Consensus
Searches published papers and tells you how many of them support a claim, which turns a yes-or-no question into a count you can inspect.
What Consensus is best for
The categories Consensus is listed in, and how strong a fit it is in each.
Search, Research & Academics
Web research, deep research, books, academic papers, citations, news, fact-checking.
Built for this
Consensus’s biggest strengths
Search, Research & AcademicsSearches published papers and tells you how many of them support a claim, which turns a yes-or-no question into a count you can inspect.
Where it may not be the best fit
Search, Research & AcademicsThe consensus meter reflects the papers it found, not the state of the field. Deep reviews are the metered resource — 3 a month free, 15 on Pro, 200 on Deep — so that is what decides the tier rather than how much you search.
Consensus pricing
Consensus has a free plan. Free plan at $0: basic paper search, 15 Pro messages a month and up to 3 Deep reviews a month, though the same card also describes the free tier as being without AI analysis
FreeFree plan at $0: basic paper search, 15 Pro messages a month and up to 3 Deep reviews a month, though the same card also describes the free tier as being without AI analysis
$0ProUnlimited Pro messages, 15 Deep reviews a month and unlimited access to every research tool
$20/mo · $12/mo yearlyDeepEverything in Pro with 200 Deep reviews a month, aimed at researchers and clinicians running frequent literature reviews. Team and Enterprise are priced on their own tab
$65/mo · $45/mo yearlyChecked by hand on 4 September 2026 — Both consensus.app/pricing/ and the help-centre article return 200 with the plans drawn in JavaScript; the browser step found no amounts either. Runs 16, 17, 19 and 20 all agree. Priced by hand from the in-app upgrade panel, which is where the Individual plans are actually shown; the Team and Enterprise tab is still uncovered. Prices change often, so confirm on the provider’s own page before spending.
Who makes Consensus
Answers are built from published papers rather than the open web, which is the distinction that matters when a claim has to survive a supervisor.
CompanyConsensus
Founded2020
Based inBoston, US
SectorSearch & knowledge
ModelThird-party
StatusPrivate
Primary usersResearchers, Students
Free planYes
ComputeThird-party
Public listingNone announced
Best alternatives to Consensus
Tools that do comparable work, best fit first, drawn from the catalogue rather than hand-picked. Every one is listed whether or not there is money in it for us.
Connected Papers
Free
Builds a similarity graph from citation data rather than from a language model, so nothing in the output is generated and there is nothing to hallucinate.
View Connected Papers →Elicit
Free
Searches actual papers and extracts findings into a table you can check, one row per study, rather than answering in prose.
View Elicit →EvidenceHunt
Free
Scoped to clinical evidence and built with practising clinicians, so the filters match how medical literature is actually appraised.
View EvidenceHunt →Gemini Deep Research
Free
Runs a multi-step search across dozens of sources and returns a structured, referenced report. Strong first pass on an unfamiliar field.
View Gemini Deep Research →Gemini Notebook
Free
You upload the sources and it answers only from them, linking every sentence to the passage it came from. The strongest verification pattern here.
View Gemini Notebook →Litmaps
Free
Draws a citation map you can steer, so the shape of a literature becomes visible rather than being a list of titles.
View Litmaps →Consensus by job
Where Consensus sits in the wider category pages.
Best AI for Research
Built for this — Web research, deep research, books, academic papers, citations, news, fact-checking.
Questions about Consensus
Is Consensus free?
Yes — Free plan at $0: basic paper search, 15 Pro messages a month and up to 3 Deep reviews a month, though the same card also describes the free tier as being without AI analysis. The cheapest paid tier is Pro, at $20/mo month to month or $12/mo billed yearly.
What is Consensus best at?
Searches published papers and tells you how many of them support a claim, which turns a yes-or-no question into a count you can inspect. It is listed under Search, Research & Academics, and this is what it is built for.
What should I watch out for with Consensus?
The consensus meter reflects the papers it found, not the state of the field. Deep reviews are the metered resource — 3 a month free, 15 on Pro, 200 on Deep — so that is what decides the tier rather than how much you search.
What are the alternatives to Consensus?
6 tools do comparable work: Connected Papers, Elicit, EvidenceHunt, Gemini Deep Research, Gemini Notebook, Litmaps. 6 of them have a free plan.
How current is this Consensus pricing?
Checked by hand on 4 September 2026, because Consensus cannot be read automatically: Both consensus.app/pricing/ and the help-centre article return 200 with the plans drawn in JavaScript; the browser step found no amounts either. Runs 16, 17, 19 and 20 all agree. Priced by hand from the in-app upgrade panel, which is where the Individual plans are actually shown; the Team and Enterprise tab is still uncovered. Prices change often — confirm on the provider's own page before spending.