Best free AI research tools
Free plans compared side by side (limits, watermarks, commercial use), checked 2026-10-22: Free plan limits →
6 free AI research tools with a free plan confirmed on the official pricing page (each shows its own checked date): Elicit, Consensus, Humata, Perplexity, ResearchRabbit. They do different main jobs, so pick by the job you need.
Elicit
AI research assistant for papers and systematic reviews.
Main job: research assistant
🆓 Basic: free
💲 Paid: Industry: Pro $75/mo ($49/mo yearly, $588/yr); Scale $279/mo ($169 yearly, $2,028/yr). Academic: Plus from $11/mo yearly ($19 monthly); Pro $69 ($39); Scale $149 ($89)
checked 2026-10-15
Consensus
Search engine that answers from peer-reviewed research.
Main job: paper search
🆓 Free plan available
💲 Paid: Pro $20/mo ($12/mo annually); higher plan $65/mo ($45 annually)
checked 2026-10-15
Humata
Chat with your PDFs and documents.
Main job: doc chat
🆓 Free: 60 pages/mo
💲 Paid: Expert $9.99/mo; Team $49/user/mo
checked 2026-10-19
Perplexity
Answer engine that cites web sources.
Main job: answer engine
🆓 Free tier available
💲 Paid: Pro $17/mo billed annually; Max $167/mo billed annually; monthly prices not shown
checked 2026-10-24
ResearchRabbit
Discover and map related papers and authors.
Main job: literature mapping
🆓 Free: $0, forever
💲 Paid: ResearchRabbit+ $10/mo (annual plan) or $12.50/mo (monthly plan)
checked 2026-10-19
Scholarcy
Summarizes research articles into flashcards.
Main job: paper summaries
🆓 Free Article Summarizer (limited, 1 summary/day)
💲 Paid: $9.99/month (1-week trial)
checked 2026-10-15
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