Elicit vs Paperguide
We give Elicit and Paperguide the same GPA: 3.2 out of 4.0. Elicit grades higher on the free plan. Paperguide grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
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
Paperguide
AI research platform for literature and systematic reviews
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAElicitVery good | 3.2GPAPaperguideVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro is $49 a user a month billed annually, or $75 monthly, in a category where paid plans usually start around $12. Academics and nonprofits get a Plus plan at $11, but the systematic review workflow, Routines and the API all start at Pro, which is $39 even for them. Unused usage doesn't roll over. | BPlus is $12 a seat a month billed annually, or $19 monthly, which is right at typical. It includes systematic reviews of up to 1,000 papers, unlimited AI searches and 12,500 AI credits a month. A university email takes 30% off, making it $8. Dual-reviewer screening is another matter: that's Evidence at $89. |
| Free plan and trial | ABasic is free with unlimited search over 138 million papers, unlimited summaries and unlimited chat with papers, plus Zotero import. Plenty of people could stop here. The Research Agent and reports are limited on Basic, and the listing can't say by how much. | BFree gives you 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. Enough to learn the tool. There are no systematic reviews or shared workspaces on it, though. |
| Features | ASearch that works from a question, across papers and about 545,000 clinical trials. A Research Agent that produces cited reports, tables and figures. A systematic review workflow that screens 5,000 papers on Pro, and Routines that rerun your research to catch new evidence. That's the full job. | ASearch that answers from more than 200 million papers with each claim linked to its source, a reference manager with more than 1,000 citation styles, tables that pull the same data points out of many papers, a research agent and a writer. The systematic review workflow ends in a PRISMA diagram. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. You start from a research question, not a keyword string. Watch the pricing page, though: it opens on industry rates, and the $11 plan only shows once you pick Academic. | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. You ask in plain language, and it imports a Zotero or Mendeley library, so starting is painless. Credits are the thing to learn, since the AI features all draw on one monthly pool. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web app with a Chrome extension that fetches full texts through your institution's journal access. It takes in papers from Zotero, PDFs and .ris or .bib files, and there's an API from Pro up. No phone or desktop app is listed. | BA web app with a browser extension. It imports from Zotero and Mendeley, connects to Claude and ChatGPT, and has a Search API with 10 requests a month on Free and 500 on Pro. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | systematic reviews and evidence tables | search, references and reviews in one workspace |
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: Elicit and Paperguide. How we grade
Where they differ
- Elicit starts at $49 per user / month, billed annually ($11 on academic pricing). Paperguide starts at $12 per seat / month, billed annually ($8 with the academic discount).
- Paperguide also covers chat assistant and long-form writing.
At a glance
| Elicit | Paperguide | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $49 per user / month, billed annually ($11 on academic pricing) | $12 per seat / month, billed annually ($8 with the academic discount) |
| Free plan | Basic plan: unlimited search over 138 million papers, unlimited paper summaries and chat with papers, Zotero import, and limited Research Agent and report usage. | 2,000 AI credits and 20 AI searches a month, 500 MB of reference storage, extraction tables of up to 10 papers and 5 columns, and 10 Search API requests a month. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Elicit Research, PBC | Paperguide |
| Price read from | elicit.com | paperguide.ai |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Paperguide
- Teams running systematic reviews that need documented screening decisions
- Researchers who want search, references and writing in one workspace
- Students and academics, who get 30% off with a university email
- Pulling the same data points out of many papers into one table
Worth knowing
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.
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.
Key features
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.
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.
Plans
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.
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.
Ways to pay less
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.
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.
