OpenPaper vs Elicit
for research papers
Elicit is an AI research assistant for finding and synthesizing evidence: you search a database of 125M+ papers, summarize them, and extract data into review tables. OpenPaper is different — 19 specialized agents draft the whole structured paper for you from a single prompt, and every citation is verified against OpenAlex, Crossref, and Semantic Scholar (500M+ works) before it is included.
OpenPaper vs Elicit, side by side
Both are built for academic research. The difference is whether the tool helps you review the evidence, or writes the full cited draft for you.
| OpenPaper | Elicit | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does for you | You give a topic, level, and citation style. 19 agents research, structure, write, and cite the full paper for you, end to end. | Finds and synthesizes evidence: search a large paper database, summarize findings, extract data into tables, screen studies at scale, and generate cited research reports and systematic-review syntheses from what it screens — an evidence briefing rather than a full formatted paper. |
| What it drafts | OpenPaper produces the complete first draft of a formatted academic paper — sections, argument, references, and bibliography — from your prompt. | Elicit drafts cited research reports and systematic-review syntheses grounded in the studies it screens. It writes the evidence briefing; the full formatted manuscript is still yours to assemble. |
| Citations | Every citation is checked against real academic databases before it is included, and each reference links to a real paper with a DOI. | Grounds its answers and extractions in the papers it surfaces, with links back to the source studies. You assemble and cite them in your own draft. |
| Sources | OpenAlex, Crossref, Semantic Scholar (500M+ works) and arXiv, queried live during drafting. | Its own index of 125M+ academic papers, plus PDFs you upload to analyze. |
| Output | A full structured draft: 5–80+ pages, 10k–20k+ words, 30–50+ verified citations, with sections, references, and a bibliography. | Summaries, extracted data tables, and evidence syntheses across the papers you screen — inputs for the paper you then write. |
| Citation styles | APA 7th, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, and Harvard, formatted automatically. | Exports references and data for you to cite in your own manuscript and reference manager. |
| Export | Download the finished paper as PDF, Microsoft Word (.docx), or LaTeX. | Export extracted data and references, and its reports, to use in your own document and reference manager. |
| Open source | The underlying engine is open source under the MIT license, so you can read it, self-host it, or run it with your own API keys. | Closed-source commercial product. |
| Price model | Free to generate a paper and read it on screen with verified citations, and to share a read-only link. You pay only to export the finished file. No subscription required to try it. | Free Basic plan with limited Research Agent and Reports usage; higher usage and systematic-review features are paid (Pro is $49/month, Scale $169/month, Enterprise custom, as listed on elicit.com/pricing). |
Reviewer vs. author: the real difference
Elicit and OpenPaper sit at different ends of the research workflow. Elicit is built for the evidence half: you search a large database of papers, summarize what they found, extract specific data points into comparison tables, and screen studies at scale the way a systematic review demands. It also generates cited research reports and systematic-review syntheses from that evidence — a rigorous briefing on what the literature says.
OpenPaper is built to produce the full formatted paper, and it does that step for you. You describe the paper you need, and 19 specialized agents handle research, structure, writing, citation, polishing, and export as separate steps, then hand back a complete cited draft. Many researchers will use an evidence tool like Elicit to survey the field and OpenPaper to produce the first full draft they then refine.
Why verified citations matter
Any tool that surfaces or inserts citations can produce a reference that looks correct — an author, a year, a journal, a DOI. What matters for a thesis or a journal submission is whether that specific paper actually exists and says what the citation implies. Independent reviews of AI research tools repeatedly give the same advice: check every citation yourself before you submit.
OpenPaper is built to remove that step for the draft it writes. During drafting, the research agents query OpenAlex, Crossref, and Semantic Scholar — over 500 million works — plus arXiv, and only sources that resolve to a real record are kept. Every reference in your draft links back to a real, identifiable paper you can click through and read, so the verification is done before you ever see the draft.
When Elicit is the better tool
Elicit is a strong fit when the job is evidence synthesis: screening hundreds or thousands of papers, extracting structured data into tables, and building the kind of systematic literature review where traceable, side-by-side findings are the deliverable. If you want a research assistant to help you review the literature rigorously, that is exactly what Elicit is designed for.
Use OpenPaper when you want the full cited draft produced for you rather than assembled from your own reading, and when every citation being real and checkable is non-negotiable. You can generate and read a fully cited paper for free, then pay only when you want to export it as PDF, Word, or LaTeX.
OpenPaper vs Elicit — common questions
Is OpenPaper an Elicit alternative?
It overlaps but works differently. Elicit is an AI research assistant for finding and synthesizing evidence — search, summarize, and data extraction across 125M+ papers — while OpenPaper autonomously drafts the full paper from a prompt with citations verified against real academic databases. Many people use an evidence tool like Elicit to survey the field and OpenPaper to produce the first cited draft.
Does OpenPaper write the paper, or just help me review the literature?
OpenPaper writes the draft of the full paper. From a single prompt, 19 specialized agents research the topic, structure the paper, write each section, and cite it, then hand back a complete formatted draft with a bibliography. Elicit generates cited research reports and systematic-review syntheses from the evidence it screens; OpenPaper produces the complete formatted academic paper you then refine.
Can I try OpenPaper without paying?
Yes. You can generate a research paper and read it on screen with its verified citations, and share a read-only link, for free with no credit card. You pay only when you want to export the finished file as PDF, Word, or LaTeX. Elicit has a free Basic plan with limited usage; its systematic-review workflows and higher usage are on paid tiers (Pro $49/month and up, per elicit.com/pricing).
Get a full, cited draft — not just an evidence table
Describe your topic, level, and citation style, and OpenPaper drafts the whole paper with citations verified against real databases. Free to generate and read.