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Head-to-head · AI Research Assistants

Consensus vs Scholarly

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score Consensus #2 in AI Research Assistants 9.2/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Consensus
Scholarly #3 in AI Research Assistants 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Scholarly

Consensus leads on 0 checks, Scholarly on 0, and 5 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 scoreConsensus · 9.2/10
  • Free planboth
  • Most featuresScholarly · 4 of 4

Consensus scores higher on our rubric for ai research assistants: 9.2 against 9.0 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #3.

Consensus is the better fit for researchers needing broad scholarly search and analysis. Scholarly is the better fit for multi-source research with files and team workflows.

  • Consensus fits best

    Researchers needing broad scholarly search and analysis

  • Scholarly fits best

    Multi-source research with files and team workflows

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Side by side

Feature Consensus 9.2/10 Visit ↗ Scholarly 9.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.2 9.0
Ranking #2 in AI Research Assistants #3 in AI Research Assistants
Best for Researchers needing broad scholarly search and analysis Multi-source research with files and team workflows
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free plan + paid
Starting price — $12/user/mo
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Mobile Cloud
Platforms Web, iOS, Android Web
Support Email, Live chat, Docs Email, Docs
Integrations 6 integrations 1 integrations
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Consensus 0/4 · Scholarly 4/4
Source citations Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Deep research mode Not checked yet ✓ (best)
File uploads Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Team workspace Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Specs
Source access Not checked yet Web+files+connectors
Source limit Not checked yet 10 sources
Our review
Pros
  • Broad search across papers, authors, DOIs, topics, and study details
  • Deep reviews, Study Snapshots, citation graphs, and inline citations
  • Web, iOS, Android, API, Zotero, ChatGPT, Claude, and MCP support
  • Deep Research produces cited reports with source verification
  • Analyzes web sources, PDFs, Word, PowerPoint, and text files
  • Team plans include shared libraries, roles, and centralized billing
Cons
  • The Free plan limits Pro messages, Deep reviews, snapshots, and API/MCP calls
  • Full-text analysis depends on paper availability
  • Enterprise access uses custom pricing and targets organizations over 200 users
  • Web-only platform coverage
  • Free plan includes one lifetime AI creation credit
  • Google Drive is the listed source connection
Our verdict

Consensus is an AI search engine and workspace for scientific research. It is designed for researchers, clinicians, students, and research teams that need to find academic papers, synthesize findings, and connect claims with supporting…

Read the review →

Scholarly is an AI workspace for researchers, professionals, teams, and students who need to investigate questions across web sources and uploaded files. Its Deep Research mode supports multi-step investigation with cited reports, while…

Read the review →
  1. ConsensusAI Research Assistants 9.2Free plan
  2. ScholarlyAI Research Assistants 9.0Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Consensus — where it wins

    • Broad search across papers, authors, DOIs, topics, and study details
    • Deep reviews, Study Snapshots, citation graphs, and inline citations
    • Web, iOS, Android, API, Zotero, ChatGPT, Claude, and MCP support

    Where it doesn't

    • The Free plan limits Pro messages, Deep reviews, snapshots, and API/MCP calls
    • Full-text analysis depends on paper availability
    • Enterprise access uses custom pricing and targets organizations over 200 users

  • Scholarly — where it wins

    • Deep Research produces cited reports with source verification
    • Analyzes web sources, PDFs, Word, PowerPoint, and text files
    • Team plans include shared libraries, roles, and centralized billing

    Where it doesn't

    • Web-only platform coverage
    • Free plan includes one lifetime AI creation credit
    • Google Drive is the listed source connection

More comparisons

All AI research assistants comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update