Explainpaper vs SciSummary
Explainpaper uniquely has 12 features · SciSummary uniquely has 11 features.
| Explainpaper | SciSummary | |
|---|---|---|
| Company | ||
| Founded | 2022 | 2023 |
| HQ | San Francisco, USA | — |
| AI model | Advanced AI models (basic AI on free tier) | GPT-based (domain-specific training) |
| User base | 400,000+ | 900,000+ |
| Platforms | Web | Web, ChatGPT Connector |
| Languages | 50+ | English primary |
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | $16/mo | $7/mo |
| Enterprise | Contact us | — |
| Refund policy | 14-day money-back guarantee on initial Pro subscriptions | — |
| All plans | Free$0/moPro$16/moTeamsContact us | Free TrialFreeStudentFree (1st month)Pro Plan$7/mo |
| Positioning | ||
| Best for | Professional research and academic paper comprehension | Researchers, students, and academics who need fast, structured summaries of scientific papers |
| Differentiator | Math and figure explanations, Zotero import, whole-paper summaries, multilingual output | Purpose-built academic summarizer that extracts abstracts, figures, references, and structured sections (methods, results, conclusions) from scientific papers — official AI provider for the ACM Digital Library |
| Competitors | Consensus, Elicit, SciSpace, ChatPDF, Semantic Scholar, Perplexity | Scholarcy, Elicit, Semantic Scholar, ResearchRabbit, Explainpaper |
| Features | ||
| AI Figure Analysis | — | ✓ |
| Advanced AI Models | ✓ | — |
| Article Searches | — | ✓ |
| Ask Follow Up Questions | ✓ | — |
| Bulk Summarization API | — | ✓ |
| Chat Messages | — | ✓ |
| Follow Up Questions | ✓ | — |
| Math & Figure Explanations | ✓ | — |
| Saved Highlights | ✓ | — |
| Saved Highlights & Explanations | ✓ | — |
| Smart Outlines & Key Point Extraction | ✓ | — |
| Summaries | — | ✓ |
| Whole Paper Summaries | ✓ | — |
| Zotero Import | ✓ | — |
| Zotero Integration | — | ✓ |
| Zotero Library Import | ✓ | — |
| Academic Search | ✕ | ✓ |
| AI Summarization | ✓ | ✓ |
| API Access | ✕ | ✕ |
| Browser Extension | ✕ | ✓ |
| Citation Generation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Document Upload | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fact Checking | ✕ | ✕ |
| Follow Up Questions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile App | ✕ | ✕ |
| Multi Source Synthesis | ✕ | ✓ |
| Team Collaboration | ✓ | ✕ |
| Web Search | ✕ | ✓ |
| Integrations | ||
| API Access | ✕ | ✕ |
| Browser Extension | ✕ | ✓ |
| Google Docs Export | ✕ | ✕ |
| Key Integrations | Zotero | ChatGPT Connector, ACM Digital Library |
| Notion Integration | ✕ | ✕ |
| Zotero Integration | ✓ | ✕ |