Web of Science vs CORE

Web of Science9.4Visit CORE8.5Visit

Higher score Web of Science #1 in Academic Research Databases 9.4/10 Pricing on request ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Web of Science

vs

CORE #10 in Academic Research Databases 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit CORE

• Web of Science fits best

  Institutional citation indexing

• CORE fits best

  Free open-access literature discovery

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature	Web of Science 9.4/10 Visit ↗	CORE 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.5
Ranking	#1 in Academic Research Databases	#10 in Academic Research Databases
Best for	Institutional citation indexing	Free open-access literature discovery
Pricing model	Paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	Pricing on request	—
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud, Browser extension
Platforms	Web	Web, Chrome extension
Support	Live chat, Phone, Email, Docs	Email, Docs
Built for	Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Web of Science 5/5 · CORE 5/5
Full-text access	✓	✓
Advanced search	✓	✓
Theses and dissertations	✓	✓
Conference proceedings	✓	✓
Institutional access	✓	✓
Specs
Subject coverage	Multidisciplinary	Multidisciplinary
Content types	journals, conference proceedings, scholarly books, dissertations, theses, preprints, datasets, grants, patents	research papers, journal articles, preprints, theses, dissertations, conference proceedings, reports, books
Our review
Pros	Covers journals, books, conferences, theses, datasets, grants, and patents Supports Boolean, proximity, fielded search, and citation tracking Connects with EndNote, OpenURL, library catalogs, and ORCID	Free search with open-access full-text research discovery Multidisciplinary coverage includes theses, dissertations, and proceedings API, bulk data, Chrome extension, and related-article tools
Cons	Subscription pricing requires contacting sales There is no free plan Full-text access depends on holdings, subscriptions, or open-access links	Institutional API access is tied to the Supporting tier Repository and compliance tools target academic organisations The broad collection may suit discovery better than narrow subject research
Our verdict	Web of Science is a subscription-based academic research platform from Clarivate for researchers, students, librarians, administrators, and institutions. Its scope spans sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, with records… Read the review →	CORE is a not-for-profit academic research database and open scholarly infrastructure service hosted by The Open University. It is designed for researchers, students, institutions, developers, and members of the public who need to discover… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Web of Science — where it wins

  • Covers journals, books, conferences, theses, datasets, grants, and patents
  • Supports Boolean, proximity, fielded search, and citation tracking
  • Connects with EndNote, OpenURL, library catalogs, and ORCID

  Where it doesn't

  • Subscription pricing requires contacting sales
  • There is no free plan
  • Full-text access depends on holdings, subscriptions, or open-access links

• CORE — where it wins

  • Free search with open-access full-text research discovery
  • Multidisciplinary coverage includes theses, dissertations, and proceedings
  • API, bulk data, Chrome extension, and related-article tools

  Where it doesn't

  • Institutional API access is tied to the Supporting tier
  • Repository and compliance tools target academic organisations
  • The broad collection may suit discovery better than narrow subject research

• Web of Science9.4/10 · Pricing on request

  A broad citation index for institutions that need structured scholarly discovery and tracking.

  Visit Web of ScienceFull verdict →
• CORE8.5/10 · Free plan

  A free, multidisciplinary route to open-access papers, theses, proceedings, and research data.

  Visit COREFull verdict →