Scite review

Scite answers a question most AI assistants skip: what did later research say about this paper. It has indexed more than 1.6 billion citations across more than 300 million scholarly sources and classifies whether citing studies support or contradict a claim. Basic costs $12 a month billed yearly and covers the full Assistant and Search, Smart Citation reports, collections up to 1,000 papers, citation alerts and 250 MCP credits a month. Pro, at $40 a month billed yearly, adds API access, collections up to 10,000 papers, 2,500 MCP credits and patent, clinical trial and grant datasets. The Zotero plugin and browser extension show citation data where you already read, and library holdings give full text through your institution. Enterprise adds regulatory datasets such as FAERS and 510(k). The downsides are that there is no free plan beyond a 7-day trial, the API sits on Pro, and Scite is a scholarly tool that will not help much with market research.

Who it is for

Researchers and students who need to check how a paper has been cited before relying on it.

Price

Basic $12 per month billed yearly; Pro $40 per month billed yearly; 7-day free trial.

Basic For the full Scite platform $12 / month Billed yearly
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 9, 2026.

Key features

• Assistant grounded in research with full-text citation search
• Smart Citation reports on articles
• Collections and citation alerts with dashboards
• Patent, clinical trial and grant datasets on Pro
• API access and MCP credits for AI agents

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Shows whether citing studies support or contradict a claim
• Strength: Zotero plugin and browser extension bring citation data into your workflow
• Strength: Full text through your library holdings
• Weakness: No free plan, only a 7-day trial
• Weakness: API access needs Pro at $40 a month billed yearly
• Weakness: Less suited to open web or market research

Key facts

• Citations indexed: 1.6B+
• Users: 2M users worldwide
• Collections: Up to 1,000 papers on Basic, 10,000 on Pro

Where it ranks

Scite is No. 7 in our Best AI Research Assistants verdict.