PICO Portal vs ASReview

PICO Portal9.2Visit ASReview8.8Visit

Higher score PICO Portal #3 in Literature Review Software 9.2/10 Free plan · 14-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 1 of 5 features Visit PICO Portal

vs

ASReview #6 in Literature Review Software 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 5 features Visit ASReview

• PICO Portal fits best

  AI-assisted systematic review teams

• ASReview fits best

  Open-source AI-assisted screening

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Side by side

Feature	PICO Portal 9.2/10 Visit ↗	ASReview 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.2	8.8
Ranking	#3 in Literature Review Software	#6 in Literature Review Software
Best for	AI-assisted systematic review teams	Open-source AI-assisted screening
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud, Self-hosted, Desktop, Browser extension
Platforms	Web	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Email, Docs	Email, Community, Docs
Integrations	12 integrations	11 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features PICO Portal 1/5 · ASReview 3/5
Screening workflow	✓	✓
Full-text management	Not checked yet	—
Systematic review tools	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Collaboration	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Evidence mapping	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Discovery tools	Not checked yet	Recommendations
Citation import limit	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Free plan includes screening, full-text review, and data extraction Integrates with PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and more Supports dual review, risk-of-bias assessment, and PRISMA reporting	Active learning prioritizes records from screening decisions Imports CSV, TSV, XLSX, and RIS datasets Supports collaboration, benchmarking, and duplicate hiding
Cons	The free PICO Portal plan supports one project Advanced ScholarIQ access is limited during the two-week trial Paid-plan pricing requires contact with the vendor	Does not provide full-text access Requires an externally obtained dataset Collaboration requires private server access
Our verdict	PICO Portal is a web-based evidence-synthesis platform for researchers conducting literature and systematic reviews. It is designed for academic, government, nonprofit, private-sector, policy, guideline, research-and-development, and… 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 →

Strengths and trade-offs

• PICO Portal — where it wins

  • Free plan includes screening, full-text review, and data extraction
  • Integrates with PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and more
  • Supports dual review, risk-of-bias assessment, and PRISMA reporting

  Where it doesn't

  • The free PICO Portal plan supports one project
  • Advanced ScholarIQ access is limited during the two-week trial
  • Paid-plan pricing requires contact with the vendor

• 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

• PICO Portal9.2/10 · Free plan · 14-day trial

  A broad web-based workspace for AI-assisted screening, extraction, and reporting.

  Visit PICO PortalFull verdict →
• ASReview8.8/10 · Free plan

  A capable free screening tool for teams that can manage full-text access separately.

  Visit ASReviewFull verdict →