Scite Pricing 2026
Complete pricing guide with plans, hidden costs, and negotiation tips
Scite pricing varies by team size and features, ranging from $0 to $20 per user/month in 2026. Your actual cost depends on the tier you choose, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: Yes
- Billing: Monthly and annual (save 15-20%)
- Hidden costs: Add ~35% for implementation, support, and training
Scite offers 3 pricing tiers: Free, Individual/Plus, Institutional. Standard paid plans include Free at $0/user/month, Individual/Plus at $20/user/month. The Individual/Plus plan is individual researchers and academics needing unlimited citation context analysis and paper reliability assessment.
Compared to other ai research tools software, Scite is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.
Scite is an AI-powered citation analysis tool that helps researchers assess the reliability of scientific papers by showing how they are cited by other researchers. Unlike traditional citation databases that provide simple citation counts (Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar), Scite uses natural language processing to classify each citation as supporting, contrasting, or mentioning the original research. This 'Smart Citations' feature allows researchers to evaluate whether a paper's findings are widely supported or disputed by subsequent research, providing deeper insight into research credibility beyond raw citation numbers.
Pricing ranges from free to $20/user/month for individual researchers, with custom institutional pricing. The Free plan offers limited Smart Citations per month for testing. Individual/Plus costs $20/month or $12/month annual ($144/year) with unlimited Smart Citations, citation reports, reference checking, and custom Alerts. Institutional plans require custom quotes for universities and research institutions. Students can request discounts by recommending Scite to their institution, though the process requires institutional involvement.
A critical consideration: Scite's unique value is citation context analysis -- no free tool (Semantic Scholar, Google Scholar) provides similar supporting vs contrasting citation classification. However, at $12-20/month, Scite is best suited for researchers who frequently need to evaluate paper reliability rather than discover new papers. For paper discovery, free tools like Semantic Scholar are more cost-effective. Scite also lacks a mid-tier Team plan for small research groups (5-10 people), jumping from Individual to Institutional pricing.
In this 2026 pricing guide, we break down Scite's three plans, calculate real-world costs for individual researchers and institutions, expose hidden fees like annual billing requirements and student discount processes, and compare Scite to alternatives like Semantic Scholar, Consensus, and Elicit to help you determine if Scite's Smart Citations are worth the investment for your research workflow.
All Scite Plans & Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Smart Citations: Limited per monthSearches: Limited | Free | Free 0 | Students and occasional researchers testing Scite's Smart Citations without commitment |
| Individual/Plus Minimum seats: 1Smart Citations: Unlimited | $20 /user/month | $12 /user/monthSave 40% | Individual researchers and academics needing unlimited citation context analysis and paper reliability assessment |
| Institutional Minimum seats: Typically 10-100+ (institutional)Smart Citations: Unlimited for all users | Contact | Contact | Universities, research institutions, and libraries needing institution-wide access with centralized management |
View all features by plan
Free
- Limited Smart Citations per month
- Search across 1.2B+ citations
- Basic citation context
- Paper reliability indicators
- Supporting vs contrasting citations
- Limited dashboard access
Individual/Plus
- Unlimited Smart Citations
- Search across 1.2B+ citations
- Full citation context analysis
- Supporting vs contrasting citation breakdown
- Paper reliability dashboards
- Citation reports and exports
- Custom Alerts for papers
- Reference checking tools
- Priority email support
Institutional
- All Individual features
- Unlimited users for institution
- Centralized billing and management
- Usage analytics and reporting
- SSO and enterprise authentication
- Dedicated account manager
- Priority support with SLA
- Custom integrations
- API access (if available)
Get a custom Scite quote
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Frequently Asked Questions
01 How much does Scite cost?
Scite costs $0-$20/user/month depending on the plan. The Free plan offers limited Smart Citations per month for testing. Individual/Plus costs $20/month or $12/month annual ($144/year) with unlimited Smart Citations, citation reports, and reference checking. Institutional plans require custom quotes for universities and research institutions needing centralized billing and management. Students can request discounts by recommending Scite to their institution. Most individual researchers choose Individual annual ($12/month, $144/year) for unlimited citation context analysis.
02 Is Scite free?
Scite offers a limited free plan with restricted Smart Citations per month, but serious research use requires the Individual plan ($12/month annual). The free plan allows testing Scite's citation context features but limits monthly usage. For completely free citation analysis, consider Semantic Scholar (free with 200M+ papers) or Google Scholar (free with basic citation counts). Scite's value proposition is Smart Citations showing how papers are cited (supporting vs contrasting), which free tools do not provide.
03 What is Scite?
Scite is an AI-powered citation analysis tool that helps researchers assess the reliability of scientific papers by showing how they are cited by other researchers. Unlike traditional citation counts (Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar), Scite uses natural language processing to classify citations as supporting, contrasting, or mentioning the original research. This 'Smart Citations' feature helps researchers evaluate whether a paper's findings are widely supported or disputed by subsequent research. Scite indexes over 1.2 billion citation statements across all scientific disciplines.
04 Scite vs Semantic Scholar: which is better?
Scite and Semantic Scholar serve different purposes. Scite costs $12-20/month and specializes in citation context analysis (supporting vs contrasting citations) to assess paper reliability. Semantic Scholar is completely free and excels at paper discovery with AI recommendations and citation graphs. Scite is better for evaluating existing research by analyzing how papers are cited. Semantic Scholar is better for discovering new papers and understanding research landscapes. Use both: Semantic Scholar for free discovery, Scite for citation context when evaluating paper reliability.
05 Scite vs Elicit: which should I choose?
Scite and Elicit target different research workflows. Scite costs $12-20/month and focuses on citation context analysis and paper reliability assessment through Smart Citations. Elicit costs $10-49/month and focuses on systematic review automation with data extraction tables and automated reports. Choose Scite if you need to evaluate how papers are cited (supporting vs contrasting) to assess research credibility. Choose Elicit if you need to conduct systematic reviews and extract data from multiple papers into structured tables.
06 What features are included in each Scite plan?
Free includes limited Smart Citations per month, basic citation context, and supporting vs contrasting citation indicators. Individual/Plus ($12/month annual) includes unlimited Smart Citations, full citation context analysis, paper reliability dashboards, citation reports and exports, custom Alerts, and reference checking tools. Institutional (custom pricing) adds unlimited users, centralized billing, usage analytics, SSO, dedicated account manager, and priority support with SLA.
07 Does Scite have a student discount?
Scite offers student discounts through institutional recommendations. To receive a discount, students must recommend Scite to their institution by emailing both [email protected] and [email protected]. There is no direct individual student discount or .edu email verification like Consensus offers (40% off). The discount process requires institutional involvement, making it less accessible than competitors' student pricing. For budget-conscious students, consider free alternatives like Semantic Scholar or Consensus Free (10 analyses/month).
08 What are Smart Citations?
Smart Citations are Scite's core feature showing how a paper is cited by other researchers. Unlike traditional citation counts, Smart Citations classify each citation as supporting (confirms the findings), contrasting (disputes or contradicts the findings), or mentioning (references without evaluation). This allows researchers to assess whether a paper's findings are widely supported or disputed by subsequent research. For example, a paper with 100 citations might have 80 supporting, 15 contrasting, and 5 mentioning -- helping you evaluate its reliability beyond just citation count.
09 What are the alternatives to Scite?
Alternatives to Scite include Semantic Scholar (free with citation graphs and AI recommendations), Google Scholar (free with basic citation counts), Consensus ($0-$8.99/month for GPT-4 evidence synthesis), Elicit ($0-$12/month for systematic reviews), and general citation managers like Zotero (free) or Mendeley (free). For free citation analysis, Semantic Scholar offers influential citation identification. For citation context similar to Scite's Smart Citations, no free alternative exists -- Scite's classification of supporting vs contrasting citations is unique. For budget-conscious researchers, Semantic Scholar provides the best free citation analysis.