Paperguide vs Undermind
We give Paperguide and Undermind the same GPA: 3.2 out of 4.0. They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Paperguide
AI research platform for literature and systematic reviews
Undermind
AI literature search agent that reads hundreds of papers
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAPaperguideVery good | 3.2GPAUndermindVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPlus is $12 a seat a month billed annually, or $19 monthly, which is right at typical. It includes systematic reviews of up to 1,000 papers, unlimited AI searches and 12,500 AI credits a month. A university email takes 30% off, making it $8. Dual-reviewer screening is another matter: that's Evidence at $89. | BAt the academic rate, Pro is $16 a month billed annually or $20 monthly, a little over typical for the category. It adds full-text analysis, the newest AI models and 10x higher usage limits. The industry rate is another world: $60 a month billed annually for the same Pro. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree 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. There are no systematic reviews or shared workspaces on it, though. | BFree includes chat, deep searches, reports, shared workspaces and agent connections, which is a lot of the product. But its rate limits are only called standard, with no numbers given. And free searches cover abstracts and metadata, not full texts. |
| Features | ASearch that answers from more than 200 million papers with each claim linked to its source, a reference manager with more than 1,000 citation styles, tables that pull the same data points out of many papers, a research agent and a writer. The systematic review workflow ends in a PRISMA diagram. | AA deep search reads and evaluates hundreds of papers from a database of over 200 million, follows citation trails and comes back with a report whose statements carry in-line citations. Then you can chat with an assistant grounded in those papers, build custom tables and get alerts when new work is published. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. You ask in plain language, and it imports a Zotero or Mendeley library, so starting is painless. Credits are the thing to learn, since the AI features all draw on one monthly pool. | BNo App Store rating on record, so B is as high as we go. You describe your research in plain language and answer a few follow-up questions. Then you wait: a typical deep search takes about 2 minutes, so it isn't instant. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web app with a browser extension. It imports from Zotero and Mendeley, connects to Claude and ChatGPT, and has a Search API with 10 requests a month on Free and 500 on Pro. No phone or desktop app is listed. | BA web app, with an MCP server so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and VS Code can run Undermind searches for you. Connecting agents is included in the Free plan. No phone or desktop app is on the listing. |
| Best for | search, references and reviews in one workspace | hard questions keyword search can't crack |
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: Paperguide and Undermind. How we grade
Where they differ
- Paperguide starts at $12 per seat / month, billed annually ($8 with the academic discount). Undermind starts at $16 per month, billed annually, at the academic rate ($60 for industry).
- Only Paperguide lists a browser extension.
- Paperguide also covers long-form writing.
At a glance
| Paperguide | Undermind | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $12 per seat / month, billed annually ($8 with the academic discount) | $16 per month, billed annually, at the academic rate ($60 for industry) |
| Free plan | 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. | Chat, deep searches and reports with standard rate limits, shared workspaces and agent connections. Searches cover abstracts and metadata, not full texts. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Paperguide | Undermind AI, Inc. |
| Price read from | paperguide.ai | undermind.ai |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Paperguide
- Teams running systematic reviews that need documented screening decisions
- Researchers who want search, references and writing in one workspace
- Students and academics, who get 30% off with a university email
- Pulling the same data points out of many papers into one table
Undermind
- Complex research questions where keyword search misses relevant papers
- Academics, who pay $16 a month on annual billing instead of the $60 industry rate
- People who want literature search inside Claude, ChatGPT or a coding agent
- R&D teams tracking new publications in specific technical areas
Worth knowing
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.
Undermind
- Free-tier searches read abstracts and metadata only; full-text search of open-access papers and preprints needs Pro.
- Industry pricing is far higher than academic: Pro is $60 a month billed annually against $16.
- A deep search typically takes about 2 minutes to finish, so results are not instant.
- Charges are non-refundable once a billing period has begun, except where the law requires a refund.
Key features
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.
Undermind
- Deep literature search
- You describe a research goal in plain language and answer follow-up questions. Undermind then reads and evaluates hundreds of papers and follows citation trails; a typical search takes about 2 minutes.
- Reports with in-line citations
- Findings come back as a report in which statements carry in-line citations that lead to the source paper, alongside a paper list you can sort and filter to judge relevance.
- Chat and custom tables
- After a search you can brainstorm with an assistant grounded in the papers it found, extract details from full texts and generate custom tables.
- Alerts for new papers
- Undermind keeps track of your areas of interest and notifies you when relevant papers are published.
- Agent connections over MCP
- An MCP server lets assistants and coding agents such as Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and VS Code run Undermind searches. Connecting agents is included in the Free plan.
- Full-text search on Pro
- The Free tier searches abstracts and metadata. Pro adds compute to search the full texts of nearly all open-access and preprint articles.
Plans
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.
Undermind
Free$0
Chat, deep searches and reports with standard rate limits, shared workspaces and agent connections over MCP.
Pro (Academic)$16
per month, billed annually ($192); $20 billed monthly
The newest AI models, full-text analysis, 10x higher usage limits, and unlimited workspaces, files and paper libraries.
Pro (Industry)$60
per month, billed annually ($720); $75 billed monthly
The same Pro features at the industry rate.
Team (Academic)$15
per person / month, billed annually; $18.70 billed monthly
From 3 seats. Pro features plus member management, priority support and central billing. Falls to $12.50 per person at 60 or more seats.
Team (Industry)$60
per person / month, billed annually; $75 billed monthly
From 3 seats at the industry rate, with member management, priority support and central billing.
EnterpriseCustom
Increased compute, sitewide organizational login, an admin dashboard, onboarding seminars, and custom terms, SLA and security review.
Ways to pay less
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.
Undermind
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
Pro is $16 a month billed annually against $20 billed monthly at the academic rate, and $60 against $75 at the industry rate. The pricing section labels this a 20% saving.
- Education
Academic pricing from $16 a month
Choosing Academic in the pricing section shows Pro at $16 a month billed annually or $20 billed monthly, against $60 and $75 under Industry.
- Other savings
Volume pricing on academic Team plans
On annual billing the academic Team price per person is $15 for 3 to 10 seats, $14.17 for 11 to 25, $13.33 for 30 to 50 and $12.50 for 60 to 200.
