Which AI tool? · updated
Which AI tool is best for finding and summarizing research papers?
Elicit is our top pick for finding and summarizing research papers, out of 5 tools we compared. Search across more than 138 million papers, with a Research Agent and Research Reports. Free Basic plan; Pro $49 and Scale $229 per user a month, billed annually.
Quick picks
- Top pick: Elicit. Search across more than 138 million papers, with a Research Agent and Research Reports. Free Basic plan; Pro $49 and Scale $229 per user a month, billed annually.
- Free plan or tier in our sourced pricing facts: Elicit, Consensus, Undermind, Semantic Scholar and Gemini Notebook.
The 5 tools, in order
From official sites- #1 Elicit
- Search across more than 138 million papers, with a Research Agent and Research Reports. Free Basic plan; Pro $49 and Scale $229 per user a month, billed annually.Pricing: Free Basic plan with limited Research Agent and Research Reports use. Source: elicit.com, checked Official site: elicit.com · Our profile
- #2 Consensus
- Answers questions using peer-reviewed research with citations.Pricing: Free plan at $0 with basic paper search, 10 Pro messages and up to 3 Deep reviews a month. Source: consensus.app, checked Official site: consensus.app · Our profile
- #3 Undermind
- AI literature search agent that runs deep searches across papers and writes reports; free plan, Pro from $16 a month billed annually. Good at finding papers keyword search misses.Pricing: Free plan. Source: undermind.ai, checked Official site: undermind.ai · Our profile
- #4 Semantic Scholar
- Free AI-powered academic search from AI2 that indexes over 200 million papers. The best free place to start finding and tracking literature.Pricing: Free. Source: semanticscholar.org, checked Official site: semanticscholar.org · Our profile
- #5 Gemini Notebook
- Google's source-grounded research notebook (formerly NotebookLM); turns your files into summaries, audio and video overviews, slides and mind maps.Pricing: Free for personal use with standard limits and up to 50 sources per notebook. Source: notebook.google, checked Official site: notebook.google.com · Our profile
Method
How we ordered this list
The list follows our AI research tools ranking, with one change. Gemini Notebook ranks first overall in that ranking because it works on your own files, so we list it last here, since this page is about finding papers. That reordering is our editorial reading of the verdicts below, not a new test. How we rank
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Which AI tool is best for finding and summarizing research papers?
Elicit is our top pick for finding and summarizing research papers. Search across more than 138 million papers, with a Research Agent and Research Reports. Free Basic plan; Pro $49 and Scale $229 per user a month, billed annually. The other 4 we compared: Consensus, Undermind, Semantic Scholar and Gemini Notebook.
Which of these tools have a free plan?
Free plan or free tier in our sourced fact sheets: Elicit, Consensus, Undermind, Semantic Scholar and Gemini Notebook (5 of 5). Prices change, so confirm on the official pricing page before you buy.
How is this list ordered?
The list follows our AI research tools ranking, with one change. Gemini Notebook ranks first overall in that ranking because it works on your own files, so we list it last here, since this page is about finding papers. That reordering is our editorial reading of the verdicts below, not a new test.
Are any placements sponsored?
Some placements on AI Tool Podium are sponsored. Every sponsored placement is clearly labeled.
When was this page last updated?
This page was last updated on 2026-11-13. Features and prices change often, so check each official site before you buy.
Sources
- Elicit official site: elicit.com
- Elicit pricing source: elicit.com/pricing
- Consensus official site: consensus.app
- Consensus pricing source: consensus.app/pricing
- Undermind official site: undermind.ai
- Undermind pricing source: undermind.ai
- Semantic Scholar official site: semanticscholar.org
- Semantic Scholar pricing source: semanticscholar.org/about
- Gemini Notebook official site: notebook.google.com
- Gemini Notebook pricing source: notebook.google/plans
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