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Semantic Scholar
Free AI-powered search engine for scientific papers across all fields
Free semanticscholar.org
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semanticscholar.org
Pricing
Free
API
Yes
Platforms
WebAPI
What is Semantic Scholar?
Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for searching scientific literature. Its index covers more than 239 million papers from all fields of science, and you can search it by topic, keyword or author name.
Besides search, it offers Semantic Reader, an augmented reader currently in beta that adds context to papers to make them easier to read. It is available for select papers. Developers can use the public API, which now includes paper search and documentation, tutorials and an API gallery, to build scholarly apps.
Semantic Scholar is built by Ai2 (the Allen Institute for AI). It suits researchers, students, librarians and developers who need a free way to find and read academic research. A free account is available for signing in.
Key features
- Search across 239+ million scientific papers
- Coverage of all fields of science
- Semantic Reader augmented reading for select papers (beta)
- Developer API with paper search
- API documentation, tutorials and gallery
- Free user accounts
- Resources for librarians and publishers
Use cases
Who it's for
ResearchersStudentsLibrariansDevelopers
Literature review
Search a large index of papers by topic or author to find relevant research for a thesis or study.
Reading complex papers
Use Semantic Reader on supported papers to get more context while reading.
Building scholarly apps
Developers can use the API's paper search to add academic data to their own tools.
Semantic Scholar pricing
From the vendor's site, checked Oct 26, 2026; we re-check prices monthly. Prices change — confirm on their pricing page.
Free
Free
- Search over 239 million papers
- Free account
How Semantic Scholar compares
- Semantic Scholar has a free plan, like 3 of the 4 alternatives below.
| Tool | Starts at | Free plan | Free trial | API | Open source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSemantic Scholar | Free | — | — | |||
C Consensus | $20/mo | — | — | Semantic Scholar vs Consensus | ||
E Elicit | $49/mo | — | — | Semantic Scholar vs Elicit | ||
N NotebookLM | — | — | — | — | Semantic Scholar vs NotebookLM | |
P Perplexity AI | — | — | — | — | Semantic Scholar vs Perplexity AI |
Compare 7 capabilities
| Capability | Semantic Scholar | Elicit |
|---|---|---|
| Source citations | ||
| Academic paper search | ||
| Upload own documents | — | |
| Citation export | ||
| Zotero/ref manager sync | — | |
| Systematic review tools | — | |
| Shared workspaces |
Capabilities as stated on each vendor's own site; — means the site doesn't say. The closest alternatives in our directory by category. “Starts at” is the cheapest paid plan per month, as each vendor lists it.
Who's behind Semantic Scholar
- Company
- The Allen Institute for AI
- Founded
- 2015
- Founders
- Paul Allen
- Part of
- Ai2
“Semantic Scholar was launched in 2015 as a groundbreaking project at Ai2”
“Ai2 is the creation of Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder.”
“Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature, based at Ai2.”
From Semantic Scholar's own about, terms and privacy pages, checked Oct 28, 2026.
Pros and cons
Strengths
- Free to use
- Indexes over 239 million papers from all fields
- Public API with documentation and tutorials
- Built by the nonprofit research institute Ai2
Limitations
- Semantic Reader is in beta and only works on select papers
- No mobile apps listed
Semantic Scholar FAQ
Is Semantic Scholar free?
Yes. The site describes it as a free, AI-powered research tool, and you can create a free account.
How many papers does it cover?
The home page says you can search 239,544,977 papers from all fields of science.
Is there an API?
Yes. The API includes paper search, along with documentation, tutorials and an API gallery.
Who makes Semantic Scholar?
It is built by Ai2, the Allen Institute for AI.
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Semantic Scholar
Free
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