Mindgrasp vs Paperguide (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Paperguide grades higher than Mindgrasp: 2.6 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Paperguide grades higher on the free plan and features. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mindgrasp
AI study tool that turns lectures and files into notes and quizzes
Paperguide
AI research platform for literature and systematic reviews
Which one is for you
Pick Mindgrasp if
- Fits if you study from recorded lectures and long PDFs
- Works for students who want flashcards and quizzes built from their own material
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to find or cite papers, since it does not search scholarly literature
- Watch out: the trial length is not stated and the site shows no pricing page
- Not for you if you use Android, as no Android app is listed
- Pricey if you want it monthly at $12.99 or $14.99, against about $8.33 a month on the yearly Scholar plan
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
| 2.0GPAMindgraspFair | 2.6GPAPaperguideGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CScholar is $12.99 a month or $99.99 a year (about $8.33), and Premium is $14.99 a month, all from the App Store listing. Mid-range for the category. | 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 | DA free trial is offered, but its length and whether it needs a card are not stated on the pages read. | 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 | CNotes, summaries, flashcards, quizzes, tutor chat and live lecture recording. It is built for studying, not for scholarly search or citations, and the difference between Scholar and Premium is not stated. | 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, and you upload or record material before it gives you anything. | 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, an iOS app and a Chrome extension, connecting to YouTube and Vimeo. No Android or desktop app is listed. | 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 lectures and files into study notes | 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: Mindgrasp and Paperguide. How we grade
Price against what you get
Mindgrasp starts at $12.99 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 $0.99 a month lower. Of the other AI research tools on the chart, 20 score higher than Mindgrasp 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
- Mindgrasp also covers transcription, notes and documents.
- Paperguide also covers AI search, AI agents, research, citations and long-form writing.
At a glance
| Mindgrasp | Paperguide | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $12.99 per month (Scholar, 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 trial offered; its length is not stated on the pages read | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Mindgrasp, Inc. | Paperguide |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | paperguide.ai |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Mindgrasp
- Mindgrasp's own website shows no pricing page; the prices here come from its iOS App Store listing and may differ on the web.
- It is built for studying, not for searching scholarly literature or managing citations.
- The trial length and the difference between Scholar and Premium are not stated on the pages read.
- The site lists a Chrome extension and an iOS app but no Android or desktop app.
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
Mindgrasp
- Notes and summaries
- Generates structured notes and a short summary from recorded lectures, documents, videos and links.
- Flashcards and quizzes
- Builds flashcards and quizzes from the uploaded material for active recall and self-testing.
- AI tutor chat
- A chat tutor that answers questions about the material in a study session.
- Many input types
- Accepts PDFs, DOCX, MP3, MP4, PowerPoint files, article links, and YouTube and Vimeo links.
- Study sessions
- One session per lecture or topic, with a checklist showing which notes, flashcards and quizzes are done.
- Live lecture recording
- Record a lecture in class and have it turned into study material; the site says 20+ languages are supported.
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
Mindgrasp
Scholar - Monthly$12.99
per month, billed monthly
Entry plan as listed in the iOS App Store; the plan's feature limits are not shown there.
Scholar - Annually$99.99
per year, billed annually
Scholar billed yearly as listed in the App Store, about $8.33 a month.
Premium - Monthly$14.99
per month, billed monthly
Higher tier as listed in the App Store; what it adds over Scholar is not shown there.
Premium - Annually$131.99
per year, billed annually
Premium billed yearly as listed in the App Store, about $11 a month.
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
Mindgrasp
No public discounts listed.
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, Mindgrasp or Paperguide?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Mindgrasp starts at $12.99 per month (Scholar, 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, Mindgrasp or Paperguide?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Paperguide has a free plan. Mindgrasp does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Mindgrasp and Paperguide run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Mindgrasp lists an iOS app. 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.