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Head-to-head · Academic Research Databases

ProQuest Central vs Academic Search Ultimate

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 6 checks side by side
Higher score ProQuest Central #2 in Academic Research Databases 9.3/10 Pricing on request ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit ProQuest
Academic Search Ultimate #11 in Academic Research Databases 8.4/10 Pricing on request ✓ 4 of 5 features Visit EBSCO

ProQuest Central leads on 0 checks, Academic Search Ultimate on 0, and 6 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 6 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreProQuest Central · 9.3/10
  • Most featuresProQuest Central · 5 of 5

ProQuest Central scores higher on our rubric for academic research databases: 9.3 against 8.4 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #11.

ProQuest Central is the better fit for comprehensive institutional research access. Academic Search Ultimate is the better fit for multidisciplinary full-text library research.

  • ProQuest Central fits best

    Comprehensive institutional research access

  • Academic Search Ultimate fits best

    Multidisciplinary full-text library research

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Side by side

Feature ProQuest Central 9.3/10 Visit ↗ Academic Search Ultimate 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.3 8.4
Ranking #2 in Academic Research Databases #11 in Academic Research Databases
Best for Comprehensive institutional research access Multidisciplinary full-text library research
Pricing model Paid Paid
Starting price Pricing on request Pricing on request
Free plan Not checked yet —
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud Cloud
Platforms Web Web
Support Docs Docs
Built for Mid-market, Enterprise Mid-market, Enterprise
Features ProQuest Central 5/5 · Academic Search Ultimate 4/5
Full-text access ✓ ✓
Advanced search ✓ ✓
Theses and dissertations ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Conference proceedings ✓ ✓
Institutional access ✓ ✓
Specs
Subject coverage Multidisciplinary Multidisciplinary
Content types scholarly journals; trade and professional titles; newspapers; magazines; dissertations; working papers; case studies; market reports; conference papers academic journals, magazines, periodicals, reports, books, videos
Our review
Pros
  • Full-text coverage across multidisciplinary scholarly journals
  • Includes dissertations, reports, newspapers, and conference papers
  • AI-assisted research with ProQuest Research Assistant
  • Peer-reviewed full text across science, humanities, health, law and engineering
  • Includes journals, reports, books, videos, cited references and indexing
  • EBSCOhost supports advanced search, saved results and citation exporting
Cons
  • Pricing follows a contact-sales model
  • Web access only
  • Designed for institutional rather than open access
  • Pricing requires contacting sales
  • Access is delivered through participating institutions and organizations
  • Its broad scope may be more than needed for single-subject research
Our verdict

ProQuest Central is a multidisciplinary academic research database for students, faculty, researchers, and libraries. It brings together full-text scholarly journals with dissertations, working papers, conference papers, case studies,…

Read the review →

Academic Search Ultimate is a multidisciplinary research database from EBSCO Information Services, designed for students, researchers and faculty working through academic libraries and other participating organizations. It combines…

Read the review →
  1. ProQuest CentralAcademic Research Databases 9.3Pricing on request
  2. Academic Search UltimateAcademic Research Databases 8.4Pricing on request

Strengths and trade-offs

  • ProQuest Central — where it wins

    • Full-text coverage across multidisciplinary scholarly journals
    • Includes dissertations, reports, newspapers, and conference papers
    • AI-assisted research with ProQuest Research Assistant

    Where it doesn't

    • Pricing follows a contact-sales model
    • Web access only
    • Designed for institutional rather than open access

  • Academic Search Ultimate — where it wins

    • Peer-reviewed full text across science, humanities, health, law and engineering
    • Includes journals, reports, books, videos, cited references and indexing
    • EBSCOhost supports advanced search, saved results and citation exporting

    Where it doesn't

    • Pricing requires contacting sales
    • Access is delivered through participating institutions and organizations
    • Its broad scope may be more than needed for single-subject research
  • ProQuest Central9.3/10 · Pricing on request

    Broad institutional access to scholarly, professional, and research content.

    Visit ProQuestFull verdict →
  • Academic Search Ultimate8.4/10 · Pricing on request

    A broad EBSCOhost library for institutions needing full-text research across disciplines.

    Visit EBSCOFull verdict →

More comparisons

All academic research databases comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update