Semantic Scholar vs Undermind
Semantic Scholar scores 6.0 to Undermind's 5.4 among the literature search tools we rate, and is the better pick for 2 of the 5 kinds of buyer below.
Semantic Scholar wins, 6.0 to 5.4
Semantic Scholar is free, with no paid plan; Undermind's academic Pro plan is $20 a month. Undermind answers back with a deep search that synthesizes an answer across the literature and writes it up as a report, and it reads figures and tables inside papers, none of which Semantic Scholar offers. Semantic Scholar counters with a free, documented API, the most substantial in the category, where Undermind's API is reserved for a separately priced Enterprise tier.
Pick Semantic Scholar if you want a free plan with a documented API.
Pick Undermind if you want a synthesized answer written up as a report.
Best for
Who each one suits, decided on the criteria that matter to that buyer and the checked facts where the two differ.
- Answers a research question from the literature: Undermind yes, Semantic Scholar no
- Pulls data from many papers into a table: Undermind yes, Semantic Scholar no
- Reads tables and figures: Undermind yes, Semantic Scholar no
- Writes a literature review for you: Undermind yes, Semantic Scholar no
- But Semantic Scholar leads on summarises papers: Semantic Scholar yes, Undermind no
- Monthly price, cheapest paid plan: $0 against $20
- Works with Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote and others: Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote against None
- Export formats: BibTeX, EndNote, MLA, APA, Chicago against None
- Browser extension: Semantic Scholar yes, Undermind no
How they score
Both are scored the same way, against the other literature search tools we rate, from facts on each vendor's own pages. Semantic Scholar leads on 3 of 6 criteria.
Where they differ
Every point where the two vendors' published facts disagree, with a link to where each fact was read. "Not published" means the vendor does not say either way.
Published by only one of them
Where they match (17)
Pricing, plan by plan
Every plan each vendor publishes, monthly and yearly where both are offered.
Semantic Scholar
Undermind
For everything else about each tool, read the full Semantic Scholar review and Undermind review.
Semantic Scholar vs Undermind: common questions
Which is better, Semantic Scholar or Undermind?
Semantic Scholar scores 6.0 and Undermind 5.4 out of 10 among the literature search tools we rate. Semantic Scholar is ahead on pricing, citing and writing and access, teams and privacy. Undermind is ahead on finding papers and reading and analysing papers.
Is Semantic Scholar or Undermind cheaper?
Semantic Scholar's cheapest paid plan is Free and Undermind's is $20/mo academic plan ($75/mo industry plan). Compare what each plan includes below before going on price alone.
What can Semantic Scholar do that Undermind cannot?
On the facts both vendors publish: summarises papers, browser extension and university or library licence.
What can Undermind do that Semantic Scholar cannot?
On the facts both vendors publish: answers a research question from the literature, pulls data from many papers into a table, reads tables and figures and writes a literature review for you.
