Elicit

Freemium

Elicit is a research assistant built for people who need to find and make sense of academic papers. It searches across more than 138 million papers and clinical trials, then pulls out the parts you need into organized tables.

You type a question. It fetches relevant papers. It extracts methods, findings, and sample sizes into rows you can scan and compare.

It sits in the research category. Think literature reviews, systematic reviews, and evidence synthesis. Not quick web searches or casual reading.

Open it if you need to compare findings across dozens of papers. Skip it if you want summaries of news, blogs, or books.

These are the people who actually get their time back.

• Literature reviews requiring cross-paper comparison: You see methods and findings side by side. No more flipping between PDFs to check sample sizes.
• Students needing structured extraction from multiple sources: You get a table of sources with your chosen fields filled in. It builds your evidence base for you.
• Zotero users wanting integrated workflows: You import your existing library straight in on the free tier. Your sources and Elicit's search live together.
• Researchers needing broad literature search: You access 138 million papers in one query. The semantic search catches papers keyword search misses.
• Users with complex scientific questions requiring synthesis: It pulls findings from multiple papers into one view. You see patterns instead of reading one by one.

These are the parts that keep you coming back.

• Free tier with real depth: You get unlimited search, source-attributed chat, and Zotero import without paying. Students can run full searches before deciding to upgrade.
• Structured extraction tables: You pick what fields you want—sample size, methods, outcomes—and Elicit fills them from each paper. Scrolling beats opening fifty PDFs.
• Cross-paper synthesis without paywall: You compare findings across papers on the free tier. Competitors often lock this behind higher tiers.
• Source-attributed answers: Every claim in chat shows which paper it came from. You verify before you cite, but you find the claim faster.
• Academic pricing available: Plus runs about $11 per user monthly when billed yearly. Pro at roughly $39 unlocks systematic review screening of 5,000 papers.

These limits catch people who expect something else.

• Large systematic reviews need Pro: Screening 5,000 papers sits on the $39 tier. Free and Plus hit walls on big projects.
• Extraction needs human checking: You get the table fast. You still verify methods and findings before citing. It speeds the search, not the final check.
• No mobile app: You work on laptop or desktop. Small screens make table work painful.
• Not built for lecture slides or quizzes: You convert papers to study tools better in NotebookLM or Studley. Elicit stays in research mode.