Elicit vs Keenious

Elicit

• Researchers running systematic reviews with screening and data extraction
• Finding papers from a research question instead of exact keywords
• Teams that need cited evidence reports to support a decision

Keenious

• Students looking for sources that match a draft essay or assignment
• Writers who want paper recommendations inside Word or Google Docs
• Researchers searching for literature across languages and disciplines
• Universities that want campus-wide access linked to library holdings

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.

Keenious

• The free plan allows 3 conversations a day with 5 AI responses each, and PDF uploads stop at 3 MB.
• Keenious Plus has no free trial, and the pricing FAQ says early cancellations are not refunded.
• Uploaded files and conversations are deleted automatically after 1 day.
• The site lists a web app and add-ins for Microsoft Word and Google Docs, but no mobile or desktop apps.

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.

Keenious

Search from your own text

Type a question, paste text or upload a PDF, and Keenious returns related papers. Results are retrieved from its index by meaning and keyword ranking; they are not written by a language model.

Chat about papers

Chat explains methods, statistics and terminology, including text you highlight in a paper. It runs on Google's Gemini 3.5 Flash, and there is no choice of model.

Search map

Shows each result as a dot placed by meaning, colored by research area and sized by citation count. Selecting an area filters the map and the list together.

Word and Google Docs add-ins

Keenious runs as a sidebar in Microsoft Word and Google Docs, so related research appears beside the document being written.

Search across languages

The site says Keenious can be used in nearly 100 languages, and a question in one language can find research written in another.

Bookmarks and citation export

Papers can be bookmarked, and results or bookmarks exported as citations for a reference manager; the help center points EndNote users to the RIS format.

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$169

  per user / month, billed annually ($2,028); $279 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.

Keenious

• Free$0

  All search results, 5 AI responses per conversation, 3 conversations a day and a 3 MB file upload limit.

• Plus for Individuals$10

  per month, billed annually ($120); $45 quarterly or $20 monthly

  Unlimited conversations and responses, export of all results in formats such as RIS and BibTeX, and 20 MB file uploads.

• Plus for Teams$20

  per user / month, billed annually ($240); $90 quarterly or $40 monthly

  All Plus features with an admin console, centralized billing, two-factor authentication and dedicated support.

• InstitutionsCustom

  Access for all students and faculty with SSO, SAML or IP-based access, library collection links and a data processing agreement.

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 $169 against $279. 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.

Keenious

• Annual discount

  Annual billing is half the monthly rate

  The pricing page's price data lists Plus for Individuals at $120 a year, $45 a quarter or $20 a month, and Plus for Teams at $240, $90 or $40 per user.

• Education

  30% off annual billing for students

  The pricing FAQ offers students a 30% annual discount. They email the verification address from their institution's email account and receive a discount code.