No endless tables — just the differences that matter, and a clear call. Pick two tools and see who takes it.
| Tool | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Rating | ||
| Category | AI Research | AI Search Engines |
| Description | Elicit is an AI research assistant built specifically for academic literature review, with a database of 125 million+ papers. It finds relevant papers, extracts key claims and methods, and synthesizes findings across multiple studies. Built for researchers who need reliable, citation-backed information rather than general-purpose AI responses. | Perplexity AI is an answer engine that combines real-time web search with large language models to produce cited, sourced responses. It targets researchers, students, and professionals who need accurate answers with traceable evidence rather than raw search results. Unlike traditional search, it synthesizes multiple sources into a coherent answer with inline citations. |
| Database of 125 million+ academic papers with semantic search | Supported | Not supported |
| Automated data extraction: sample sizes, methods, effect sizes, conclusions | Supported | Not supported |
| Side-by-side paper comparison table with custom extraction columns | Supported | Not supported |
| Literature review export to PDF, CSV, or BibTeX | Supported | Not supported |
| Claim extraction: highlights key findings per paper with direct quotes | Supported | Not supported |
| Related paper suggestions based on citation networks | Supported | Not supported |
| Structured summaries with transparent reasoning chains | Supported | Not supported |
| Team collaboration with shared workspaces and saved searches | Supported | Not supported |
| Real-time web search with inline citations | Not supported | Supported |
| Pro Search mode for multi-step research queries | Not supported | Supported |
| Spaces: shareable research workspaces | Not supported | Supported |
| File upload and analysis (PDFs, images) | Not supported | Supported |
| Focus modes: Academic, YouTube, Reddit, News, Wolfram Alpha | Not supported | Supported |
| API access with sonar-pro and sonar models | Not supported | Supported |
| Collections for organizing research threads | Not supported | Supported |
| Mobile apps for iOS and Android | Not supported | Supported |
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| Website | Visit | Visit |
