Consensus vs Semantic Scholar

A side-by-side comparison of Consensus and Semantic Scholar — pricing, free tiers, and who each tool is genuinely best for.

	Consensus	Semantic Scholar
Tagline	AI search engine that finds answers in peer-reviewed research	Free AI-powered academic search engine by AI2
Category	AI Data & Research	AI Data & Research
Pricing	Free tier; Premium ~$9/mo (billed annually), Enterprise custom (approximate)	Completely free to use, including the API. No paid tiers.
Free tier
Best for	People who want evidence-based answers drawn directly from peer-reviewed scientific literature.	Researchers and developers who need a high-quality, freely accessible academic index with a documented API.
Not for	Users analyzing private business data or needing non-academic, general web research.	Users who need full-text access to paywalled papers — it provides metadata and abstracts, not hosted articles.
Use cases	Find scientific evidence on a question Search peer-reviewed papers with AI Summarize study findings Evidence-based research	Semantic academic search Paper impact analysis Research API integration Citation graph exploration
	Visit Consensus	Visit Semantic Scholar

Choose it if: People who want evidence-based answers drawn directly from peer-reviewed scientific literature.

Choose it if: Researchers and developers who need a high-quality, freely accessible academic index with a documented API.