Scite.ai
FreemiumAI research platform using Smart Citations to verify evidence across 280M+ articles
By Tanmay Verma, Founder · Last verified 04 Jul 2026
4.2k views
Added 4/3/2026
95/100Safe BetIn short
Scite.ai — AI research platform using Smart Citations to verify evidence across 280M+ articles. Best for Researchers conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses, PhD students evaluating literature for dissertations, Grant writers verifying supporting/contrasting evidence. Free to start; paid plans from $20/mo.
Is Scite.ai actually worth it?
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Editorial Verdict
Best for
Researchers conducting systematic reviews and meta-analysesPhD students evaluating literature for dissertationsGrant writers verifying supporting/contrasting evidenceLibrarians supporting evidence-based researchIP professionals searching patents with citation context
Not ideal for
Casual literature searches (Google Scholar suffices)Researchers focused on non-English literature (limited coverage)Undergraduates writing basic term papersUsers needing extensive full-text extraction (use Elicit instead)
Scite is essential for researchers who need to verify evidence quickly, thanks to its unique Smart Citations. Recent additions like Collections, MCP access to patents/trials/grants, and Claude connector make it more versatile. But casual users may find Google Scholar sufficient for simple lookups.
Skip Scite.ai if Skip Scite if you need structured data extraction from papers, work mainly with non-English literature, or just want simple search results without citation context.
Compare with: Scite.ai vs Paxton AI, Scite.ai vs Marvin User Research, Scite.ai vs Elicit
Last verified: July 2026
What's new in Scite.ai
Checked 3 days agoAcross the latest 5 updates: 4 feature updates and 1 changelog entry.
ChangelogBlog·Jun 2Newest
May 2026 Release Notes
New power user plan, Collections for organizing research, Assistant reads user documents, expanded data.
FeatureBlog·May 26
Clinical Trials & Grants: Scite MCP's Expanding Data Universe
Scite MCP adds 719K+ clinical trials and 3.5M+ grants to its searchable data.
FeatureBlog·May 7
Introducing Collections: A Dedicated Space for Your Research
Collections feature allows users to gather, monitor, and run scoped queries on selected papers.
FeatureBlog·May 5
Patents Now in Scite Search
90M+ patent families integrated into Scite Search and Assistant, merging IP and research data.
FeatureBlog·Apr 28
Scite is now a Claude connector
Scite available as verified Claude connector, grounding answers in peer-reviewed literature.
Viability Score
95/100
Safe BetHow likely is Scite.ai to still be operational in 12 months? Based on 4 signals — momentum (how recently it shipped), wrapper dependency, revenue model, and web presence.
momentum
100
funding runway
80
website health
90
wrapper dependency
100
Last calculated: July 2026
How we score →Key Features
- Smart Citations classification (supporting, contrasting, mentioning)
- Scite Assistant with AI answers linked to specific paper sentences
- Full-Text Search across 280M+ articles, preprints, books, patents, trials, grants
- Patent Search (90M+ families) integrated into Search and Assistant (May 2026)
- Clinical Trials (719K+) and Grants (3.5M+) via MCP (May 2026)
- Collections for curating papers, monitoring updates, scoped queries
- Reference Check for verifying and correcting manuscript citations
- Citation Dashboard for papers, authors, journals, institutions
- Drag-and-Drop Citations for batch import and search
- DOI Summarization via Assistant
- Saved Preferences persist search settings across sessions
- MCP-compatible with Claude, ChatGPT, and other assistants
- One-Tap Google Sign-In
- Browser Extension showing citation context on any website
- Scite Badge for embeddable Smart Citation tally on sites
About Scite.ai
FreemiumIntermediateNo APIWeb · Plugin
Scite.ai is an AI-powered research platform that helps researchers, students, and industry professionals discover, evaluate, and verify scientific literature. Its core innovation is Smart Citations, which classify each citation as supporting, contrasting, or merely mentioning the cited work, enabling you to quickly assess the weight of evidence behind a claim. Built on agreements with 40+ publishers including Wiley and SAGE, Scite provides access to 280M+ full-text articles, preprints, books, patents, clinical trials, and grants. Key features include the Scite Assistant for AI-powered search and summarization with verifiable citations, Collections for curating papers and asking scoped questions, Reference Check for verifying manuscript citations, and integrations with tools like Zotero, Claude (verified connector), and ChatGPT via MCP. As of June 2026, Scite serves 2M+ users and is part of Research Solutions. Recent additions (May 2026) include patents (90M+ families), clinical trials (719K+), and grants (3.5M+) in search. Compared to tools like Semantic Scholar or Elicit, Scite's unique strength is its explicit citation classification, making it ideal for systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and evidence-based research. However, its paid tiers limit casual use, and coverage of non-English literature is sparse.
Behind the Verdict
Scite's Smart Citations are a genuine innovation—they turn citation counts into actionable signals. For systematic reviews or meta-analyses, this saves hours of manual checking. The recent addition of 90M+ patents, 719K+ clinical trials, and 3.5M+ grants via MCP (May 2026) broadens its reach beyond traditional articles. The Claude connector (April 2026) and ChatGPT MCP integration make it easy to bring verified research into other workflows. Where Scite falls short is casual use: the $20/mo Basic tier is pricey for undergraduates writing one term paper. And if your research relies heavily on non-English sources, Scite's coverage is limited. Compared to Elicit, Scite is better for verifying claims in context, but Elicit excels at extracting structured data from papers. For librarians and grant writers, Scite's citation-level analysis is a standout. We'd recommend Scite for any researcher who needs to know not just how many times a paper was cited, but how it was cited. The 7-day free trial gives you enough time to judge if the signal justifies the cost.
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Scite.ai actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
PhD student starting a literature review
You need to find key papers and understand how they've been cited. You create a Collection, search for your topic, and use Smart Citations to see which papers have supporting vs. contrasting evidence.
Outcome: You identify the most influential and least controversial papers quickly, saving hours of reading.
Systematic reviewer preparing a meta-analysis
You import a batch of DOIs via drag-and-drop, then use Scite Assistant to get a summary of citation contexts. You run Reference Check on your manuscript to catch retracted citations.
Outcome: You produce a robust evidence base with clear documentation of support and contradiction.
IP professional searching prior art
You use Scite's patent search (90M+ families) alongside academic literature. You ask the Assistant about a specific technology and get answers grounded in both patents and papers.
Outcome: You find relevant prior art that other tools miss, strengthening your patent analysis.
Use Cases
- Evaluate a paper's credibility before citing it in your own work.
- Get a quick, evidence-backed literature review on a research question.
- Check a manuscript's references for retracted or contradicted studies.
- Track how a finding has been supported or contradicted over time.
- Monitor a research field for new supporting or contrasting citations.
- Search patents and clinical trials alongside academic literature.
- Verify claims in AI chat outputs using Scite MCP within Claude or ChatGPT.
- Create and monitor Collections of papers for ongoing projects.
Models Under the Hood
proprietary citation classification modelproprietary Smart Citations model
as of 2026-07-06
Limitations
- Scite's coverage is strongest in life sciences and biomedicine; citation classification quality may vary by discipline.
- The free tier is extremely limited, and paid plans cap MCP credits at 250/month.
- Full-text access depends on institutional subscriptions for paywalled articles.
- The Assistant can return suboptimal results if literature is thin on a topic.
as of 2026-06-30
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Annual total
$240
Over 12 months
Effective monthly
$20
Billed monthly
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published Scite.ai tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Basic
$20/mo
Ideal for
Individual researcher with moderate search needs, willing to pay for citation insights but not heavy MCP use.
What this tier adds
Starting paid tier with Scite Assistant, Full-Text Search, and 250 MCP credits per month.
Pro
$50/mo
Ideal for
Power researcher who needs more MCP credits, larger Collections, and patent search.
What this tier adds
Adds 2,500 MCP credits/month, 10,000-paper Collections, and patent search vs Basic.
Team
$100/mo
Ideal for
Small research group (up to 10 users) needing centralized billing and shared Collections.
What this tier adds
Adds centralized billing, shared Collections & alerts, user analytics; $50/user/mo after first 2 users.
Enterprise
Custom
Ideal for
Large institutions or organizations needing API access, SSO, and custom datasets.
What this tier adds
Unlimited users, flexible pooled usage, API access, SAML/SSO, dedicated customer success manager.
Integrations
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Scite.ai's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Scite's pricing ($20/mo Basic, $50/mo Pro, $100/mo Team for 2 users) fits individual researchers and small groups well. Compared to Elicit (free tier with limits, $10/mo for more features), Scite is pricier but offers unique citation classification. For large institutions, Enterprise custom pricing with unlimited users and API access offers better value.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Scite.ai — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Individual users can sign up and start searching within minutes. Getting the browser extension and connecting to Zotero takes about 5 minutes. Configuring MCP with Claude or ChatGPT requires technical steps but is documented. Teams may need 15-30 minutes to set up shared Collections and alerts.
Switching to or from Scite.ai
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
Migrating in
- →From Google Scholar: import your library via drag-and-drop DOIs or use the browser extension to capture papers.
- →From Semantic Scholar: no direct import; manually add papers to Collections or use DOI batch import.
Migrating out
- ↗To Elicit: no direct export; manually copy paper lists or use Zotero as intermediate.
- ↗To Zotero: export your Collections as BibTeX or RIS files.
Resources & Guides
- Resourcescite.ai
AI for Research | Scite
Researchers around the world use Scite to better understand research, uncover debates, ensure they are citing reliable studies, and improve their writing.
- Quickstartscite.ai
AI for Research | Scite
Researchers around the world use Scite to better understand research, uncover debates, ensure they are citing reliable studies, and improve their writing.
- Resourcescite.ai
Scite Features
Research tools built on evidence, not guesswork. Every Scite feature is powered by 1.6B+ Smart Citations and 280M+ full-text articles — including paywalled sources other AI tools can't access.
Frequently Asked Questions
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