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Head-to-head · Literature Review Software

Buhos vs ASReview

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Buhos #1 in Literature Review Software 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit Buhos
ASReview #6 in Literature Review Software 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 5 features Visit ASReview

Buhos leads on 1 check, ASReview on 0, and 4 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreBuhos · 9.4/10
  • Free planboth
  • Most featuresBuhos · 4 of 5

Buhos scores higher on our rubric for literature review software: 9.4 against 8.8 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #6.

On discovery tools, ASReview gives you Recommendations where Buhos offers Search. Buhos offers full-text management; ASReview doesn't.

Buhos is the better fit for free, end-to-end systematic review teams. ASReview is the better fit for open-source AI-assisted screening.

  • Buhos fits best

    Free, end-to-end systematic review teams

  • ASReview fits best

    Open-source AI-assisted screening

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Side by side

Feature Buhos 9.4/10 Visit ↗ ASReview 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.4 8.8
Ranking #1 in Literature Review Software #6 in Literature Review Software
Best for Free, end-to-end systematic review teams Open-source AI-assisted screening
Pricing model Free Free
Starting price Free plan Free plan
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Self-hosted, Desktop Cloud, Self-hosted, Desktop, Browser extension
Platforms Web, Windows, macOS, Linux Web, Windows, macOS, Linux
Support Email, Docs Email, Community, Docs
Integrations 8 integrations 11 integrations
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Buhos 4/5 · ASReview 3/5
Screening workflow ✓ ✓
Full-text management ✓ (best) —
Systematic review tools ✓ ✓
Collaboration ✓ ✓
Evidence mapping Not checked yet Not checked yet
Specs
Discovery tools Search Recommendations
Citation import limit Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Covers screening, extraction, quality assessment, reporting, and full-text review
  • Imports BibTeX, RIS, PubMed/NBIB, JSON, and CSV references
  • Supports collaboration with reviewer assignments, comments, tags, and messaging
  • Active learning prioritizes records from screening decisions
  • Imports CSV, TSV, XLSX, and RIS datasets
  • Supports collaboration, benchmarking, and duplicate hiding
Cons
  • Local or independent-server deployment requires technical setup
  • Focused on systematic literature review workflows rather than broader research work
  • Export options are limited to BibTeX, Excel, and GraphML
  • Does not provide full-text access
  • Requires an externally obtained dataset
  • Collaboration requires private server access
Our verdict

Buhos is open-source software for developing and managing systematic literature reviews. It supports both individual and group-based reviews, making it suitable for researchers who need a structured process from literature discovery…

Read the review →

ASReview is an open-source machine-learning tool for screening and labeling large collections of textual records. It is designed for researchers conducting systematic reviews, meta-analyses, evidence-based policy work, guideline updates,…

Read the review →
  1. BuhosLiterature Review Software 9.4Free plan
  2. ASReviewLiterature Review Software 8.8Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Buhos — where it wins

    • Covers screening, extraction, quality assessment, reporting, and full-text review
    • Imports BibTeX, RIS, PubMed/NBIB, JSON, and CSV references
    • Supports collaboration with reviewer assignments, comments, tags, and messaging

    Where it doesn't

    • Local or independent-server deployment requires technical setup
    • Focused on systematic literature review workflows rather than broader research work
    • Export options are limited to BibTeX, Excel, and GraphML

  • ASReview — where it wins

    • Active learning prioritizes records from screening decisions
    • Imports CSV, TSV, XLSX, and RIS datasets
    • Supports collaboration, benchmarking, and duplicate hiding

    Where it doesn't

    • Does not provide full-text access
    • Requires an externally obtained dataset
    • Collaboration requires private server access

More comparisons

All literature review software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update