Citely vs Scite (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Citely and Scite share a 2.2 GPA, neither has a free plan, and Citely starts cheaper, at $14 a month against $20 a month.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Citely grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. Scite grades higher on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Citely
Citation checker that flags fake references and finds sources
Scite
Research assistant that shows how papers have been cited
Which one is for you
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 Scite if
- Fits if you need to know whether a finding held up in later research
- Works for researchers who want cited answers inside Claude or ChatGPT through the MCP connector
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there's only a 7-day trial that rolls into a paid one
- Pricey if you need patent, clinical trial or grant search, or Collections past 1,000 papers, which start on Pro at $50 a month
- Tight if you lean on it through Claude or ChatGPT, with 250 MCP credits a month on Basic
- Watch out: annual billing and a Team plan are offered, but their prices couldn't be confirmed
- Not for you if you want a phone or desktop app, as only the web app and a browser extension are listed
How we grade them
| 2.2GPACitelyFair | 2.2GPASciteFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CYearly is $14 a month, at the category's dearer-quarter line, and Monthly is $19. Believer is $347 one-time. | DBasic is $20 a month billed monthly, which lands in the dearest tenth of a category whose middle is $10. Unlimited Assistant queries, full-text search and citation alerts are in. Patents, clinical trials, grants and Collections past 1,000 papers need Pro at $50. Annual billing exists at a price we couldn't confirm. |
| Free plan and trial | CTwo free checks per new account, with no card. After that it is the $9 Trial or a subscription. | DNo free plan at all. New users get a 7-day trial, and it rolls into whichever plan you chose at sign-up unless you cancel first, so your card is in from the start. Set a reminder if you're only looking! |
| Features | CCitation checker and source finder with APA, MLA and Chicago export. It does that job fully, but it is a smaller job: no library and no writing help. | AScite's citation reports show whether later papers supported a finding, contrasted it or only mentioned it, with the context around each one, and nothing else in this category does that. The Assistant links every claim to a sentence, and search runs inside 280 million full-text articles under publisher agreements. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record. Paste your references and run a check, with nothing to set up. | CNo store rating on record. The browser extension is the easy part, putting Scite's citation counts beside papers on Google Scholar and PubMed. The rest asks more of you: no free plan to practice on, Collections with size caps to watch, and MCP use running on a monthly credit count. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with scholarly databases behind it. No API or apps are listed. | BA web app and a browser extension, plus a Zotero plugin, an API and an MCP connector that runs Scite inside Claude and ChatGPT. MCP use is capped at 250 credits a month on Basic. No phone or desktop app is listed, so those connectors are what earn the B. |
| Best for | checking a paper's references for fakes | checking if a paper's findings held up |
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: Citely and Scite. How we grade
Price against what you get
Citely starts at $14 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Scite starts at $20 a month and scores 3.0.
Scite scores higher, and starts $6 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI research tools on the chart, 20 score higher than Citely for less, and none scores higher than Scite 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
- Scite also covers chat assistant.
At a glance
| Citely | Scite | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $14 per month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly) | $20 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Two free checks per new account, no credit card required | 7-day free trial for new users; it rolls into the plan chosen at sign-up unless canceled first. |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Citely | Scite LLC (Research Solutions) |
| Price read from | citely.ai | scite.ai |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Scite
- No free plan is listed; after the 7-day trial a paid subscription is needed.
- The pricing page also offers annual billing and a Team plan for labs; those prices could not be confirmed in page text and are left out here.
- Patent, clinical trial and grant search and Collections above 1,000 papers need the Pro plan.
- MCP use is capped by monthly credits: 250 on Basic and 2,500 on Pro.
Key features
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.
Scite
- Smart Citations
- Shows how later research has cited a paper: whether the citing statements support, contrast or simply mention its findings, with the surrounding context.
- Scite Assistant
- Answers questions from the scientific literature and links every claim back to the specific sentence in the paper it came from.
- Full-text search
- Searches inside more than 280 million full-text articles under agreements with Wiley, SAGE and 30+ other publishers, alongside preprints, books, patents and datasets.
- Collections and citation alerts
- Group papers into Collections of up to 1,000 papers on Basic or 10,000 on Pro, and get alerts about new citations.
- Browser extension
- Adds Smart Citation counts to paper listings on Google Scholar, PubMed and publisher sites. Clicking a badge opens the full Scite report.
- MCP, Zotero and API access
- Runs inside Claude, ChatGPT and other MCP-compatible assistants, plugs into Zotero and offers an API for teams building their own tools.
Plans
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.
Scite
Basic$20
per month, billed monthly
Unlimited Assistant queries, full-text search, Smart Citation reports, citation alerts, 250 MCP credits a month and Collections of up to 1,000 papers.
Pro$50
per month, billed monthly
Everything in Basic, plus 2,500 MCP credits a month, Collections of up to 10,000 papers, and search across patents, clinical trials and grants.
EnterpriseCustom
For organizations and universities: unlimited users with pooled usage, SAML/SSO, access by domain, IP or email, and regulatory and safety datasets.
Ways to pay less
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.
Scite
- Education
Student and academic discount on request
The pricing FAQ says students and academics who recommend Scite to their institution by email, copying Scite's sales and support addresses, are sent a discount code. The amount is not stated.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Citely or Scite?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Citely is cheaper to start with: $14 a month, against $20 a month for Scite. Citely starts at $14 per month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly), and Scite starts at $20 per month, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Citely or Scite?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Citely nor Scite has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
Which platforms do Citely and Scite run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Scite 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.