Paperguide
Search, screen, cite and draft in one workspace instead of four tools.
At a Glance
- Publisher
- Paperguide
- Coverage
An AI literature-review workspace combining discovery, screening, reference management, annotation and draft writing. Review modes are capped by tier — roughly 100 papers screened and 20 written from on the standard mode, 200 and 50 on the extended mode (verify current limits, which change often).
- Access
Freemium — free tier with tight limits; subscription tiers for larger reviews and full writing features.
- Free alternative
- Zotero for references plus Semantic Scholar for discovery plus NotebookLM for synthesis.
- Regional
Global, English-language focused.
Our Take
Paperguide’s pitch is consolidation — most researchers currently stitch together a discovery tool, a reference manager, a reader and a writing assistant, and Paperguide does all four passably in one place. It ranks near the top of several independent 2026 comparisons, and for a coursework literature review or a scoping exercise that’s a reasonable trade. The explicit paper caps are the tell: this is not a systematic-review tool, and a review that ‘writes from the top 20’ is making a relevance judgment on your behalf that you should be making yourself. Use it for speed on low-stakes reviews, not for anything that needs PRISMA-defensible coverage.
Power Tips
- Check the screening and writing caps on your tier before starting — they silently bound your review’s scope.
- Export references to Zotero early so you’re not locked into one workspace.
- For anything publishable, use it for the first pass only and rebuild the search in a real index.
Alternatives & Complements
SciSpace, Bohrium, Elicit, Consensus, Scholarcy
Figures last verified: July 28, 2026