Elicit
An AI research assistant that searches academic papers, extracts data into tables and produces research reports and systematic reviews.
Comparison guide
AI tools for students
Study, writing and research helpers with usable free plans. Compare what is free, what needs a subscription and what helps learning rather than replacing it.
| Criterion | Perplexity | Grammarly | Notion AI | QuillBot | DeepL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | Perplexity AI | Grammarly (Superhuman) | Notion Labs | QuillBot (Learneo) | DeepL SE |
| What it is for | An AI answer engine that searches the web and cites sources, with access to models from several providers on paid plans. | An AI writing assistant that checks grammar, tone and clarity wherever you type and can rewrite or generate text on request. | AI built into Notion's workspace for writing, searching, meeting notes and running multi-step agent tasks across your pages. | A suite of writing tools for paraphrasing, summarising, grammar checking and AI detection, popular with students. | An AI translator for text, documents and speech, with a writing assistant and a developer API. |
| Latest confirmed model | — | — | — | — | — |
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| Free plan | Yes 3 Pro Searches/day; 1 Research query/month; limited uploads | Yes 100 AI prompts per month | Yes 5 MB per upload, 7-day page history, 10 guests | Yes Paraphraser 125 words per input; Summarizer 1,200 words; AI Detector 1,200 words per scan, 6 scans/day | Yes 50,000 characters per user/month; 1 file translation/month (5 MB max); 1 glossary (5 entries per language pair) |
| Cheapest paid plan | Education Pro: $10/mo With SheerID student verification | Pro: $30/mo $12/mo billed annually Per member. $30 monthly, $60 quarterly, $144 annually (shown as $12/month). | Plus: $12/mo $10/mo billed annually Per member | Premium: $19.95/mo $8.33/mo billed annually Annual $99.95 billed yearly; monthly figure from QuillBot FAQ; regional pricing applies | No monthly list price |
| API access | Yes · docs (opens in a new tab) | Limited | Yes · docs (opens in a new tab) | No | Yes · docs (opens in a new tab) |
| Learning curve | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly |
| Last verified | Oct 19, 2026 | Oct 19, 2026 | Oct 19, 2026 | Oct 19, 2026 | Oct 19, 2026 |
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How to choose
- Follow your school's AI policy — many treat undisclosed AI writing as misconduct.
- Use AI to explain and quiz, then check the answer in your course material.
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The table shows up to five entries in the directory's editorial order, not a ranking. Every value links back to a record with sources and a last-verified date.