Elicit vs scite: Features, Pricing and Verdict

Elicit finds papers and extracts data for reviews, with a free plan. Scite checks how papers were cited, with no free plan. Pick by your research task.

By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-13T07:23:10+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-13T07:23:10+00:00

Elicit vs scite: Features, Pricing and Verdict

Elicit and scite both help researchers work with academic papers. They solve different problems. Elicit finds papers, summarises them, and extracts data into tables. It suits literature reviews and systematic reviews. Scite shows how a paper has been cited by later work. It labels citations as supporting, mentioning, or contrasting. It suits checking whether a claim still holds up. This comparison covers features, pricing, and the right pick. Prices come from official pricing pages checked in November 2026.

Elicit vs scite at a Glance

What Elicit Does

Elicit is an AI research assistant for academic work. You ask a research question in plain language. Elicit searches over 138 million papers. It returns relevant papers with one-sentence summaries. It can chat with full-text papers. It can extract data into tables. You pick the columns. Elicit fills them from the papers. It can run a Research Agent that works through a question in steps. It can write Research Reports from the papers it finds. The Basic plan is free. It includes unlimited search, unlimited summaries, and chat with full-text papers. It includes Zotero import. Research Agent and Research Reports have limited usage on Basic. Plus costs $11 per user a month billed annually, or $19 billed monthly. It is available only on Academic pricing. It adds exports to RIS, CSV, BIB, PDF, and DOCX. It adds 5 table columns at a time. It adds clinical trial search. Pro costs $39 per user a month on Academic pricing, or $49 on Industry pricing, billed annually. It adds 5x usage on Academic plans. It adds a systematic review workflow that can screen 5,000 papers. It adds 20 table columns at a time, API access, and Routines. Scale costs $89 per user a month on Academic pricing, or $229 on Industry pricing, billed annually. It adds 9x usage, figure extraction, live team collaboration, and an admin panel. Enterprise is a custom quote. Elicit notes that its industry prices are the default view. Academic prices appear only when you pick Academic in the filter. Check the filter before comparing prices.

What scite Does

Scite answers a different question. It shows how a paper has been cited by later research. Each citation gets a label. Supporting means the later paper supports the claim. Mentioning means it cites the paper without taking a position. Contrasting means it disputes or contradicts the claim. These labels are called Smart Citations. They help you spot papers whose findings have been challenged. Scite also offers an AI Assistant with search. It writes Smart Citation reports on a paper. It sends citation alerts when new papers cite your work. It offers dashboards and collections of papers. Scite searches over 300 million articles, preprints, books, patents, and datasets. There is no free plan. The only no-cost route is a 7-day free trial. The trial gives access to all premium features. After it ends, you are automatically enrolled in the plan you picked at signup. You can cancel before the trial ends to avoid charges. Basic costs $12 a month billed annually, or $20 billed monthly. It includes full Assistant and Search access, Smart Citation reports, citation alerts, and collections up to 1,000 papers. It includes 250 MCP credits a month. Pro costs $40 a month billed annually, or $50 billed monthly. It adds API access, 2,500 MCP credits a month, and collections up to 10,000 papers. It adds patent, clinical trial, and grant datasets. Team costs $50 per seat a month, or $40 billed annually. It adds shared collections, team analytics, and central billing. Enterprise is a custom quote. It adds unlimited users, pooled usage, SSO, and regulatory datasets.

Elicit vs scite: Pricing Compared

Both start near the same price. Elicit Plus is $11 a month on Academic annual billing. Scite Basic is $12 a month on annual billing. The difference is the free tier. Elicit Basic is free forever. It covers unlimited search and summaries. Scite has no free tier at all. A researcher on a tight budget can use Elicit free for months. Scite costs money from day 8. The paid tiers diverge fast. Elicit Pro is $39 a month for academics, $49 for industry buyers. Scite Pro is $40 a month. The figures look close. The features are not. Elicit Pro buys systematic review tools and higher extraction limits. Scite Pro buys API access and larger collections. Team pricing differs too. Elicit Scale is $89 a month for academics. Scite Team is $40 per seat a month on annual billing. A small team may pay less with scite. A team running systematic reviews may need Elicit Scale. Read the pricing page carefully. Elicit shows different prices for Academic and Industry buyers. Scite shows annual prices by default. Monthly prices are higher on both.

Elicit vs scite: Features Compared

Discovery belongs to Elicit. It searches, summarises, and extracts. It turns papers into tables. It supports full systematic review workflows. Scite does not offer that. Verification belongs to scite. Its Smart Citations show whether later work supports or disputes a paper. Elicit shows sources for its answers. That is useful, but it is not the same as citation context. Both offer AI chat with papers. Both offer alerts. Elicit alerts cover new papers in your area. Scite alerts cover new citations of papers you follow. Both offer Zotero integration. Elicit imports from Zotero on the free plan. Scite offers a Zotero plugin on paid plans. Both offer API access on higher tiers. Elicit API starts at Pro. Scite API starts at Pro and Team. Neither tool replaces reading the paper. Elicit extraction can be wrong. Scite labels need context. Read the surrounding text before treating a label as final. Check every extracted value against the source paper.

Who Should Choose Elicit

Choose Elicit if you are starting a literature review. It fits students, PhD researchers, and systematic reviewers. It fits teams that screen many papers and extract data into tables. It fits users who need exports to RIS, CSV, and BIB. Start on the free Basic plan. It covers search, summaries, and chat. Upgrade to Plus when you need table exports. Upgrade to Pro when you run systematic reviews or need the API. Academic buyers should pick the Academic price filter. It is much cheaper than Industry pricing.

Who Should Choose scite

Choose scite if you need to check how a paper holds up. It fits researchers, librarians, and editors. It fits anyone who cites a paper and wants to know if later work supports it. It fits teams tracking citation impact. Use the 7-day trial carefully. Pick the plan you would actually buy. Set a reminder to cancel before day 7 if it does not fit. Basic covers most solo needs. Pro fits users who need API access and larger collections. Team fits groups that share collections and track usage together.

Can You Use Both Together

Yes. The pair covers the full research loop. Use Elicit to find papers and extract data. Use scite to check whether the key papers still stand. A systematic reviewer benefits most. Elicit screens and extracts. Scite flags papers with contrasting citations. The combined cost is modest. Elicit Plus at $11 a month plus scite Basic at $12 a month totals $23 a month on annual billing. That is a fair price for a serious literature review workflow. Students should start with Elicit free plus the scite trial. Buy scite only if the citation checks prove useful.

Bottom Line

Elicit vs scite comes down to your task. Elicit wins for finding papers, summarising them, and extracting data for reviews. It has a real free plan. Scite wins for checking how papers have been cited and whether claims still hold. It has no free plan, only a 7-day trial. Pick Elicit if you are building a literature review. Pick scite if you are verifying citations. If you do both jobs often, use both. The pair costs $23 a month on annual billing at the entry paid tiers.