OpenEvidence vs Scite
OpenEvidence and Scite both compete in research tools, but answer different questions. OpenEvidence is our pick for for verified physicians: Grounded clinical Q&A from full PubMed + journal corpus. Free. Scite earns the citation evaluation slot: Smart Citations classify whether a citing paper supports or contradicts the citation. The right choice depends on whether your priority is for verified physicians or citation evaluation.
- Research tools
- 02
- October 20, 2026
OpenEvidence
by OpenEvidence · founded 2022
Free physician-only literature-grounded Q&A, 1M consults/day.
- Free for NPI-verified physicians (ad-funded).
- —
Scite
by Scite (Research Solutions) · founded 2018
Research search and AI assistant with Smart Citations, which show whether later papers support or contrast a cited finding.
- 7-day free trial. The pricing page lists no free plan.
- —
How OpenEvidence and Scite compare
Pricing, compliance, and integrations sourced from vendor documentation. Verified October 20, 2026.
| Spec | OpenEvidence | Scite |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free for NPI-verified physicians (ad-funded). | 7-day free trial. The pricing page lists no free plan. |
| Free tier | ||
| HIPAA | ||
| SOC 2 Type II | ||
| EHR integrations | Not specified | Not specified |
| Founded | 2022 | 2018 |
| HQ | US | US |
| Best for | Best free for verified physicians | Best for citation evaluation |
Scroll horizontally to see both columns.
When to pick each one
Best free for verified physicians
Grounded clinical Q&A from full PubMed + journal corpus. Free.
- Pharma-ad funded
- NPI verification required
- ~65% US physician adoption
- Listed here for research overlap
Best for citation evaluation
Smart Citations classify whether a citing paper supports or contradicts the citation.
- 1.2B+ citation statements analyzed
- $20/mo personal
- Critical for understanding citation context
Other head-to-heads worth reading
Open the full research tools comparison
Literature search, paper summarization, citation analysis, systematic-review extraction. Consensus and OpenEvidence have absorbed most clinician research traffic in 2026. We compared the full universe.