What is Scite?
Scite is an AI research tool that puts scientific citations in context: for every claim, it shows whether citing papers support it, contradict it, or merely mention it ("Smart Citations"). This makes it quick to assess the reliability of sources. There is a permanently free plan (Connect) plus a 7-day trial; Basic is the entry-level paid option.
The difference from classic citation counters is context: where databases only report the number of citations, Scite classifies each citation by the surrounding passage as "supporting," "contrasting," or neutrally "mentioning" a claim. At a glance, you can see whether a heavily cited study has actually been confirmed or called into question by later research. There's also an AI assistant, a browser plugin, and a "Reference Check" that scans your own manuscript for retracted or disputed sources.
Scite: Strengths and weaknesses
The biggest strength is the qualitative framing of citations: Smart Citations answer the crucial question "does this claim hold up against later research?" — something raw citation counts can't do. For evaluating sources and spotting refuted claims, that's a genuine benefit.
Weaknesses: the classification is generated automatically and isn't error-free; individual labels can be off and should be checked for important sources. Unlike many competitors, there's no permanently free tier, which raises the barrier to entry. If you mainly want sourced answers or data extraction, Consensus or Elicit is often the better fit — Scite is specialized in citation analysis.
Pricing and plans
Scite has a permanently free plan (Connect, no credit card required, 25 MCP credits per month, without Assistant or Search access) plus a 7-day trial. Basic costs $20 per month billed annually and unlocks full Assistant and Search access, 250 MCP credits per month, article Smart Citation reports, and citation alerts; Pro costs $50 per month billed annually and adds API access, 2,500 MCP credits, and patent, clinical trial, and grant datasets. For institutions, libraries, and publishers there are separate Team and Enterprise licenses. As of 2026-09-20 — exact terms can vary, it's advisable to check the current pricing page before subscribing.
Who is Scite for?
Scite is aimed at researchers, PhD students, libraries, and anyone who needs not just to find sources but to judge their reliability — for example when writing papers, reviews, or grant applications. If you first want sourced answers to research questions, you're better off starting with Consensus; if you want to extract data from many studies systematically, with Elicit. But when the goal is to critically assess the citation landscape around a study, Scite with its Smart Citations is the most specialized tool. Comparable options in our directory are Perplexity – you will find every tool in this category under Research.
Scite price history
We have been tracking the entry price of Scite automatically every day since 21 Oct 2026. As soon as we have enough reliable data, the price history appears here as a chart.
