A student finding papers on a thesis topic
- Enter a research question
- Read the paper summaries
- Chat with a full-text paper to check methods
free plan works
Elicit · AI research assistant for academic literature
Elicit
An AI research assistant that searches academic papers, extracts data into tables and produces research reports and systematic reviews.
- Provider
- Elicit
- Latest confirmed model
- Not applicable / not verified
- Pricing
- Free plan + paid
- Free plan
- Yes
- API
- Yes
- Status
- Generally available
- Last verified
- Oct 19, 2026
What is Elicit?
Elicit searches a database of about 138 million academic papers, summarises them and lets you chat with full-text papers. Paid plans add a Research Agent, automated research reports, systematic-review workflows with screening and data extraction, and an API. Results are organised in tables so you can compare findings across studies.
Literature reviews require finding, screening and extracting data from many papers, which takes weeks by hand.
Why use Elicit?
Practical benefits
- Unlimited paper search and summaries on the free plan
- Structured data extraction into tables
- Systematic-review workflow
- API and MCP server on paid plans
Who it suits
- Academic researchers
- Graduate students
- Pharma and R&D teams
- Policy analysts
When another tool may fit better
- General web research
- Working only with your own documents (consider Gemini Notebook)
- Quick yes/no consensus answers (consider Consensus)
- Learning curve
- Some experience helps
- Skills needed
- Ability to frame research questions and judge study quality
Example workflows
- Ask a research question -> review top papers -> add extraction columns -> export
- Run a systematic review: search, screen, extract, report
What can it do?
- Paper searchUnlimited search across about 138M papers on all plans.
- Chat with papersUnlimited chat with full-text papers on the free plan.
- Research Agent and Reports Depends on planLimited on Basic; standard usage on Pro; 5x on Scale.
- Systematic reviews Depends on planPro screens up to 5,000 papers; Enterprise up to 40,000.
- Data extraction tables Depends on plan20 columns on Pro, 30 on Scale, 40 on Enterprise.
- API and MCP server Depends on planREST API v2 and MCP server for Pro and above.
Good for
- Literature reviews
- Evidence synthesis
- Clinical trial searches
- Research monitoring with Routines
Where it runs
Pricing and plans
Free plan + paid Basic is free with unlimited search, summaries and paper chat. Pro is $49 per user per month on annual billing ($588/year) and Scale $169 per month on annual billing ($2,028/year). Enterprise is custom.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Free trial / tier | Usage limits | Main inclusions | Model access | API access | Restrictions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | per month | Free tier | Limited Research Agent and Reports usage |
|
— | No | — |
| Pro | $588 billed yearly; separate monthly-billing price not shown | per month | — | Standard usage; systematic reviews screen up to 5,000 papers; reports from up to 135 sources; 20 table columns |
|
— | Yes | — |
| Scale | $2,028 billed yearly; separate monthly-billing price not shown | per month | — | 5x Pro usage; reports from up to 200 sources; 30 table columns |
|
— | Yes (API docs list Scale limits) | — |
| Enterprise | Contact provider | per year | — | Custom; screens up to 40,000 papers; 40 columns |
|
— | Unlimited | — |
API and developer access
- Official API
- Yes
- Documentation
- API docs (opens in a new tab)
- Authentication
- API key (Bearer)
- Pricing model
- Included in Pro and above, subject to plan usage limits
- Free API quota
- None documented — the free plan above (if any) is for the app, not the API
- Rate limits
- 100 requests per minute per IP across endpoints; 429 blocks the IP for 5 minutes
- Context / input limits
- Not documented
- SDKs
- Not documented
- Streaming
- Not documented
- Batch processing
- Not documented
- Structured output
- Not documented
- Tool / function calling
- Not documented
- Commercial use
- See the provider terms
- Data retention & privacy
- See the provider privacy terms
A free Elicit account is not the same thing as free API access. Unless a free API quota is listed above, API calls are billed separately.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
- Built specifically for academic literature
- Structured extraction
- API and MCP integration
Disadvantages
- Basic plan limits agents and reports
- Paid plans are relatively expensive for individuals
- Quality depends on paper coverage and abstracts
Privacy: Enterprise states no training on your data by default.
Real-world examples
A research team running a systematic review
- Start a systematic review with search criteria
- Screen abstracts and full texts
- Extract outcomes into table columns and export a report
needs paid plan
A data team automating paper searches
- Create an API key on a Pro plan
- POST to /search/papers with a Bearer token
- Store results in an internal database
needs API key
Elicit alternatives
Consensus
An AI search engine that answers questions using peer-reviewed research, with Deep Search for literature-review style reports.
Elicit vs ConsensusGemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)
Google's source-grounded research notebook, renamed from NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook in July 2026.
Elicit vs Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)Julius AI
An AI workspace for analysing spreadsheets and databases in plain English, and creating charts, reports, slides and websites.
Elicit vs Julius AIFrequently asked questions
Is Elicit free?
Yes. The Basic plan includes unlimited paper search, summaries and chat with full-text papers, with limited agent and report usage.
How much does Elicit Pro cost?
$49 per user per month on annual billing ($588 per year).
Can Elicit do systematic reviews?
Yes. Pro screens up to 5,000 papers per review and Enterprise up to 40,000.
Does Elicit have an API?
Yes. A REST API (v2) and MCP server are available on Pro and above, authenticated with a Bearer API key.
What are the API rate limits?
All endpoints share a limit of 100 requests per minute per IP address.
How many papers does Elicit search?
About 138 million academic papers, plus ClinicalTrials.gov records via the API.