OpenRead vs SciSpace
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
OpenRead
AI platform for searching, reading and comparing papers
SciSpace
AI research platform for literature review and reading papers
Where they differ
- Only SciSpace lists an iOS app.
- Only SciSpace lists a browser extension.
- OpenRead also covers notes.
- SciSpace also covers AI agents and citations.
At a glance
| OpenRead | SciSpace | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $12 per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | The homepage shows a Free label on its AI tools and a separate Pro option; what the free plan includes could not be confirmed. | Third-party listings report a free tier, but its current limits could not be read: SciSpace's site turned automated readers away, and the archived pricing data covers paid plans only. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | OpenRead, Inc. | PubGenius Inc. |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | web.archive.org (not the vendor's own page) |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
OpenRead
- Readers who want paper search, questions and notes in one place
- Comparing the findings of several papers side by side
- Keeping up with newly published and trending papers
SciSpace
- Students and researchers who want search, reading and writing tools in one place
- Getting plain-language explanations of dense papers, equations and tables
- Research teams of 2 to 300 people billed per user
Worth knowing
OpenRead
- Plan prices and free-plan limits are not recorded: the pricing and FAQ pages were behind a browser security check when this entry was researched.
- The homepage links only to the web app; it lists no mobile apps or browser extension.
SciSpace
- SciSpace's site blocked automated reading, so prices come from an Internet Archive copy of its pricing page captured on September 30, 2026.
- The limits of the free tier could not be confirmed on a SciSpace page.
- Paid plans meter usage in monthly credits: 1,200 on Premium, 10,000 on Advanced and 40,000 or more on Max.
- The mobile app is listed for iPhone and iPad; no Android app was found on Google Play (US) when checked.
Key features
OpenRead
- Paper and web search
- AI search runs over papers or the open web. The homepage says new papers arrive every 5 minutes from more than 20,000 journals.
- Paper Compare
- Sets several papers side by side to compare their findings and spot contradictions, with options such as an expert review or a comparison of frameworks.
- Reading tools
- The reading view brings together Paper Espresso, Paper Q&A, a Related Paper Graph and note taking, so a paper can be read and annotated in one place.
- Oat chat assistant
- Oat, short for OpenRead AI Technology, is a chat assistant with a choice of AI models plus web access, diagram drawing and image editing.
- Trending papers
- A trending page lists the papers that other readers on the platform are opening most.
SciSpace
- Literature Review
- Ask a research question in plain language and get answers drawn from a repository of more than 270 million papers, each with references to its sources.
- Chat with PDF
- Ask questions about a paper or PDF and get answers backed by citations that point to where in the source they came from.
- SciSpace Agent and Biomedical Agent
- Agents take on research tasks and draw on the plan's monthly credits. Each plan also caps how many tasks run at once: 4 on Premium, 8 on Advanced and 16 on Max.
- Writing and citation tools
- AI Writer, Paraphraser and AI Detector sit beside a Citation Generator that formats references in APA, MLA and more than 2,300 other styles.
- Extract Data
- Pulls the summary, conclusions and findings out of several PDFs at once so papers can be compared side by side.
- Chrome extension
- Explains highlighted text, math and tables on any web page or PDF, answers follow-up questions with citations and replies in 13 languages.
Plans
OpenRead
Pricing could not be confirmed. See openread.academy.
SciSpace
Premium$12
per month, billed annually ($144); $20 billed monthly
1,200 credits a month and up to 4 concurrent tasks.
Teams (Premium)$15
per user / month, billed annually ($180); $25 billed monthly
For 2 to 300 users, each with 1,200 credits a month and up to 4 concurrent tasks.
Advanced$70
per month, billed annually ($840); $90 billed monthly
10,000 credits a month and up to 8 concurrent tasks.
Teams (Advanced)$75
per user / month, billed annually ($900); $100 billed monthly
For 2 to 300 users, each with 10,000 credits a month and up to 8 concurrent tasks.
MaxFrom $160
per month, billed annually ($1,920); from $200 billed monthly
Priced by credit tier, from 40,000 credits a month up to 300,000, with up to 16 concurrent tasks.
Teams (Max)$175
per user / month, billed annually ($2,100); $220 billed monthly
For 2 to 300 users, each with 40,000 credits a month and up to 16 concurrent tasks.
Ways to pay less
OpenRead
No public discounts listed.
SciSpace
- Annual discount
Save 20% to 40% with annual billing
Annual billing brings Premium from $20 to $12 a month (40% off), Advanced from $90 to $70 (22% off) and the entry Max tier from $200 to $160 (20% off).
