scite pricing: 7-day free trial, then from $12/mo
Research tool that shows how papers have been cited, with an AI assistant
Research Solutions, Inc.
What is scite?
scite is a research discovery platform, now part of Research Solutions, built around Smart Citations and an index of more than 1.6 billion citations. Paid plans include the AI Assistant and search, Smart Citation reports for articles, citation alerts and dashboards, and collections. Since October 2026, using scite from ChatGPT, Claude and other tools through MCP needs a paid plan or the free trial.
Good for
- Checking how a paper has been cited before relying on it
- Finding research to support a report or grant application
- Tracking new citations of key papers
Key features
- Smart Citation reports for articles
- AI Assistant and search over research papers
- Citation alerts and dashboards
- Collections of up to 1,000 papers (Basic) or 10,000 (Pro)
- MCP access from ChatGPT, Claude and other AI tools
- API access on Pro
Limitations to know about
- No free plan on the pricing page, and since October 2026 free accounts get no MCP credits
- MCP access from ChatGPT, Claude and other tools needs a paid plan or the free trial
- API access requires the Pro plan
scite pricing
scite offers a 7-day free trial of Basic or Pro; you are enrolled in the plan chosen at the start unless you cancel before it ends. Basic and Pro cost $12 and $40 a month billed annually, or $20 and $50 billed monthly. Team costs $40 per user a month billed annually, or $50 billed monthly. Enterprise is priced on request.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $20/month, or $12/month billed annually | Full Assistant and Search; 250 MCP credits/month; Smart Citation reports; collections up to 1,000 papers; citation alerts |
| Pro | $50/month, or $40/month billed annually | API access; 2,500 MCP credits/month; collections up to 10,000 papers; patent, clinical trial and grant datasets |
| Team | $50/user/month, or $40/user/month billed annually | Pro for a team under one subscription; 2,500 MCP credits per user a month |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Unlimited users with pooled usage; SSO and IP or domain access; collections up to 50,000 papers |
What a team pays: For a team of five on Team: $200 a month billed annually ($2,400 a year), or $250 billed monthly.
scite alternatives
Consensus
AI search engine for peer-reviewed research papers
Elicit
AI research assistant that searches and summarises academic papers
Gemini Notebook
Google's source-grounded research notebook, renamed Gemini Notebook in 2026
Perplexity
AI answer engine that replies with cited sources from the web
Julius AI
AI workspace for analysing data and turning it into charts, reports and slides
Frequently asked questions
How much does scite cost?
Basic and Pro cost $12 and $40 a month billed annually, or $20 and $50 billed monthly. Team costs $40 per user a month billed annually, or $50 billed monthly. Enterprise is priced on request. On Basic: $144 billed yearly; the pricing page says yearly billing saves $96. Prices as published on scite's pricing page on 16 October 2026.
What does the scite Basic plan include?
Basic gives full access to scite's Assistant and Search, 250 MCP credits a month, Smart Citation reports for articles, collections of up to 1,000 papers, and citation alerts and dashboards. It costs $20 a month, or $12 a month billed yearly, and starts with a 7-day free trial. API access is not included; it starts on the Pro plan.
What is scite used for?
scite is a research discovery platform, now part of Research Solutions, built around Smart Citations and an index of more than 1.6 billion citations. People use it for checking how a paper has been cited before relying on it, finding research to support a report or grant application and tracking new citations of key papers.
What are the alternatives to scite?
Tools that do a similar job include Consensus, Elicit, Gemini Notebook, Perplexity and Julius AI. Each has its own page here with its plans, limits and prices.
Who makes scite?
scite is made by Research Solutions, based in Brooklyn, New York, US. The company was founded in 2018. Research Solutions, Inc.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from the pages below, read on the dates shown: Research Solutions's own pages first, and a named public reference where they are silent.
- scite.ai/pricing (plans, prices (monthly and yearly), trial, features) read 16 October 2026
- researchsolutions.com/resources/press-releases/research-solutions-announces-acquisition-of-scite (acquisition date, founding year and location) read 23 September 2026
- docs.scite.ai/pricing-and-plans (plans and prices, including Team pricing) read 16 October 2026
- scite.ai/mcp (MCP needs a paid plan or trial) read 16 October 2026
- scite.ai/blog/august-2026-release-notes (free accounts without MCP credits (October 2026 update)) read 16 October 2026
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