Semantic Scholar Pricing 2026
Complete pricing guide with plans, hidden costs, and negotiation tips
Semantic Scholar pricing varies by team size and features, ranging from $0 to $0 per free 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
Semantic Scholar offers 3 pricing tiers: Free (Web Interface), Free API (Public), API with Higher Rate Limits. Standard paid plans include Free (Web Interface) at $0/free, Free API (Public) at $0/free. The Free API (Public) plan is developers and researchers building academic research tools and needing api access for non-commercial projects.
Compared to other ai research tools software, Semantic Scholar is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.
Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered academic search engine developed by the Allen Institute for AI (AI2) to help researchers discover and understand scientific literature across all disciplines. Unlike keyword-based search engines like Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar uses machine learning to analyze 200 million research papers and provide AI-powered recommendations, citation graphs, influential citation identification, and personalized research feeds. It is designed to help researchers find relevant papers faster through semantic understanding rather than simple keyword matching.
Semantic Scholar is completely free with no pricing tiers, subscriptions, or usage limits. The web interface provides unlimited searches, paper recommendations, citation analysis, author profiles, and research alerts at no cost. The API is also free for academic and research use with 100 requests per 5 minutes, and higher rate limits are available by request. Semantic Scholar is a non-profit project funded by the Allen Institute for AI, a philanthropic organization founded by Paul G. Allen, with a public commitment to remain free forever.
A critical consideration: While Semantic Scholar is free, it lacks the GPT-4-powered synthesis features of paid tools like Consensus ($8.99/month) or the automated systematic review capabilities of Elicit ($10/month). Semantic Scholar excels at paper discovery and citation analysis but requires manual reading and synthesis. Researchers needing AI to summarize findings or generate evidence-based answers should consider paid alternatives. However, for free academic search with AI recommendations, Semantic Scholar is unmatched in quality and coverage.
In this 2026 pricing guide, we explain Semantic Scholar's free web interface and API access, outline limitations like commercial use restrictions and rate limits, and compare Semantic Scholar to alternatives like Google Scholar, Consensus, Elicit, and Scite to help you determine if Semantic Scholar is the right free AI research tool for your needs.
All Semantic Scholar Plans & Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free (Web Interface) Searches: UnlimitedPaper views: Unlimited | Free | Free 0 | All researchers needing free academic search with AI-powered recommendations and citation analysis |
| Free API (Public) Rate limit: 100 requests per 5 minutesUsage: Academic/research only | Free | Free 0 | Developers and researchers building academic research tools and needing API access for non-commercial projects |
| API with Higher Rate Limits Rate limit: Custom based on project needsUsage: Academic/research with approval | Contact | Contact | Large-scale academic research projects needing higher API rate limits beyond the public 100 requests per 5 minutes |
View all features by plan
Free (Web Interface)
- Search across 200M+ research papers
- AI-powered paper recommendations
- Citation graphs and metrics
- Paper abstracts and full metadata
- Author profiles and h-index
- Influential citation identification
- Research feed personalization
- Paper alerts for saved searches
- PDF links and open access indicators
- Mobile app access
Free API (Public)
- RESTful API access
- Search and recommendation endpoints
- Paper metadata and citations
- Author information
- Open datasets for research
- 100 requests per 5 minutes rate limit
- Academic and research use allowed
- API documentation and support
API with Higher Rate Limits
- All Free API features
- Higher rate limits (custom)
- API key authentication
- Priority support for academic projects
- Access to additional datasets
- Custom data access agreements
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Frequently Asked Questions
01 How much does Semantic Scholar cost?
Semantic Scholar is completely free with no pricing tiers, subscriptions, or usage limits. The web interface provides unlimited searches, paper recommendations, citation graphs, and research alerts at no cost. The API is also free for academic and research use with 100 requests per 5 minutes. Higher API rate limits are available for free by completing a request form. There are no plans to charge for Semantic Scholar -- it is a non-profit project by the Allen Institute for AI (AI2) funded by philanthropist Paul G. Allen's estate.
02 Is Semantic Scholar free?
Yes, Semantic Scholar is completely free and always will be, according to AI2's public statements. It offers unlimited access to search 200M+ papers, AI-powered recommendations, citation analysis, author profiles, and research alerts without any subscription, account, or payment required. The API is free for academic and research use with generous rate limits. Semantic Scholar is a non-profit research tool funded by the Allen Institute for AI, a philanthropic organization founded by Paul G. Allen. There are no paid tiers or premium features.
03 What is Semantic Scholar?
Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered academic search engine developed by the Allen Institute for AI (AI2) to help researchers discover and understand scientific literature. It uses machine learning to analyze 200M+ research papers across all scientific disciplines, providing AI-powered recommendations, citation graphs, influential citation identification, and paper summaries. Unlike Google Scholar's keyword-based search, Semantic Scholar understands research context and relationships to recommend papers based on semantic relevance. It is widely used by academics, students, and researchers as a free alternative to paid databases.
04 Semantic Scholar vs Google Scholar: which is better?
Semantic Scholar and Google Scholar are both free academic search engines with different strengths. Semantic Scholar uses AI to provide smarter recommendations, citation context (influential citations), and research feeds personalized to your interests. Google Scholar offers broader coverage (especially for older papers and books) and simpler keyword search. Semantic Scholar excels at discovering related papers through AI recommendations and identifying highly influential citations. Google Scholar is better for comprehensive searches and finding cited-by counts. Use both: Google Scholar for broad searches, Semantic Scholar for AI-powered discovery and citation analysis.
05 Semantic Scholar vs Consensus: which should I choose?
Semantic Scholar is completely free with unlimited searches and AI recommendations, while Consensus costs $0-$8.99/month and offers GPT-4-powered synthesis and evidence-based answers. Semantic Scholar excels at paper discovery and citation analysis, while Consensus excels at synthesizing findings across papers with GPT-4. Choose Semantic Scholar if you need free academic search and are comfortable manually reading papers. Choose Consensus if you want GPT-4 to synthesize findings for you and are willing to pay $8.99/month for Pro Analyses and Study Snapshots.
06 What features are included in Semantic Scholar?
Semantic Scholar includes unlimited search across 200M+ papers, AI-powered paper recommendations, citation graphs and metrics, influential citation identification, author profiles with h-index and citation counts, research feed personalization, paper alerts for saved searches, PDF links and open access indicators, mobile app access, and a free API with 100 requests per 5 minutes for academic use. All features are free with no account required, though creating a free account enables personalized research feeds and saved searches.
07 Does Semantic Scholar have an API?
Yes, Semantic Scholar offers a free REST API for academic and research use. The public API allows 100 requests per 5 minutes without authentication, providing access to search, paper metadata, citations, author information, and recommendations. Higher rate limits are available for free by completing a request form and describing your research project. The API is governed by a license agreement with AI2 and is intended for academic, research, and non-commercial use. Commercial applications require special permission from AI2.
08 Can I use Semantic Scholar for commercial projects?
Commercial use of Semantic Scholar's API and data requires special permission from the Allen Institute for AI (AI2). While the web interface is freely accessible to anyone, using Semantic Scholar data in commercial products, services, or startups requires negotiating a separate licensing agreement with AI2. There is no publicly disclosed commercial pricing. For academic and research projects (theses, papers, non-profit tools), Semantic Scholar is completely free. If you're building a commercial product, contact AI2's partnerships team to discuss licensing.
09 What are the alternatives to Semantic Scholar?
Free alternatives to Semantic Scholar include Google Scholar (broader coverage with keyword search), PubMed (biomedical focus with 35M+ citations), arXiv (preprints in physics, math, CS), and CORE (aggregates 200M+ open access papers). Paid AI research tools include Consensus ($0-$8.99/month for GPT-4 synthesis), Elicit ($0-$12/month for systematic reviews), and Scite ($0-$20/month for citation context). For researchers needing free academic search with AI features, Semantic Scholar offers the best combination of coverage, AI recommendations, and citation analysis at no cost.