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Head-to-head · AI Literature Review Software

Rayyan vs DistillerSR

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 6 checks side by side
Higher score Rayyan #2 in AI Literature Review Software 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Rayyan
DistillerSR #3 in AI Literature Review Software 8.7/10 Paid ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit DistillerSR

Rayyan leads on 1 check, DistillerSR on 1, and 4 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 scoreRayyan · 8.8/10
  • Free planonly Rayyan
  • Most featuresDistillerSR · 4 of 4

Rayyan scores higher on our rubric for ai literature review software: 8.8 against 8.7 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #3.

Rayyan offers free plan; DistillerSR doesn't. DistillerSR leads on collaboration seats: 3 versus 1.

Rayyan is the better fit for mobile collaborative screening. DistillerSR is the better fit for traceable institutional reviews.

  • Rayyan fits best

    Mobile collaborative screening

  • DistillerSR fits best

    Traceable institutional reviews

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Side by side

Feature Rayyan 8.8/10 Visit ↗ DistillerSR 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.8 8.7
Ranking #2 in AI Literature Review Software #3 in AI Literature Review Software
Best for Mobile collaborative screening Traceable institutional reviews
Pricing model Free plan + paid Paid
Starting price $8.33/seat/mo —
Free plan ✓ (best) —
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Mobile Cloud
Platforms Web, iOS, Android Web
Support Phone, Tickets, Community, Docs, Live chat Email, Community, Docs · 24/7
Compliance SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA SOC 2, GDPR, 2FA
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Rayyan 3/4 · DistillerSR 4/4
Screening workflow ✓ ✓
AI paper summaries Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Full-text analysis ✓ ✓
Systematic review support ✓ ✓
Specs
Collaboration seats 1 3 (best)
Export formats RIS, BibTeX, EndNote, CSV JSON
Our review
Pros
  • Imports references from RIS, BibTeX, EndNote, CSV, NBIB, XML, CIW, and PDF
  • Combines blinded collaboration, conflict resolution, deduplication, and AI ranking
  • Supports mobile and offline screening on iOS and Android
  • Configurable workflows cover screening, extraction, appraisal, and reporting
  • AI supports triage, reference prioritization, and evidence extraction
  • Audit trails, version control, and PRISMA reporting support traceability
Cons
  • Individual plan prices are displayed monthly but billed quarterly
  • Business / Academic pricing starts at five licenses
  • ResearchPilot features beyond Help Center mode are limited to institutional plans
  • No free plan is available
  • Corporate and government pricing is quote-based
  • Its broad workflow configuration may exceed small review needs
Our verdict

Rayyan is a web-based research collaboration platform for researchers, students, librarians, and review teams. It covers the main stages of a systematic review, including reference importing, duplicate detection, title and abstract…

Read the review →

DistillerSR is a web-based literature review and evidence management platform for academic researchers, healthcare organizations, pharmaceutical and medical-device companies, contract research organizations, governments, and NGOs. It is…

Read the review →
  1. RayyanAI Literature Review Software 8.8Free plan
  2. DistillerSRAI Literature Review Software 8.7Paid

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Rayyan — where it wins

    • Imports references from RIS, BibTeX, EndNote, CSV, NBIB, XML, CIW, and PDF
    • Combines blinded collaboration, conflict resolution, deduplication, and AI ranking
    • Supports mobile and offline screening on iOS and Android

    Where it doesn't

    • Individual plan prices are displayed monthly but billed quarterly
    • Business / Academic pricing starts at five licenses
    • ResearchPilot features beyond Help Center mode are limited to institutional plans

  • DistillerSR — where it wins

    • Configurable workflows cover screening, extraction, appraisal, and reporting
    • AI supports triage, reference prioritization, and evidence extraction
    • Audit trails, version control, and PRISMA reporting support traceability

    Where it doesn't

    • No free plan is available
    • Corporate and government pricing is quote-based
    • Its broad workflow configuration may exceed small review needs

More comparisons

All AI literature review software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update