviewer screening for systematic reviews needs the Evidence plan, at $89 per seat / month billed annually.
• Image and table extraction is marked as coming soon on the pricing page.

Citely

Citation checker

Checks each entry of a reference list and flags fake, mismatched or unverifiable references.

AI-reference checks

Aimed at references produced by ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, including invented DOIs and mixed-up details.

Source finder

Paste a claim or paragraph and get published papers with verified metadata; searches are limited to 300 characters.

Scholarly databases

Verifies against Crossref, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, Google Scholar, PubMed, arXiv, Wanfang and CNKI.

Citation export

Paid plans export citations in APA, MLA and Chicago; the Believer plan adds all formats.

Ten site languages

The site is available in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese and Russian.

Paperguide

AI Search

Ask a research question in plain language and get a synthesized answer drawn from more than 200 million papers, with each claim linked to its source.

Systematic reviews

Screens papers against a predefined protocol with cited evidence for each criterion, then produces verified extraction tables, a report and a PRISMA diagram. Dual-reviewer screening is on the Evidence plan.

Reference manager

Imports from Zotero or Mendeley, or by DOI, URL, PDF, BibTeX or RIS, fetches metadata and open-access PDFs, and formats citations in more than 1,000 styles.

Extract Data

You define the columns and the AI fills them across the selected papers, with every value linked to the statement it came from. Tables export to CSV or Excel.

Research Agent

Investigates a topic across the paper database and your library, answers questions about one or several PDFs, and can generate a literature review of up to 50 papers.

AI Writer

Drafts and edits documents with citations from your library and the paper database, and exports them as Word, PDF or LaTeX files.

Citely

• Trial$9

  one-time, 15 credits valid for 1 month

  For checking one paper; reference checks up to 2,000 characters and basic verification.

• Monthly$19

  per month, billed monthly

  150 credits a month, reference checks up to 4,000 characters, and APA, MLA and Chicago export.

• Yearly$14

  per month, billed annually ($168 a year)

  1,500 credits for the year, the Monthly features and priority support.

• Believer$347

  one-time, 5,000 credits valid for 3 years

  For heavy users and labs; adds all citation formats, dedicated support and professor guidance sessions.

Paperguide

• Free$0

  2,000 AI credits and 20 AI searches a month, 500 MB of reference storage, and extraction tables of up to 10 papers and 5 columns.

• Plus$12

  per seat / month, billed annually ($144); $19 billed monthly

  12,500 AI credits a month, systematic reviews of up to 1,000 papers, unlimited AI searches and reference storage, and shared workspaces.

• Pro$29

  per seat / month, billed annually ($348); $49 billed monthly

  50,000 AI credits a month, systematic reviews of up to 5,000 papers and 500 Search API requests a month.

• Evidence$89

  per seat / month, billed annually ($1,068); $149 billed monthly

  150,000 AI credits a month, PRISMA-grade dual-reviewer screening, a dedicated support channel and 1,500 Search API requests a month.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom AI credits, systematic reviews of up to 20,000 papers, dual-reviewer screening and a dedicated support channel.

Citely

• Annual discount

  Yearly plan at $14 a month

  Billed as $168 a year, which works out to about $14 a month against $19 on the Monthly plan.

Paperguide

• Annual discount

  Save up to 41% with yearly billing

  Billed yearly, Plus is $12 a seat per month against $19 billed monthly, Pro is $29 against $49 and Evidence is $89 against $149. The pricing page labels the saving as 41%.

• Education

  30% academic discount with a university email

  Verifying a university email takes 30% off: Plus becomes $8, Pro $20 and Evidence $62 per seat / month billed yearly, or $13, $34 and $104 billed monthly.