Elicit vs Rayyan (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Elicit: it is first in our ranking of AI research tools, though Rayyan grades higher (2.6 against 2.4) on value for money.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Elicit grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and 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
Rayyan
Systematic review screening with AI relevance predictions
Which one is for you
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
Pick Rayyan if
- Fits if you're a student or researcher screening for a review without a budget
- Works for small review teams that need the duplicate check and AI ranking
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 3 active reviews and 2 free reviewers
- Pricey if you're an institution, as ResearchPilot AI is Business at $2,500 a year from 5 licenses
- Watch out: PRISMA diagrams need Essential, and PICO extraction needs Advanced
- Watch out: SSO and API access are on the Enterprise plan only
- Watch out: the mobile app is limited on Free, and its platforms aren't listed
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAElicitFair | 2.6GPARayyanGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | BEssential is $4.99 a seat a month billed yearly, and Advanced is $8.33. That's in the cheapest quarter, which starts at $7.50 for the category. Business is $41.67 per license, from 5 licenses. |
| Free plan and 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. | BFree forever with 3 active reviews, 2 free reviewers, a sample, duplicate detection and AI relevance predictions. One reviewer can live on that. |
| Features | 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. | BScreening, duplicate detection, team samples, PRISMA diagrams, PICO extraction and risk-of-bias tools. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in screening itself, but PRISMA and PICO sit on paid plans. |
| Ease of 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. | CNo store rating on record. You set up a review, invite reviewers and run the samples. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | CWeb, with a mobile app mentioned but no platforms listed. SSO and API access are Enterprise only, and no integrations are listed. |
| Best for | systematic reviews and evidence tables | screening papers for systematic reviews |
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 Rayyan. How we grade
Price against what you get
Elicit starts at $49 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Rayyan starts at $4.99 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Elicit scores higher, and starts $44.01 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI research tools on the chart, 6 score higher than Elicit for less, and 2 score higher than Rayyan 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
- Elicit also covers AI search and AI agents.
At a glance
| Elicit | Rayyan | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $49 per user / month, billed annually ($11 on academic pricing) | $4.99 per seat / month, billed annually ($8.33 billed quarterly) |
| 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. | Free forever: 3 active reviews, 2 free reviewers, 1 sample, duplicate detection and AI relevance predictions. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Elicit Research, PBC | Rayyan |
| Price read from | elicit.com | rayyan.ai |
| Checked | Nov 9, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
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.
Rayyan
- The free plan stops at 3 active reviews and 2 invited free reviewers.
- ResearchPilot AI, 250 reviewers and organization-wide management need the Business / Academic plan, sold from 5 licenses.
- SSO / SAML and API access are listed only on the Enterprise plan.
- The site mentions a mobile app, but the pages read do not say which platforms it covers.
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.
Rayyan
- Screening with AI relevance predictions
- Reviewers include or exclude references while the tool predicts relevance. Every plan, including the free one, lists AI relevance predictions.
- Duplicate detection
- Duplicate detection is on every plan. Auto-resolving duplicates is listed from the Essential plan up.
- Team workbench and samples
- Reviews can be divided between team members and randomized into samples, with more than 15 workbench facets for analyzing decisions.
- PRISMA diagrams and PICO extraction
- PRISMA flow diagrams start on Essential. Advanced adds AI extraction of PICO data.
- Risk-of-bias tools
- The Advanced plan lists the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, and the site announces a Risk of Bias feature.
- ResearchPilot for institutions
- The Business / Academic plan and above include ResearchPilot, which the site describes as AI search, screening and extraction for institutions.
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$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.
Rayyan
Free$0
3 active reviews, 2 free reviewers, 1 sample, limited mobile app access, duplicate detection and AI relevance predictions.
Essential$4.99
per seat / month, billed annually ($8.33 billed quarterly)
Adds PRISMA flow diagrams, 5 free reviewers, auto-resolved duplicates and unlimited mobile app access.
Advanced$8.33
per seat / month, billed annually ($13.33 billed quarterly)
9 active reviews, 10 free reviewers, unlimited samples, AI extraction of PICO data, priority support and extra risk-of-bias tools.
Business / Academic$41.67
per license / month, billed annually
Starts at 5 licenses ($2,500 a year), sold through sales. Adds ResearchPilot AI, 250 free reviewers and 50 organization-wide reviews.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited reviews, SSO / SAML, API access, a management console and dedicated support.
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 $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.
Rayyan
- Annual discount
Save up to 40% with annual billing
The pricing page says annual plans save up to 40% against quarterly billing; Essential is $4.99 a seat annually against $8.33 quarterly.
- Education
Discounts for academic institutions
The pricing page notes that discounts are available for academics on the Business / Academic plan.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Elicit or Rayyan?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Rayyan is cheaper to start with: $4.99 a month for each person, against $49 a month for each person for Elicit. Elicit starts at $49 per user / month, billed annually ($11 on academic pricing), and Rayyan starts at $4.99 per seat / month, billed annually ($8.33 billed quarterly).
Which has a free plan, Elicit or Rayyan?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Elicit and Rayyan have a free plan.
Which platforms do Elicit and Rayyan 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.