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Genspark is our best all-around starting point for buyers who want search and document work in one workspace; Elicit and Connected Papers are stronger for literature research, while QAnswer suits teams that prioritize private deployment. There is no single AI search engine that fits every job—or a clear winner over Google for every query. We ranked these tools by fit, listed price and how clearly buyers can assess the cost. Treat “from” prices as starting points, and check plan limits before switching.
Quick picksThe shortlist
GensparkGensparkBest overall · $19.99/mo
You.comYou.comBest for AI apps · Free
ElicitElicitBest for literature reviews · $11/mo
Connected PapersConnected PapersBest for paper discovery · $6/mo
QAnswerQAnswerBest for private search · €8/mo
Humata AIHumata AIBest for document Q&A · $9.99/mo
ScholarAIScholarAIBest for citations · $9.99/mo
scitesciteBest for citation context · $12/mo
FeloFeloBest free search tier · $12.50/mo
ConsensusConsensusBest for occasional papers · $12/mo
SciSpaceSciSpaceBest shared research workspace · $8/mo
Dropbox DashDropbox DashBest for connected files · $15/mo
DeepSearchDeepSearchBest for financial research · $5/mo
Fiscal.aiFiscal.aiBest for company fundamentals · $39/mo
AlphaSenseAlphaSenseBest for finance teams · Custom
GleanGleanBest for company knowledge · Custom
CoveoCoveoBest for enterprise search · Custom
HebbiaHebbiaBest for deal research · Custom
Searchable AISearchable AIBest for scanned files · $100/mo
SeekrSeekrBest for air-gapped AI · $583.33/mo
01Compared at a glance
| Tool | Score | From | Free plan | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GensparkGenspark | 6.0 | $19.99/mo | Yes | — |
| You.comYou.com | 7.3 | Free | Yes | — |
| ElicitElicit | 7.0 | $11/mo | Yes | — |
| Connected PapersConnected Papers | 7.5 | $6/mo | Yes | — |
| QAnswerQAnswer | 7.0 | €8/mo | Yes | — |
| Humata AIHumata AI | 7.0 | $9.99/mo | Yes | — |
| ScholarAIScholarAI | 7.0 | $9.99/mo | Yes | — |
| scitescite | 7.0 | $12/mo | No | 7 days |
| FeloFelo | 6.6 | $12.50/mo | Yes | — |
| ConsensusConsensus | 5.2 | $12/mo | Yes | — |
| SciSpaceSciSpace | 5.2 | $8/mo | Yes | — |
| Dropbox DashDropbox Dash | 6.0 | $15/mo | No | 30 days |
| DeepSearchDeepSearch | 5.2 | $5/mo | No | — |
| Fiscal.aiFiscal.ai | 6.4 | $39/mo | Yes | 7 days |
| AlphaSenseAlphaSense | 6.4 | Custom | No | — |
| GleanGlean | 7.0 | Custom | No | — |
| CoveoCoveo | 6.3 | Custom | No | — |
| HebbiaHebbia | 5.8 | Custom | No | — |
| Searchable AISearchable AI | 4.5 | $100/mo | No | 14 days |
| SeekrSeekr | 6.5 | $583.33/mo | No | — |
02The picks, in detail
- Best overallGensparkGenspark
Genspark is the broadest starting point here for buyers seeking one AI workspace for research, document generation, agents and integrations. The listed starting price is $19.99, with a free plan. Its credit limits and reported support complaints are meaningful cautions, so check how your intended workflows consume credits before committing.
What works
- Combines AI search, agents, and content creation
- Creates presentations, spreadsheets, documents, and PDF analyses
- Includes communication tools such as transcription and dictation
What doesn't
- Free plan's 100 daily credits have a lifetime limit
- Plus includes 10,000 monthly credits
- Pro costs $199.99 monthly with annual billing
- Best for AI appsYou.comYou.com
You.com stands out for teams building AI search applications, with MCP web search and model-provider failover among its stated use cases. A free MCP tier lowers the barrier to trying it, but pricing is not published on the vendor's site. It suits builders better than buyers seeking a ready-made company knowledge search product.
What works
- Free MCP tier includes 100 Web Search queries daily
- No API key, account, or card for free MCP use
- Pay-as-you-go has no minimums or platform fee
What doesn't
- Research pricing ranges from $12 to $1,200 per 1,000 calls
- Inference Router pricing varies by model
- Free access is limited to MCP Web Search
- Best for literature reviewsElicitElicit
Elicit is built around literature searches, cited research briefs, and screening or extracting papers. The published starting price is $11, with a free plan. Its evidence-discovery workflow is useful for research teams, but the summary flags pricing predictability and coverage as concerns. Check whether its paper coverage fits your subject before relying on it.
What works
- Free plan available
- Semantic search across academic papers
- Unlimited summaries on Basic
What doesn't
- Monthly-billed prices are not published
- Pro and Scale listings show conflicting prices
- Basic usage for key tools is limited
- Best for paper discoveryConnected PapersConnected Papers
Connected Papers offers a practical way to map an unfamiliar research field and fill bibliography gaps, with a free plan and a listed starting price of $6. Its scope is deliberately narrower than a general research search product: use it to discover related papers, not as a replacement for broader literature search or review workflows.
What works
- Visual graphs make related work easier to explore
- Surfaces prior and recent papers
- Can help identify bibliography gaps
What doesn't
- Free plan is capped at five graphs monthly
- Free plan includes one seat
- Academic annual price is $6 monthly equivalent
- Best for private searchQAnswerQAnswer
QAnswer is a strong shortlist candidate for teams that need private document search, on-premise deployment, or a choice of models and hosting. The published starting price is $8, with a free plan. Storage and usage caps can affect plan fit, so confirm those limits against your document volume and deployment requirements.
What works
- Free plan includes one assistant and 50 questions monthly
- Work supports 10 AI assistants
- More than 30 languages are supported
What doesn't
- Free plan limits knowledge data to 10 MB
- Work limits knowledge data to 1 GB
- Work includes 8,000 LLM credits monthly
- Best for document Q&AHumata AIHumata AI
Humata AI is aimed at people searching their own documents, comparing files, and setting folder permissions. The listed starting price is $9.99, with a free plan. The published summary specifically flags page allowances and overage costs, so check how your expected document volume maps to the plan before switching.
What works
- Answers questions across uploaded files
- Links answers to relevant file sections
- Summarizes and rewrites long papers
What doesn't
- Free plan is limited to 60 pages monthly
- Expert charges $0.02 per extra page
- Team costs $49 per user monthly
- Best for citationsScholarAIScholarAI
ScholarAI is a fit for researchers narrowing literature searches, managing citations and PDFs, or using Zotero or Mendeley libraries. Its listed starting price is $9.99, and a free plan is available. Credit limits are the main caveat in the published details; check those before paying if you expect frequent searches.
What works
- Searches peer-reviewed papers and uploaded PDFs
- Research chat can use papers and PDFs
- Citation tools cover over 2,600 styles
What doesn't
- Free plan is limited to 5 one-time credits
- Basic includes 50 credits per month
- Credit costs for specific actions aren’t published
- Best for citation contextscitescite
Scite is the pick for evidence-linked literature research, including checking how papers are cited, organizing and monitoring literature, and full-text search. Its listed starting price is $12. The published summary cautions against treating it as a free or all-purpose research tool, so consider it when citation context is central to the work.
What works
- Answers research questions from scientific literature
- Searches inside scholarly full text
- Links claims to source sentences and papers
What doesn't
- No free plan; the trial lasts seven days
- Published monthly prices are annual-billing rates
- Basic is capped at 250 MCP credits monthly
- Best free search tierFeloFelo
Felo offers a free search tier and combines search with document work, making it worth considering before paying for a broader workspace. The listed starting price is $12.5. Its daily file cap and credit-based Pro limits are the practical checks: regular users should estimate their file and credit needs first.
What works
- Free Standard plan
- Unlimited high-speed search on Standard
- AI and traditional search options
What doesn't
- Standard allows three file analyses per day
- Pro uses credits with no listed top-up price
- Enterprise plan details are not published
- Best for occasional papersConsensusConsensus
Consensus is aimed at occasional literature searches and finding papers on a specific topic, and it offers a free starting point. The published starting price is $12. Its feature details and real-world feedback are thin in the published material, so we would treat it as an option to assess rather than assume it covers a full research workflow.
What works
- Free tier includes unlimited Papers searches
- Free tier includes 3 Deep reviews monthly
- Pro includes unlimited Papers searches and Pro messages
What doesn't
- Homepage labels Sources, Skills, Deep and Filter without explaining them
- Free tier allows only 10 Pro messages monthly
- Free tier allows only 30 API and MCP calls monthly
- Best shared research workspaceSciSpaceSciSpace
SciSpace brings literature work, PDF explanations and shared research workflows into one product. The listed starting price is $8, with a free plan. The published summary warns buyers to check its credit rules and price before paying. It is a reasonable shortlist option for teams that want several research tasks in one place.
What works
- Free Basic plan includes 100 Agent credits monthly.
- Combines literature reviews, evidence tables, and PDF chat.
- Premium includes unlimited Literature Reviews.
What doesn't
- Premium's 1,200 monthly credits do not roll over.
- Basic allows only one concurrent Agent task.
- Annual billing is paid upfront.
- Best for connected filesDropbox DashDropbox Dash
Dropbox Dash is positioned as a cross-source search layer for connected work sources, with AI file summaries and support for teams sharing large files. Its listed starting price is $15. The published summary flags pricing and availability questions, so verify that it is available for your setup and confirm the cost before switching.
What works
- Search for files, facts or messages
- Connect Dropbox content to supported AI tools
- AI summaries can help organize content
What doesn't
- Usage limits are not published
- Business pricing is yearly only
- Business trial duration is not published
- Best for financial researchDeepSearchDeepSearch
DeepSearch targets financial company research, investment analysis, valuation and Excel-based workflows. The listed starting price is $5, making it one of the lower-cost options in this guide. Its lookup cap and fit need verification, so check how many lookups your work requires before treating the starting price as representative.
What works
- Financial data includes 1.5 million private companies
- Agents cover research, investment analysis and valuation
- Results are described as backed by verified data
What doesn't
- Plans list one seat each
- 25 daily lookups is the fair-use soft cap
- No free plan is listed
- Best for company fundamentalsFiscal.aiFiscal.ai
Fiscal.ai is aimed at investors researching company fundamentals, analysts tracking earnings and KPIs, and teams exploring financial data APIs. It lists a $39 starting price and a free plan. API limits and commercial pricing are the key checks in the published summary, especially for teams planning to move beyond individual research.
What works
- Free plan includes five years of financial data
- Free plan includes 10 monthly AI Copilot prompts
- Pro includes 15 years of financial data
What doesn't
- Pro costs $49 monthly or $39/month annually
- Free plan limits dashboards to one and 30 rows
- Developer API lists 45 companies and 250 daily requests
- Best for finance teamsAlphaSenseAlphaSense
AlphaSense focuses on finance and strategy research, including cited research and workflows in Excel and PowerPoint. The published summary describes its pricing as custom and opaque, so there is no listed starting price to compare. Its finance features may suit institutional research teams, but buyers should request a full quote and usage terms before evaluating value.
What works
- Searches filings, broker research and expert transcripts
- AI search spans curated financial and business sources
- Homepage says answers include sentence-level citations
What doesn't
- Both listed plans require a custom quote
- Starting price and billing details are not published
- Pricing notes list no free plan
- Best for company knowledgeGleanGlean
Glean is designed for large teams with scattered company knowledge, permission-aware AI search and governed AI workflows. The published summary calls out strong enterprise search and agents, but also opaque contract pricing and usage fees. Pricing is not published on the vendor's site, making it harder to compare switching costs without a detailed quote.
What works
- Searches company documents and knowledge across connected apps
- Permission-aware access limits users to authorized information
- Supports 40+ LLMs and task-matched reasoning levels
What doesn't
- Starting price and contract terms are not published
- No free plan is listed
- Enterprise Flex Thinking Mode has a weekly per-user cap
- Best for enterprise searchCoveoCoveo
Coveo is aimed at organizations consolidating search, commerce teams seeking personalized recommendations, and teams requiring permission-aware retrieval. The published material does not publish pricing, which makes the cost of switching hard to assess. It belongs on an enterprise shortlist when those capabilities match the requirement, but request pricing before comparing it with alternatives.
What works
- Hybrid search combines vector retrieval and keyword search.
- Generative answers cite enterprise content.
- Search Agent supports multi-turn conversations.
What doesn't
- Exact subscription prices are not published.
- Subscriptions use annual or three-year agreements.
- Each listed plan includes 100,000 monthly queries.
- Best for deal researchHebbiaHebbia
Hebbia targets institutional research teams, deal teams working across firm documents, and firms seeking structured company research. Pricing is not published on the vendor's site. Reported answer reliability is also a concern flagged in the summary, so buyers should evaluate answer quality on their own material and clarify the contract before proceeding.
What works
- Purpose-built for institutional research and firm knowledge
- Brings documents and financial data together
- Research matrices organize work into rows and columns
What doesn't
- Pricing, seat limits, and usage limits are not published
- A Reddit trial user said answers needed source-file verification
- Reddit users questioned reliability of document search
- Best for scanned filesSearchable AISearchable AI
Searchable AI is positioned for cross-file search, scanned documents and multilingual knowledge workers. Its listed starting price is $100, but the published pricing and user feedback leave key questions unanswered. That makes it difficult to judge value from the available details alone; clarify plan limits and document handling before budgeting for a switch.
What works
- Natural-language search across work data
- OCR makes scans and images searchable
- Indexes local and connected sources
What doesn't
- Listed plans don't match the described product
- Starting price is $100 monthly, billed annually
- Named integrations aren't specified
- Best for air-gapped AISeekrSeekr
Seekr is aimed at government and enterprise AI teams, including organizations requiring air-gapped deployment and teams evaluating models with their own context. The listed starting price is $583.33, and its GPU-based, usage-priced plans need careful budgeting. It is a specialized enterprise option, not an easy default for buyers seeking predictable costs.
What works
- Covers AI development, evaluation, intelligence and geospatial work.
- Supports cloud, on-premises, edge and air-gapped deployment.
- Customer-hosted pricing is listed at $7,000 per GPU annually.
What doesn't
- Customer-hosted licensing costs $7,000 per GPU annually.
- Dedicated endpoints cost $4.50 per GPU or accelerator hour.
- Serverless costs vary by model and usage.
03How we chose
We weigh published pricing and plan limits, product documentation, and user sentiment on Reddit. We also consider whether a tool’s stated purpose fits company, research, or broader web search, and how clearly it presents evidence for its answers. When a price, cap, or capability is not published in the published material, we treat it as unknown rather than estimating it. This is a source-based comparison, not a report of hands-on testing, benchmarks, trials, or screenshots.
04Choose by the sources you need searched
Start with where your answers need to come from. For company search, list the internal repositories and work systems your team needs to query, then confirm support in the product’s documentation. For research, decide whether you need scholarly material, citations, or a way to explore connections between papers. For broader questions, clarify whether web search is enough or whether answers must draw on company or specialist sources too.
The tools covered here include Glean, AlphaSense, Elicit, Genspark, Searchable AI, QAnswer, Consensus, Hebbia, Connected Papers, You.com, scite, Felo, Coveo, SciSpace, Dropbox Dash, DeepSearch, Seekr, Fiscal.ai, ScholarAI, and Humata AI. Don’t treat that list as proof that every tool searches the same sources. Check each product’s documentation against your actual source needs before shortlisting.
05Check the real cost before switching
Compare the plan you can actually buy, not a headline starting price. Check whether pricing is public, what each plan includes, and whether the limits that matter to your team are stated. If pricing or a cap is not published, ask the vendor rather than assuming it is unlimited. The published published material for this guide contains no current prices or plan limits, so we won’t quote them here.
Before replacing an existing search workflow, write down the sources people use, the evidence they need to see, and the tasks they expect answers to support. Then verify those points in documentation and vendor terms. Read Reddit feedback as user-reported experience, not a guarantee of results. If a critical requirement is unclear, keep it on your evaluation checklist; don’t make a switch decision on an unverified feature or an attractive price alone.
Questions people ask
Who are the big 5 in AI?
There is no single five-company list that fits every meaning of “big.” The answer changes depending on whether you mean AI research, models, software, or search tools. For this guide, compare products by the sources they search, the evidence they return, and their published pricing—not by an assumed ranking.
Which search engine is best than Google?
There isn’t one best alternative for every search task. If you need answers from company or research sources, assess AI search tools against those specific sources and check how they show supporting evidence. If you mean general web search, define the results and privacy requirements that matter before comparing options.
Is ChatGPT the best AI right now?
“Best” depends on the job, the sources you need, and the evidence you expect to review. This guide covers AI search tools, so compare them on search scope, answer support, documented limits, and price. The available published material does not establish a current overall ranking of AI products.
What is an AI-based search engine?
It is a search tool that uses AI to return answers or insights from sources rather than only presenting a list of links. In this category, the relevant sources may be company or research material. Check product documentation to see which sources a specific tool searches and how it supports its answers.