Can you get your citations out of a free AI research tool?
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The Short Answer
- Consensus — Consensus caps the AI rather than the searching — "15 Pro messages per month" and "Up to 3 Deep reviews per month" — and documents CSV and RIS export without saying which plans may use it.
- SciSpace — SciSpace names six export formats including BibTeX and RIS, and documents its free 100-credit tier on a separate resources page rather than on the pricing page at all.
- Elicit — Elicit says outright that "Elicit Plus and higher plan subscribers can export Find Papers or Paper Chat tables", while full research reports export as PDF or Word on any plan.
- Scite — Scite publishes no free tier at all — a 7-day trial after which "you will be automatically enrolled in the subscription plan you selected at the start of the trial".
| Product | Best for | From | Free plan | Free-plan export |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consensus | Uncapped search, metered AI | $12/mo (annual) | Yes | Capped usage |
| SciSpace | Six export formats, a free tier off the pricing page | $12/mo (annual) | Yes | Capped usage |
| Elicit | The only stated plan boundary for export | $49/mo (annual) | Yes | Paid to export |
| Scite | No free plan, and a trial that converts by default | $12/mo (annual) | No | Paid to export |
What we checked, and what we did not test
A research assistant that cannot hand you a citation file is a reading tool. The work these products are bought for ends in someone else’s software — Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley, a manuscript — and the step that gets it there is an export in BibTeX, RIS or CSV. That is the step we went looking for.
On 6 August 2026 we read four pricing pages and their export documentation. Each verdict quotes what we found. We did not run searches or click export.
The export is documented. The plan it belongs to is not.
Three of these four vendors describe their export in real detail and then stop exactly one sentence short.
SciSpace names six formats — “Export libraries as BibTeX/RIS/NBIB/EndNote XML/CSL-JSON/CSV” — the widest list in this category, and never says whether a free account can produce them or whether doing so spends from its 100 monthly credits. Consensus documents export “to CSV or RIS file formats” against three named reference managers, with no plan mentioned. Elicit is the exception, and it is worth being precise about why: it states the boundary in the same sentence as the feature — “Elicit Plus and higher plan subscribers can export Find Papers or Paper Chat tables” — which is a no, published clearly enough to act on.
A clearly published no is more useful than an unscoped yes. You can plan around the first. The second is a question you only get answered after you have done the work.
Where the free tier is documented at all
SciSpace’s is on a different page from its prices. Its pricing page lists Premium, Advanced, Max and Enterprise; the free Basic tier and its 100-credit allowance live on a credit-pricing guide in the resources section. Scite’s does not exist — its no-cost route is a seven-day trial that, per its own FAQ, converts into whichever plan you selected before the trial began.
Neither of those is hidden exactly. Both mean a visitor comparing free tiers on the obvious page gets the wrong answer.
Uncapped search, metered AI
1. Consensus — Uncapped search, metered AI
Consensus is the only one here that leaves the searching itself unmetered on a free account.
Best for Uncapped paper search with the AI features metered
From $12/mo (annual). Free plan: Free — "$0/mo" with "Basic Paper search" and no stated search cap, plus "15 Pro messages per month" and "Up to 3 Deep reviews per month".
- Pro — $20/mo, or $12/mo billed annually · 1 seat ($144 a year; "Students and faculty with a valid school email and US HCPs with a valid NPI number can get up to 40% off")
- Deep — $65/mo, or $45/mo billed annually · 1 seat ($540 a year)
The free plan meters the AI rather than the search: "Keep using basic paper search for free, without any AI analysis", with "15 Pro messages per month" and "Up to 3 Deep reviews per month". The help centre documents the export — "Export paper details from search results and saved lists in Consensus to CSV or RIS file formats", compatible with Zotero, EndNote and Mendeley — and never says which plans may use it.
Pros
- Basic paper search carries no stated cap — only the AI features are metered.
- Export to CSV and RIS is documented against named reference managers.
- Student, faculty and clinician discounts of up to 40% are published rather than hinted at.
Skip it if
- Fifteen Pro messages and three deep reviews a month is a small AI allowance.
- The export article never states whether free accounts can use the export button.
- The pricing page is behind a bot challenge that blocks plain HTTP requests entirely.
Six export formats, a free tier off the pricing page
2. SciSpace — Six export formats, a free tier off the pricing page
SciSpace documents the most export formats and the least about who may use them.
Best for The widest export format list, and a free tier you have to go looking for
From $12/mo (annual). Free plan: Basic — "100" monthly credits at "$0 per month" with a maximum of "1" parallel agent task. This tier does not appear on the pricing page at all; it is documented on a separate credit-pricing guide.
- Premium — $20/mo, or $12/mo billed annually · 1 seat (1,200 credits a month. The page also ran a "Flash sale till 06 August 2026. Extra 30% discount on all Yearly plans with SCI30" — a promo, not the standard rate)
- Advanced — $90/mo, or $70/mo billed annually · 1 seat (10,000 credits a month)
- Max — $200/mo, or $160/mo billed annually · 1 seat (40,000 credits a month)
- Enterprise — price not shown on the page we opened ("Apply for Enterprise Access" with no price; adds shared credit pools, SSO and SCIM)
SciSpace's own credit guide gives the free Basic plan "100" monthly credits at "$0 per month" with one parallel task — a figure absent from the pricing page, which shows only paid tiers. Its citation-manager page documents the widest export list in this category: you can "Export libraries as BibTeX/RIS/NBIB/EndNote XML/CSL-JSON/CSV." Neither page says whether exporting draws on those 100 credits or requires a paid plan.
Pros
- Six export formats are named on the vendor's own page, more than anyone else here.
- The free tier is quantified precisely — 100 credits a month — once you find the page that quantifies it.
Skip it if
- The pricing page does not mention the free tier at all; it lives on a separate resources page.
- Nothing states whether an export costs credits or requires a paid plan.
- The headline price was a time-limited flash-sale rate rather than the standard one.
The only stated plan boundary for export
3. Elicit — The only stated plan boundary for export
Elicit is the only product here whose documentation answers this category’s question without ambiguity, and the answer is no.
Best for Unlimited free searching, paid structured export
From $49/mo (annual). Free plan: Basic — free, with "Unlimited search across more than 138 million papers", "Unlimited summaries across as many papers as you want", "Unlimited chat with papers with full-text access" and Zotero import, but "Limited usage for Research Agent and Research Reports" with no number attached.
- Pro — $49/mo billed annually · 1 seat ("Per user/month, billed as $588 annually"; the page's monthly toggle did not change the figure during our check, so no monthly-billed rate is recorded)
- Scale — $169/mo billed annually · 1 seat ("Per user/month, billed as $2,028 annually"; same toggle limitation)
- Enterprise — price not shown on the page we opened ("Custom" behind a sales contact)
Elicit is the only vendor here that states the plan boundary for export outright: "Elicit Plus and higher plan subscribers can export Find Papers or Paper Chat tables, including any columns that were added to the table", in CSV, Excel, RIS or BIB. Free users are not shut out entirely — "Research Reports can be exported as a PDF or Word file, regardless of which Elicit plan you subscribe to" — but the structured citation data, which is the part a reference manager can read, is paid.
Pros
- Search, summaries and paper chat are all described as unlimited on the free plan.
- It is the only product here whose documentation states which plan the export belongs to.
- A full research report exports as PDF or Word on any plan, free included.
Skip it if
- CSV, Excel, RIS and BIB export of paper tables requires Plus or higher.
- The free plan's Research Agent usage is described only as "Limited", with no number.
- Only annual-billed rates could be read; the monthly toggle did not change the displayed price.
No free plan, and a trial that converts by default
4. Scite — No free plan, and a trial that converts by default
Scite asks you to choose a plan before evaluating the product, then charges for it a week later.
Best for Nobody who wants a free tier
From $12/mo (annual). No free plan.
- Basic — $20/mo, or $12/mo billed annually · 1 seat ($144 billed annually; 250 MCP credits a month and collections up to 1,000 papers)
- Pro — $50/mo, or $40/mo billed annually · 1 seat ($480 billed annually; 2,500 MCP credits a month and collections up to 10,000 papers)
- Team — $50/mo, or $40/mo billed annually (Per seat, $480 a year per seat; 2,500 credits a month per user)
- Enterprise — price not shown on the page we opened ("Contact us")
There is no free plan on Scite's pricing page — every tier is paid, and the only no-cost route is a trial that converts by default: "Yes, Scite offers a 7-day free trial for new users… After it concludes, you will be automatically enrolled in the subscription plan you selected at the start of the trial." The page never states which export formats are supported, on any tier.
Pros
- Monthly and annual prices are published for every individual and team tier.
- Per-tier credit allowances and collection sizes are stated as numbers.
- Discounts are offered for students and academics who recommend Scite to their institution.
Skip it if
- No free plan at all — only a 7-day trial that auto-enrols you into the plan you picked at signup.
- The pricing page never says whether results export to CSV, BibTeX or RIS, on any tier.
What this means if you are choosing today
If your work ends in a reference manager, start with Consensus: its search is uncapped on free, its export is documented against Zotero, EndNote and Mendeley, and the only thing metered is the AI layer you may not need for a literature sweep. Test the export button in your first session rather than your last.
If you want the AI analysis itself, Elicit’s free tier is the most generous on the reading side — unlimited search, summaries and paper chat across 138 million papers — and you should expect to pay for structured export, because it says so. That is a fair trade honestly stated, which in this category turns out to be the rarer thing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which AI research tool lets you export citations for free?
None of these four says clearly that it does. Elicit says the opposite in plain terms: structured table export in CSV, Excel, RIS or BIB requires Plus or higher, though a full research report exports as PDF or Word on any plan. Consensus and SciSpace both document exports in detail and never state which plans may run them. Scite has no free plan to ask about.
What does Consensus allow on its free plan?
Unlimited basic paper search, with the AI metered: "15 Pro messages per month" and "Up to 3 Deep reviews per month". Its own framing is "Keep using basic paper search for free, without any AI analysis." Export to CSV and RIS is documented for Zotero, EndNote and Mendeley, but the article never scopes it to a plan.
Does SciSpace have a free plan?
Yes, and not on its pricing page. The pricing page shows only Premium, Advanced, Max and Enterprise. The free Basic tier — "100" monthly credits at "$0 per month" with one parallel task — is documented on a separate credit-pricing guide. Whether an export consumes those credits is not stated anywhere we could find.
What happens after Scite's free trial?
You are charged unless you cancel. Its FAQ says: "Scite offers a 7-day free trial for new users… After it concludes, you will be automatically enrolled in the subscription plan you selected at the start of the trial." Choosing a plan is part of starting the trial, so the decision to buy is made before the evaluation rather than after it.
Did you run searches and export from these tools?
No. Every verdict here was read on the vendor's own pricing page or help documentation on 6 August 2026 and is labelled as read, not run. The unresolved question in three of four cases — whether a free account's export button is enabled — takes about two minutes each to settle by hand, and would upgrade those verdicts from read to run.
How We Keep This Updated
Prices move and vendors rewrite their plan tables, so every value on this page carries the date we read it. When a page changes, the change lands here rather than being edited away quietly. The procedure is on the methodology page. tell us and we will re-check it.
- 2026-08-06 — First published. Free-tier limits and export rules read on each vendor's own pricing page and help centre; SciSpace's free tier located on its credit-pricing guide after the pricing page listed only paid tiers.