# R Discovery > Paper discovery app with an AI assistant, PDF chat and audio R Discovery is a literature search and reading app from Cactus Communications. It offers a personalized feed of papers, an AI assistant that answers questions with references from more than 300 million papers, PDF chat, a literature review workflow, and audio and translated versions of papers. It runs on the web, on iOS and Android and as a Chrome extension, and a second paid plan, Paperpal Prime, bundles it with Paperpal writing tools and Mind the Graph illustrations. - **Category:** AI Research Tools - **Made by:** Cactus Communications - **Website:** https://discovery.researcher.life - **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android, Browser extension - **Facts last checked:** Oct 5, 2026 ## Pricing R Discovery has a free plan. Paid plans start at $69 per year, or $12 billed monthly (US prices). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Standard recommendations, 3 AI Assistant uses a day, 3 Chat PDF uses a day with 5 file uploads a month, and limited audio and translation. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | Standard recommendations, 3 AI Assistant uses a day, and 3 Chat PDF uses a day with 5 file uploads a month. No credit card required. | | Prime | $69 per year (shown as $6 a month, billed yearly); $12 billed monthly | Unlimited AI Assistant, Chat PDF and Literature Review, literature maps and Zotero or Mendeley sync. Crossed-out prices: $119 a year and $19 a month. | | Paperpal Prime | $144 per year (shown as $12 a month, billed yearly); $25 billed monthly | Everything in Prime plus Paperpal writing tools, plagiarism and reference checks, Mind the Graph illustrations and research skill courses. | Read from https://discovery.researcher.life/prime on Oct 5, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with R Discovery before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Yearly billing costs about half of monthly** (Annual discount): In the US price data, Prime is $69 a year against $12 a month, and Paperpal Prime is $144 a year against $25 a month. Both work out to about 52% less over a year. Source: https://discovery.researcher.life/prime ## Key features - **Ask R Discovery:** An AI assistant that answers research questions with references drawn from more than 300 million papers. Free accounts get 3 uses a day. - **Chat PDF:** Upload a paper, or pick one already on R Discovery, and ask questions about it. The free plan allows 3 uses a day and 5 file uploads a month. - **Literature Review:** Finds relevant papers and synthesizes findings, gaps and themes across them. The feature page says it is available only on a desktop or laptop. - **Personalized feed and alerts:** A feed of papers matched to chosen interests, with alerts for new publications in a field. Personalized recommendations and curated content feeds are part of Prime. - **Audio papers and translation:** Listen to papers read aloud and read them in more than 30 languages. Use is limited on the free plan and unlimited on Prime. - **Library and reference manager sync:** Save papers to reading lists. Prime syncs those lists to Zotero or Mendeley automatically and lets collaborators share them. ## Good for - Researchers who want a daily feed of new papers in their field - Reading on a phone: the iOS and Android apps include audio versions of papers - Readers who want papers translated into their own language - Paperpal users who want search and writing tools on one subscription ## Worth knowing - Free accounts get 3 AI Assistant uses and 3 Chat PDF uses a day, with 5 file uploads a month. - Literature maps, content feeds, multiple projects and Zotero or Mendeley sync are listed for paid plans only. - The site bills in local currencies, so prices vary by country. The US prices here are from the pricing page's own price data and agree with the US App Store listing. - Refunds are limited to 30 days after purchase on annual plans and 7 days on monthly plans. ## What people say - **App Store rating of the iPhone and iPad app:** 4.8 out of 5 from 921 ratings in the United States, read Oct 5, 2026. This is the store's rating of the app, not a score from ToolGPA. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1508182175 ## Works with Zotero, Mendeley, ChatGPT, GetFTR, LibKey, Paperpal, Mind the Graph **Tags:** Research, AI search, Chat assistant, Citations ## Alternatives - [Semantic Scholar](https://toolgpa.com/tools/semantic-scholar): Free AI-powered search engine for scientific literature. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/r-discovery-vs-semantic-scholar) - [SciSpace](https://toolgpa.com/tools/scispace): AI research platform for literature review and reading papers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/r-discovery-vs-scispace) - [Consensus](https://toolgpa.com/tools/consensus): AI search engine that answers questions from peer-reviewed papers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/consensus-vs-r-discovery) - [ResearchRabbit](https://toolgpa.com/tools/researchrabbit): Literature discovery tool that maps how papers connect. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/r-discovery-vs-researchrabbit) - [Paperguide](https://toolgpa.com/tools/paperguide): AI research platform for literature and systematic reviews. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/paperguide-vs-r-discovery) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 5, 2026: - https://discovery.researcher.life/prime - https://researcher.life/api/subscription/v1/get-pack-details?pack_machine_name=discovery-yearly¤cy=USD&user_country=us - https://researcher.life/api/subscription/v1/get-pack-details?pack_machine_name=discovery-monthly¤cy=USD&user_country=us - https://researcher.life/api/subscription/v1/get-pack-details?pack_machine_name=paperpal-prime¤cy=USD&user_country=us - https://researcher.life/api/subscription/v1/get-pack-details?pack_machine_name=paperpal-prime-monthly¤cy=USD&user_country=us - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/r-discovery-academic-research/id1508182175 - https://discovery.researcher.life - https://discovery.researcher.life/chrome-extension - https://discovery.researcher.life/literature-review - https://discovery.researcher.life/ask-rdiscovery Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/r-discovery Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).