Pick Elicit if…
you're running a systematic or literature review and need papers screened and data extracted into exportable tables.
Both search academic literature with AI, but they answer different questions. Consensus is a search engine for peer-reviewed research: ask a question, get a cited answer, or run a Deep literature review across 250M+ papers. Elicit is a workbench for structured reviews: it searches 138M+ papers, extracts data into tables and automates systematic-review screening.
Pick Consensus (Pro at $20/mo) for fast, cited answers to research questions and regular literature reviews. Pick Elicit if you run systematic reviews and need data pulled into tables; academics can get Plus at $19/mo, while industry users start at Pro ($75/mo per user).
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elicit | Yes | $19/mo | $375/mo | Researchers, pharma and policy teams running literature and systematic reviews who need structured data extraction |
| Consensus | Yes | $20/mo | $65/mo | Students, academics and clinicians who need evidence-backed answers with citations to peer-reviewed studies |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated November 2, 2026
| Elicit | Consensus | |
|---|---|---|
| Best at | Data extraction and systematic reviews | Cited answers from peer-reviewed studies |
| Corpus | 138M+ papers; 500K+ clinical trials on Plus | 250M+ papers |
| Free tier | Unlimited search, summaries and chat; limited Agent and Report use | Basic search, 10 Pro messages/mo, 3 Deep reviews/mo |
| Main paid plan | Pro: screens up to 5,000 papers, reports from up to 135 sources | Pro: unlimited Pro messages, 15 Deep reviews/mo |
| Heavy-use tier | Scale: 5x usage, figure extraction, admin panel | Deep: 200 Deep reviews/mo |
| API | API access from Pro | API & MCP uses included from Pro |
you're running a systematic or literature review and need papers screened and data extracted into exportable tables.
you want evidence-backed answers with citations, quickly, without setting up an extraction workflow.
Elicit sells two price lists. Plus exists only on academic pricing, and Pro and Scale are cheaper for academics than the industry rates. If you work in pharma, policy or consulting, budget from Pro at $75/mo per user billed monthly. Consensus has one list, with a student discount, and its Deep plan ($65/mo) is meant for frequent literature reviews.
For systematic reviews and data extraction, yes: Elicit screens up to 5,000 papers on Pro and extracts into tables. For quick answers with citations, Consensus is simpler, and its Pro plan costs less than Elicit Pro.
Consensus for most people: Pro is $20/mo. Elicit Plus is $19/mo but academic-only; industry users start at Pro, $75/mo per user. Both are cheaper on annual billing.
Both do. Elicit's free tier has unlimited search, summaries and chat with limited agent and report use. Consensus Free gives basic search, 10 Pro messages and up to 3 Deep reviews a month.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.