Mapify vs Paperguide (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Paperguide grades higher than Mapify: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Mapify grades higher on value for money. Paperguide grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mapify
Turn PDFs, videos, web pages and audio into AI mind maps
Paperguide
AI research platform for literature and systematic reviews
Which one is for you
Pick Mapify if
- Fits if you think in diagrams and want a map of a long PDF or video
- Works for someone who wants maps on both a phone and a Mac
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 30 credits once and they never refill
- Pricey if you want audio, Deep Research or AI chat, which need Pro at $11.99 a month
- Watch out: credits are used by every AI action, don't carry over and reset monthly
- Watch out: monthly-billing prices appear as crossed-out figures beside the yearly ones
Pick Paperguide if
- Fits if your team runs systematic reviews and needs every screening decision documented
- Works for students and academics, who get 30% off with a university email
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free, with 20 AI searches and 2,000 credits a month, and no systematic reviews or shared workspaces
- Pricey if you need dual-reviewer screening, which sits on Evidence at $89 a seat a month billed annually
- Watch out: every AI feature draws on one monthly credit pool, 12,500 on Plus and 50,000 on Pro
- Skip it if you were counting on image and table extraction, as that's still marked coming soon
- Not for you if you want a phone or desktop app, as only a web app and browser extension are listed
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAMapifyFair | 2.6GPAPaperguideGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BBasic is $5.99 a month billed yearly ($9.99 monthly), inside the research category's cheaper quarter, which starts at $7.50. Pro is $11.99. | CPlus is $12 a seat a month billed annually, or $19 monthly, which is the middle of this category exactly. It does carry systematic reviews of up to 1,000 papers, unlimited AI searches and 12,500 credits a month, and a university email takes 30% off. Dual-reviewer screening is another matter: Evidence, at $89. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe Free plan grants 30 AI credits one time, no card, which the FAQ calls a trial. They don't refill, so it's a taster rather than a plan. | CFree 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, not to run a project on: there are no systematic reviews and no shared workspaces. |
| Features | CMany source types, chat, export and slides. The listing shows audio and image summaries, Deep Research and timestamps as Pro-only, and the Powerful model as not in Basic. | ATwo parts rivals like Elicit and Consensus don't list: screening that ends in a PRISMA diagram with dual-reviewer checking, and a full reference manager with 1,000-plus citation styles. Then AI search across 200 million papers, extraction tables, an agent and a writer. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Credits depend on the model and word count, so you have to learn what an action costs. | CNo store rating on record, and the work is front-loaded: a protocol to define for screening, columns to set up for extraction, and one monthly credit pool that every AI feature draws on. It does import a Zotero or Mendeley library, so your references don't start from nothing. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Chrome extension, iPhone, Android and Mac, with YouTube as the only integration. | BA web app with a browser extension, plus a Search API at 10 requests a month on Free and 500 on Pro. It imports from Zotero and Mendeley and connects to Claude and ChatGPT. No phone or desktop app is listed, so that API is what earns the B. |
| Best for | turning PDFs and videos into mind maps | 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: Mapify and Paperguide. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mapify starts at $5.99 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Paperguide starts at $12 a month for each person and scores 3.0.
Paperguide scores higher, and starts $6.01 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other AI research tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Mapify for less, and none scores higher than Paperguide 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
- Mapify also covers transcription, mind mapping and presentations.
- Paperguide also covers AI search, AI agents, research, citations and long-form writing.
At a glance
| Mapify | Paperguide | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5.99 per month, billed yearly ($9.99 billed monthly) | $12 per seat / month, billed annually ($8 with the academic discount) |
| Free plan | None | 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 | Free plan with 30 AI credits granted once, no credit card needed; credits do not refill. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | SUPERMIND PTE. LIMITED | Paperguide |
| Price read from | mapify.so | paperguide.ai |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Mapify
- Credits are consumed by every AI action, depend on the model and word count, do not carry over, and refresh monthly.
- The Free plan grants 30 credits once, which the FAQ calls a trial, and the Powerful model is not part of Basic.
- Audio and image summaries, Deep Research, timestamps and AI chat need Pro at $11.99 a month on yearly billing.
- The monthly-billing prices appear as crossed-out figures beside the yearly ones on the pricing page.
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
Mapify
- Many source types
- Builds maps from PDFs and documents, YouTube videos, web pages, pasted text, audio and podcast recordings, and images, in more than 30 languages.
- Chat and expand
- Chat with a file or map, search the web to add sources, and grow any branch with one click. AI chat is listed from the Pro plan.
- Video timestamps and transcripts
- Map branches for videos link to key moments, and a full transcript is available.
- Export and slides
- Share by link or export to image, PDF or Markdown, and turn a map into slides.
- Cross-platform sync
- One subscription covers the web, browser extension, and iOS, Android, iPadOS and macOS apps.
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
Mapify
Free$0
30 AI credits granted once: 5 PDF or document maps, 5 YouTube maps, prompt and Markdown maps, and YouTube transcripts.
Basic$5.99
per month, billed yearly ($9.99 billed monthly)
1,000 AI credits a month with the Instant model, PDF and YouTube summaries, editing, export to PDF, Markdown or SVG, and slides.
Pro$11.99
per month, billed yearly ($19.99 billed monthly)
2,000 AI credits a month, the Powerful model, audio and image summaries, Deep Research, files up to 10M words, and AI chat. Listed with a free trial.
Unlimited$17.99
per month, billed yearly ($29.99 billed monthly)
Unlimited AI credits and everything in Pro, plus priority access to new features and priority support. Listed with a free trial.
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
Mapify
- Annual discount
40% off with yearly billing
The Yearly option shows each paid plan 40% below its monthly price, for example $5.99 a month on Basic against $9.99.
- Education
30% off for students and educators
The pricing page says students and educators can get a 30% education discount.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Mapify or Paperguide?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Mapify starts at $5.99 per month, billed yearly ($9.99 billed monthly), and Paperguide starts at $12 per seat / month, billed annually ($8 with the academic discount). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Mapify or Paperguide?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Paperguide has a free plan. Mapify does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Mapify and Paperguide run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Mapify lists macOS, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app and a browser extension. 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.