Compare AI tools for research work
The best AI tools for research vary by what you need to search and how you use the results. Each row shows the free plan, price, stated limits and sources searched, based on vendor pages.
The fact matrix
Read each row by matching its research task, free access, price, limits and search coverage to your needs. Under each cell is the vendor page we read and the date. The order of the rows is not a ranking.
| Tool | Free plan | Price | Stated limits | What it searches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NotebookLM (shown on Google's pages as Gemini Notebook)Google | Yes. Google's help page says the standard tier is free of charge with a Gmail account. support.google.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | First paid tier is through Google AI Plus at US$4.99/month (US subscriptions page); Google AI Pro is US$19.99/month. gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 | Free tier: 100 notebooks per user, up to 50 sources per notebook, 50 chats/day, 3 Audio Overviews/day. Plus: 200 notebooks, 100 sources per notebook, 200 chats/day. Google says limits may change. support.google.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Answers are grounded in the files and sources you add; Source Discovery and Deep Research can find new material. notebooklm.google checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| ElicitElicit | Yes. The Basic plan is free, with unlimited paper search, summaries and chat with papers, and limited Research Agent and Research Reports usage. elicit.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Plus is US$11 per user/month, billed as US$132 annually; Pro is US$39 per user/month billed annually. Month-to-month prices were not in the text read. elicit.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Free: limited Research Agent and Research Reports usage. Plus: add 5 table columns at a time, standard usage. The systematic review workflow (screens 5,000 papers) starts at Pro. elicit.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Elicit says it searches over 138 million academic papers and 545,000 clinical trials. elicit.com checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| ConsensusConsensus | Yes. Free is US$0/month with basic paper search, 10 Pro messages per month and up to 3 Deep reviews per month. consensus.app checked 2 Oct 2026 | Pro is shown as US$12/month, US$144 annually (annual billing); Deep is US$45/month, US$540 annually. consensus.app checked 2 Oct 2026 | Free: 10 Pro messages and up to 3 Deep reviews per month. Pro: unlimited Pro messages, 15 Deep reviews per month, 500 API & MCP uses per month. consensus.app checked 2 Oct 2026 | Consensus says it draws on 250M+ research papers, including licensed full text from publishers (another line on the same page says 220M+ peer-reviewed papers). consensus.app checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| SciteScite (Research Solutions) | Limited. The free Connect plan gives MCP access for use in other AI tools but no Assistant or Search access; paid plans start with a 7-day free trial. scite.ai checked 2 Oct 2026 | Basic is US$20/month, billed yearly; Pro is US$50/month, billed yearly. Month-to-month prices were not in the text read. scite.ai checked 2 Oct 2026 | Basic: 250 MCP credits/month and collections up to 1,000 papers. Pro: 2,500 MCP credits/month and collections up to 10,000 papers. scite.ai checked 2 Oct 2026 | Scite says it searches 300M+ articles, preprints, books, patents and datasets, with agreements across 44+ publishers plus open access content. scite.ai checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| SciSpaceSciSpace (PubGenius Inc.) | Not verified Not verified: the pricing page read lists only paid plans (Premium, Advanced, Max) and does not describe a free plan. scispace.com tried 2 Oct 2026 | Premium is shown as US$12/month billed annually, next to a US$20 figure; the page did not label which is the month-to-month price. scispace.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Premium: 1,200 monthly credits and up to 4 parallel agent chats. Advanced and Max list unlimited monthly usage. scispace.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | The Premium plan lists more papers from Google Scholar, PubMed and ArXiv; no total paper count was stated on the page read. scispace.com checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| Semantic ScholarAllen Institute for AI (Ai2) | Yes. Semantic Scholar describes itself as a free research tool; a free account is optional. semanticscholar.org checked 2 Oct 2026 | Free. No paid plan is listed on the pages read. semanticscholar.org checked 2 Oct 2026 | Not verified Not verified: no usage caps or allowances are stated on the home, about or FAQ pages read. semanticscholar.org tried 2 Oct 2026 | The home page showed 238,481,389 papers from all fields of science, sourced from publisher partnerships, data providers and web crawls. semanticscholar.org checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| ChatGPT deep researchOpenAI | Not verified Not verified: the help article says usage varies by plan but does not say which plans, or whether the free plan, include deep research. help.openai.com tried 2 Oct 2026 | Not verified Not verified: the help article read does not state plan prices. help.openai.com tried 2 Oct 2026 | OpenAI says usage varies by plan and an in-product counter shows remaining tasks; fixed monthly allowances reset every 30 days from first use. No per-plan numbers are given. help.openai.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | The public web, files you upload and supported connected apps; you can restrict or prioritise specific websites. help.openai.com checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| Claude ResearchAnthropic | No. The pricing comparison table lists Research as not included on Free and included on Pro and Max. claude.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Pro, the first plan with Research, is US$20 per month (US) per Anthropic's help centre; annual billing is discounted. The pricing page loaded from Australia showed local prices. support.claude.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Research shares the same usage limits as normal Claude chats but can use them up faster. Pro limits reset every five hours, with a weekly limit as well. support.claude.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | The web plus connected internal context such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs. support.claude.com checked 2 Oct 2026 |
| Gemini Deep ResearchGoogle | Yes. Deep Research is listed under the free Gemini plan (US$0/month with a Google Account); Google says it may be unavailable to free users during high demand. support.google.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Google AI Plus is US$4.99/month (2x the free usage); Google AI Pro is US$19.99/month (4x the free usage). gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 | No fixed report count is stated. Gemini app limits are compute-based, refresh every 5 hours up to a weekly limit, and Deep Research uses more of the allowance. gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 | The web, plus your Gmail, Drive and Chat if you choose, and files you upload. gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
About the prices. Vendor pages were read on 1 and 2 October 2026 from a connection in Australia. Where a vendor shows local prices, we took the US-dollar figure from its United States page or its help centre and link to that page. Where we could not read a US-dollar price, the cell says so and names the currency we saw. Prices in other countries can differ.
Who each one suits, and who it does not
These lines are drawn only from the facts we could read on vendor pages. We have not run our own tests, so nothing here ranks the tools on the quality of their output.
NotebookLM (shown on Google's pages as Gemini Notebook)Source: notebooklm.google
- Best for
- People who want answers and study aids drawn from their own uploaded documents, with a free tier that has stated daily caps.Based on: free plan, what it searches, stated limits
- Not ideal for
- People who need more than 50 sources in one notebook without paying, since the free tier caps sources per notebook.Based on: stated limits
ElicitSource: elicit.com
- Best for
- Researchers who want free paper search and summaries and can pay for exports or systematic review workflows.Based on: free plan, listed features, what it searches
- Not ideal for
- People who need a systematic review workflow on the free or Plus plan, since Elicit lists it from Pro upward.Based on: stated limits
ConsensusSource: consensus.app
- Best for
- People who want cited answers from peer-reviewed papers and a quick view of whether studies agree.Based on: listed features, what it searches
- Not ideal for
- Heavy users on the free plan, which is capped at 10 Pro messages and 3 Deep reviews a month.Based on: stated limits
SciteSource: scite.ai
- Best for
- People who need to see whether a paper's findings were supported or contradicted by later citations.Based on: listed features, what it searches
- Not ideal for
- People looking for a free research assistant, since the free plan has no Assistant or Search access.Based on: free plan
SciSpaceSource: scispace.com
- Best for
- People who want one tool for literature review, chatting with PDFs and writing help on a credit-based paid plan.Based on: listed features, stated limits
- Not ideal for
- People who want a clearly defined free tier, which the pricing page read did not describe.Based on: free plan
Semantic ScholarSource: semanticscholar.org
- Best for
- People who want free paper search and citation data across all fields of science.Based on: free plan, what it searches
- Not ideal for
- People who need book or patent coverage, which Semantic Scholar says is very limited or not included.Based on: coverage_note
ChatGPT deep researchSource: help.openai.com
- Best for
- People who want a cited report from the web and their own files, with control over which sites are used.Based on: listed features, what it searches
- Not ideal for
- People who need to know exact task allowances before subscribing, since the help article gives no per-plan numbers.Based on: stated limits
Claude ResearchSource: claude.com
- Best for
- Paid Claude users who want cited research across the web and their connected Google Workspace content.Based on: what it searches, listed features
- Not ideal for
- People on the free plan, since Research is listed as not included there.Based on: free plan
Gemini Deep ResearchSource: gemini.google
- Best for
- People who want web research reports that can also draw on their Gmail and Drive, with a free tier to start.Based on: free plan, what it searches
- Not ideal for
- People who need a guaranteed number of reports, since Google states no fixed count and free access can be paused at busy times.Based on: stated limits, free plan
How to choose from this table
Start with the sources you need to search. NotebookLM works with files and sources you add, while Elicit searches academic papers and clinical trials. Consensus focuses on peer-reviewed papers, and SciSpace lists Google Scholar, PubMed and ArXiv coverage on its Premium plan.
Choose a budget that matches your research workflow. Semantic Scholar is free, while NotebookLM and Gemini Deep Research list free access. Claude Research starts with Pro at US$20 per month, and Scite's Basic plan is US$20/month, billed yearly.
Check caps before committing to a plan. NotebookLM's free tier includes 50 chats/day and 3 Audio Overviews/day, with up to 50 sources per notebook. Consensus Free includes 10 Pro messages per month and up to 3 Deep reviews per month.
Match the tool to your documents or team setup. NotebookLM suits answers drawn from your uploaded documents. Claude Research can use the web plus connected Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs, while Gemini Deep Research can draw on Gmail, Drive and Chat if you choose.
Treat not verified as a reason to check, not a mark against the product. It means the vendor page did not show us the detail on the day. Every figure, with its source and date, is also in the fact ledger.
Related: AI tools compared by task, price and usage limits, Free AI tools and their plan limits, How to choose the right AI tool.
Questions people ask
Which AI research tool has a free plan?
NotebookLM, Elicit, Consensus, Semantic Scholar and Gemini Deep Research list free access. Scite's free Connect plan provides MCP access but no Assistant or Search access. SciSpace's pricing page did not describe a free plan.
Which tool searches the most academic papers?
The vendors state different coverage figures. Elicit says it searches 138 million academic papers, Consensus says it draws on 250M+ research papers, Scite says it searches 300M+ articles, preprints, books, patents and datasets, and Semantic Scholar showed 238,481,389 papers.
Can I use NotebookLM with my own research files?
Yes. NotebookLM answers are grounded in the files and sources you add. Its free tier allows up to 50 sources per notebook, and Source Discovery and Deep Research can find new material.
Do these research tools have fixed usage limits?
Limits depend on the tool. ChatGPT deep research says usage varies by plan without per-plan numbers, while Gemini Deep Research has no fixed report count. Claude Research uses the same usage limits as normal Claude chats, but Research can use them up faster.