Consensus vs Elicit
Which AI search & research should you pick in 2026? Pricing, agents, plans and use cases, side by side.
FSReviewed May 23, 2026 by Faisal Saleem · no paid placementsPick Consensus if budget is the priority. The other tool wins on specific features, see the side-by-side below.
- You want the lower entry price: $11.99/mo vs $12/mo.
- You need 200M+ papers or Consensus meter, which Elicit doesn't offer.
- You mostly do literature review or scientific research.
- You need Paper search across 125M or Data extraction tables, which Consensus doesn't offer.
- You mostly do systematic reviews or data extraction.
By the numbers
Side by side
| SPEC | ||
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $11.99/moCHEAPER | $12/mo |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| AI agent | No | No |
| Editor's Pick | No | No |
| Key features | 200M+ papersConsensus meterStudy SnapshotCopilot synthesis | Paper search across 125MData extraction tablesNotebooksConcept search |
| Best for | Literature reviewScientific researchEvidence synthesisCitations | Systematic reviewsData extractionMeta-analysisGrant writing |
| Works with | #academic#research#science | #academic#research#literature-review |
Plan by plan
- Unlimited searches
- Limited GPT-4 results
- AI-powered summaries
- Up to 5000 papers in DB
- Limited paper summaries
- Basic features
- Unlimited GPT-4 summaries
- Unlimited Consensus Meter
- Unlimited Study Snapshots
- Unlimited paper summaries
- Extract from PDFs
- Limited reports
- Team management
- SSO/SAML
- Dedicated support
- Unlimited everything
- Advanced extraction columns
- Priority compute
- SSO/SAML
- Data privacy controls
- Dedicated support
What each is best for
| USE CASE | ||
|---|---|---|
| Literature review | ||
| Scientific research | ||
| Evidence synthesis | ||
| Citations | ||
| Systematic reviews | ||
| Data extraction | ||
| Meta-analysis | ||
| Grant writing |
Strengths and trade-offs
- Free tier available; paid plans from $11.99/mo
- 200M+ papers
- Consensus meter
- Study Snapshot
- No autonomous agent, handles single prompts, not multi-step workflows
- Competition is strong in this space, see Elicit for comparison
- Free tier available; paid plans from $12/mo
- Paper search across 125M
- Data extraction tables
- Notebooks
- No autonomous agent, handles single prompts, not multi-step workflows
- Competition is strong in this space, see Consensus for comparison
Consensus vs Elicit FAQ
Short answers to what people ask most before choosing between these two.
Is Consensus better than Elicit?
It depends on your workflow. Consensus is focused on assistive features, while Elicit doesn't include an agent. Neither is currently our Editor's Pick, both are credible options. See the side-by-side table above for specifics.
Is Consensus cheaper than Elicit?
Consensus is cheaper. Consensus starts at $11.99/mo and Elicit starts at $12/mo, a difference of roughly $0.01 per month at the entry tier.
Does Consensus have an AI agent?
No, Consensus is built around assistive features (autocomplete, chat) rather than a true autonomous agent. If agent functionality is a hard requirement, neither tool in this comparison ships one.
Does Elicit have an AI agent?
No, Elicit focuses on assistive features rather than agents.
What's the difference between Consensus and Elicit?
Both are search & research tools. The key differences come down to pricing (Consensus: Freemium, from $11.99/mo; Elicit: Freemium, from $12/mo), agent capability (Consensus: no, Elicit: no), and feature focus. Use the comparison table above to weigh which axis matters most for your work.
What's a good alternative to Consensus and Elicit?
Beyond Consensus and Elicit, the strongest alternatives in Search & Research depend on whether you prioritise price, agent capability, or specific features. See our "Consensus alternatives" and "Elicit alternatives" pages for a hand-picked ranking of each.