Elicit vs SciSpace: Which Content Optimizer is Best in 2025?

by | Last updated May 12, 2025

Winner
Scispace LOGO
9.0
  • Chat With PDF
  • Literature Review
  • AI Writer
  • Paraphrase
  •  Citation Generator
  • Free trial available
  • Paid Plans from $20/month
Runner Up
Elicit
8.0
  • Notebook
  • Data Extractor
  • Paper Researcher
  • Topic Finder
  • Custom Column
  • Free plan available
  • Paid Plans from $12/month
Elicit vs SciSpace

Choosing the right AI tools can be a game-changer for content creation. 

But with so many options popping up, knowing which is right for you can be challenging. 

Two popular choices are Elicit and SciSpace.

Both offer excellent features to help you research, write, and optimize your content, but each has strengths and weaknesses.

In this post, we’ll explain the key differences between Elicit vs SciSpace to help you decide which is best.

Overview

To give you the most accurate comparison, we’ve spent weeks testing both Elicit and SciSpace, pushing their features to the limit.

We’ve explored their research capabilities, experimented with their content generation tools, and analyzed their overall user experience.

This hands-on experience allows us to provide accurate insights and help you make an informed decision.

Elicit AI

Want to analyze research papers like a pro? Elicit’s free plan gives you a taste of its powerful capabilities.

8out of 10

Pricing: It has a free plan. The premium plan starts at $12/month.

Key Features:

  • Literature Review
  • Question Answering
  • Summarization
Scispace logo

Want to speed up your research process? SciSpace can help you analyze papers faster and identify key findings with accuracy.

9out of 10

Pricing: You can try it for free. Paid plan starts at $20/month

Key Features:

  • Research Assistant
  • Citation Generation
  • Paper Summarization

What is Elicit?

Elicit is like having a super-smart research assistant by your side. It uses AI to help you find relevant papers and extract key insights.

Think of it as Google Scholar on steroids. It’s good at understanding complex research questions.

You can even use it to generate different content formats, like summaries and answers.

Also, explore our favorite Elicit alternatives

Elicit AI
Elicit
8.0

Want to analyze research papers like a pro? Elicit’s free plan gives you a taste of its powerful capabilities.

Key Benefits

  • Automatically summarizes research papers: Get the gist of a paper in seconds, not hours.
  • Extracts key findings and data: No more manual data entry or tedious highlighting.
  • Generates research questions: Uncover new avenues of inquiry and deepen your understanding.
  • Identifies relevant papers: Find the most relevant research, even if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for.

Pricing

  • Basic: Free
  • Plus Plan: $12/month
  • Pro: $49/month
Elicit AI Pricing

Pros

  • Incredibly efficient for research.
  • Provides accurate summaries.
  • User-friendly interface.
  • Offers a generous free plan.
  • Constantly improving with updates.

Cons

  • Can sometimes miss nuances.
  • Relies heavily on existing research.
  • Not as helpful for creative writing.
  • Occasional connectivity issues.

What is SciSpace?

SciSpace is your one-stop shop for all things research. It’s designed to help you find, understand, and use scientific information.

SciSpace goes beyond just finding papers.

It helps you understand complex equations, generate citations, and discover related research you might have missed.

It’s an excellent tool for students, researchers, and anyone who wants to stay up-to-date with the latest scientific findings.

Also, explore our favorite SciSpace alternatives

Scispace logo
SciSpace
9.0

Ready to experience the future of research? SciSpace offers a free trial, so you can explore its powerful features & see how it could transform your workflow.

Key Benefits

  • Speeds up literature reviews by 40%. Imagine finishing your literature review in record time!
  • Identifies key findings with 95% accuracy. No more sifting through pages of jargon.
  • Recommends relevant papers with 80% precision. Discover new research you might have missed.

Pricing

SciSpace offers a free version with basic features. Want more power? You can upgrade to a premium plan for $15 per month. Here’s what you get:

  • Basic Plan ($12/month): Great for students. Includes basic research tools and limited access to premium features.
  • Pro Plan ($24/month): Ideal for researchers. Offers full access to all of the features, including advanced analytics and collaboration tools.
  • Institution Plan (custom pricing): Designed for universities and research institutions. Provides customized solutions for large-scale access.
SciSpace Pricing

Pros

  • Incredibly easy to use.
  • Powerful AI-driven features.
  • Saves a ton of time.
  • Excellent collaboration tools.
  • Affordable pricing plans..

Cons

  • Can be inaccurate
  • Costly for some
  • The writing AI is not as strong.
  • It’s not ideal for creative writing.

Feature Comparison

Now, let’s dive deeper and compare the specific features of Elicit and SciSpace.

This head-to-head matchup will help you see how these tools stack against each other in key areas.

1. Literature Review

Elicit: Elicit excels at conducting literature reviews. It allows you to quickly sift through a vast database of research papers, filter search results, and identify the most relevant documents for your needs. You can ask questions in natural language, and Elicit will find documents that address your query.

SciSpace: SciSpace also offers robust literature review capabilities. Its AI research assistant helps you navigate research papers, discover related articles, and summarize key findings. SciSpace integrates with Scite, enabling you to see how other researchers have cited and evaluated research papers.

Paraphraser in SciSpace

2. AI Research Assistant

Elicit: While Elicit doesn’t have a dedicated “AI research assistant,” its core functionality acts like one. It can answer your research questions, summarize papers, and help you find the information you need quickly and efficiently.

SciSpace: SciSpace features an AI research assistant that guides you through the research process. This assistant can help you understand complex concepts, find relevant papers, and generate citations.

3. Citation Generation

Elicit: Elicit doesn’t currently offer a built-in citation generation feature. You’ll need to rely on other tools or manually create citations.

SciSpace is a robust citation generation tool that automatically creates citations in various formats, saving you time and effort.

4. Summarization

Elicit: Elicit’s summarization feature is a standout. It can quickly summarize research papers, providing concise and informative summaries. You can even customize the summary length and format.

SciSpace: SciSpace also offers a summarization feature, allowing users to understand research papers without reading the entire document. However, Elicit’s summarization capabilities might be slightly more advanced in 2024.

5. PDF Interaction

Elicit: Elicit allows you to upload PDFs and interact with them directly within the platform. You can highlight text, ask questions about the content, and even generate summaries of the PDF.

SciSpace: SciSpace also offers PDF interaction features. You can upload PDFs, annotate them, and use the AI research assistant to understand the content better.

6. Content Optimization

Elicit: While Elicit focuses primarily on research and summarization, it can indirectly help with content optimization. Elicit enables you to create more informed and data-driven content by providing quick access to relevant research and key findings.

SciSpace: SciSpace offers content optimization features, such as generating summaries and providing insights from research papers. However, it might not be as comprehensive as dedicated content optimization tools like Clearscope or SurferSEO.

Top Benefits of Elicit AI

Final Verdict

So, which tool comes out on top? For us, it’s SciSpace.

It offers a fantastic balance of features and affordability. SciSpace is like a copilot for your research workflow, helping you find, understand, and use information effectively.

It’s also easy to use and integrates seamlessly with other tools like ChatGPT. 

Plus, you can automate tasks, export your work, and get started without a credit card.

We’ve spent years testing and reviewing AI tools. You can trust our verdict.

While Elicit is a powerful tool, SciSpace might offer more value for your money, especially if you’re just starting out with AI research assistants.

More of Elicit

  • Elicit vs Jenni: Elicit focuses on research analysis, while Jenni excels in AI-powered writing assistance for faster, clearer academic content generation.
  • Elicit vs Paperpal: Elicit aids research tasks; Paperpal refines academic writing with grammar checks, paraphrasing, and plagiarism detection.
  • Elicit vs Yomu: Elicit directly answers research questions; Yomu summarizes papers and assists with academic writing, offering citation help.
  • Elicit vs Writesonic: Elicit specializes in research and summarization; Writesonic generates diverse content formats beyond research papers.
  • Elicit vs Frase: Elicit analyzes research papers; Frase optimizes content for SEO, from research to writing within one platform.
  • Elicit vs CoWriter: Elicit answers research questions; CoWriter aims to streamline research and writing for efficiency.
  • Elicit vs Scite: Elicit finds and summarizes papers; Scite evaluates research reliability through citation analysis.
  • Elicit vs Quillbot: Elicit focuses on research insights; Quillbot rephrases and summarizes text to enhance clarity and avoid plagiarism.
  • Elicit vs Grammarly: Elicit extracts information from research; Grammarly improves writing with grammar, style, and tone suggestions.
  • Elicit vs Paperguide: Elicit answers research questions; Paperguide simplifies complex research concepts and aids literature review.

More of SciSpace

  • SciSpace vs Jenni: While Jenni focuses on simplifying general essay creation and enhancing grammar, SciSpace is tailored for deep scholarly research, enabling interaction with PDFs and automated literature reviews.
  • SciSpace vs Paperpal: Paperpal excels in advanced academic text refinement, offering comprehensive AI writing support with features like plagiarism checks. SciSpace is primarily a literature search tool with some writing capabilities.
  • SciSpace vs Yomu: Yomu AI swiftly generates concise summaries using semantic search, while SciSpace also employs semantic search for research but offers more comprehensive research workflow features.
  • SciSpace vs Writesonic: Writesonic is a versatile AI for diverse content formats, including marketing copy, whereas SciSpace concentrates on academic research assistance, providing tools for literature analysis and citation.
  • SciSpace vs Frase: Frase is an AI content platform geared towards SEO optimization and content creation, whereas SciSpace is designed to aid in academic research, focusing on understanding and analyzing research papers.
  • SciSpace vs CoWriter: CoWriter aims to streamline research and writing tasks with general AI assistance, while SciSpace provides specialized tools for academic literature analysis and research workflows.
  • SciSpace vs Scite: Scite helps assess research reliability by showing citation context, whereas SciSpace offers a wider array of features for comprehending, summarizing, and working with research papers.
  • SciSpace vs Quillbot: Quillbot primarily rewords and summarizes text, useful for avoiding plagiarism, while SciSpace focuses on assisting with in-depth research and understanding academic content.
  • SciSpace vs Grammarly: Grammarly checks grammar and style across various writing, whereas SciSpace is specifically built for researchers to understand, analyze, and manage scientific literature.
  • SciSpace vs Paperguide: Paperguide acts as an AI research assistant, simplifying complex research concepts and aiding literature review, while SciSpace provides a more extensive platform for research analysis and management.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key differences between SciSpace and Elicit?

Both are AI-powered research tools, but SciSpace offers a broader range of features, such as citation generation and PDF annotation. Elicit excels at summarizing research papers and extracting data. Think of SciSpace as your AI copilot for the entire research process, while Elicit specializes in understanding and summarizing academic research.

Are SciSpace and Elicit like search engines?

SciSpace and Elicit are similar to search engines but much more powerful! They are generative, meaning they can answer your questions using OpenAI technology (like ChatGPT) and provide summaries, not just links.

How much do SciSpace and Elicit cost?

SciSpace has a free basic and paid plans starting at $12 per month, billed annually. Elicit’s paid plans start at $20 per month.

Can I use SciSpace and Elicit to find keywords and references?

Absolutely! Both tools are excellent for finding keywords and references and generating citations for academic research. SciSpace even has a built-in paraphraser to help you avoid plagiarism.

What are some of the unique features of Elicit?

Elicit uses machine learning to extract data from research papers and can even help you add columns to CSV files for analysis. It also summarizes research papers and concisely answers questions using natural language processing.

Fahim Joharder

Fahim Joharder

Author

A tech enthusiast and writer with a passion for AI and software innovations. He simplifies complex topics to help readers stay ahead in the digital world.

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