Iris.ai vs Rayyan (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Rayyan grades higher than Iris.ai: 2.6 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Rayyan grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Rayyan
Systematic review screening with AI relevance predictions
Which one is for you
Pick Iris.ai if
- Fits if your company needs data pulled out of large piles of technical documents
- Makes sense if you're an R&D team happy to buy through a demo
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a price, as none is published and pricing couldn't be verified
- Skip it if you're an individual researcher, since the products are for enterprises
- Watch out: no free tier or trial is listed
- Watch out: no apps or integrations are listed
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
| 1.6GPAIris.aiWeak | 2.6GPARayyanGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is published and every product is sold through a demo request. There is nothing to compare against the category's $10 middle, so it sits at C. | 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 | FNothing free on record: no free plan and no trial. | BFree forever with 3 active reviews, 2 free reviewers, a sample, duplicate detection and AI relevance predictions. One reviewer can live on that. |
| Features | CData extraction, industry templates, an enterprise knowledge engine and R&D search. The listing doesn't show a gap, but it also doesn't show what a single researcher would get. | 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. Deploying on your own data means setup work. | CNo store rating on record. You set up a review, invite reviewers and run the samples. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with no integrations or apps on the listing. | CWeb, with a mobile app mentioned but no platforms listed. SSO and API access are Enterprise only, and no integrations are listed. |
| Best for | enterprise teams turning documents into AI-ready data | 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: Iris.ai and Rayyan. How we grade
Where they differ
- Iris.ai also covers AI agents and documents.
- Rayyan also covers citations.
At a glance
| Iris.ai | Rayyan | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $4.99 per seat / month, billed annually ($8.33 billed quarterly) |
| Free plan | None | Free forever: 3 active reviews, 2 free reviewers, 1 sample, duplicate detection and AI relevance predictions. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Iris.ai AS | Rayyan |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | rayyan.ai |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Iris.ai
- No prices are published; every product is sold through a demo request.
- Pricing could not be verified, so no plan or price is listed.
- Aimed at enterprises, not individual researchers.
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
Iris.ai
- Axion data extraction
- Turns PDFs, reports, images, graphs and tables into structured, machine-readable data.
- Industry schema templates
- Prebuilt structures for legal contracts, patents, clinical trials and financial statements.
- Neuralith
- Described as turning enterprise knowledge into an AI engine, with agentic workflows.
- RSpace
- Described as precision intelligence for complex R&D.
- Deployment on your own data
- The vendor says teams run Iris.ai on their own documents and systems.
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
Iris.ai
Pricing could not be confirmed. See iris.ai.
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
Iris.ai
No public discounts listed.
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, Iris.ai or Rayyan?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Iris.ai has no price we could confirm, and Rayyan starts at $4.99 per seat / month, billed annually ($8.33 billed quarterly).
Which has a free plan, Iris.ai or Rayyan?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Rayyan has a free plan. Iris.ai does not.
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.