SolomindLM vs Elicit: which fits your literature review?
Elicit is built for evidence synthesis at scale: systematic reviews that screen thousands of papers and extract data into large tables. SolomindLM is a notebook for your own sources that also runs literature reviews, with visible screening counts, an evidence table, and a written review in twelve citation styles, plus study tools for the same material. This page compares both so you can pick by the size of your review and your budget.
Quick answer
Elicit: Choose Elicit for a formal systematic review: it screens up to thousands of papers on paid plans, extracts data into wide tables, follows PRISMA 2020, and offers team workspaces and an API.
SolomindLM: Choose SolomindLM for a course or thesis literature review at a student price: search, screening with reasons, editable extraction columns, an evidence table, and a written review with formatted references, in the same notebook as your PDFs, flashcards, and quizzes.
Comparison
| Topic | SolomindLM | Elicit |
|---|---|---|
| Paper search | OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, arXiv, and PubMed Central from inside the notebook, with citation counts and one-click add. | About 138M papers from Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, PubMed, and ClinicalTrials.gov; updated weekly. |
| Screening | Include and exclude decisions with reasons, PRISMA-style counts and a flow diagram; screening log exports to CSV. | Automated screening that follows PRISMA 2020; up to 5,000 papers on Pro and 40,000 on Enterprise. |
| Data extraction | You confirm or edit the suggested extraction columns before the run; the evidence table exports to CSV. | Custom extraction columns (20 on Pro, 30 on Scale, 40 on Enterprise); tables export to CSV or Excel. |
| Citation styles | Twelve styles built in, including APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, AMA, IEEE, Vancouver, and Harvard; papers export to BibTeX. | No built-in style formatting; export RIS or BibTeX and format in a reference manager. |
| Your own PDFs | Notebooks hold PDFs, slides, Word files, audio, web pages, and video transcripts; chat cites them. | Private Library for uploaded PDFs, searched first by the Research Agent. |
| Study tools | Flashcards with spaced repetition, quizzes, written questions with graded feedback, mind maps, audio overviews. | None listed on its features, help center, or changelog. |
| Teams and API | Invite collaborators as editors or share a copy others can fork; no public API. | Shared projects and real-time collaboration on Scale; API and MCP server on Pro. |
| Pricing | Free: 5 notebooks, 20 sources per notebook, 10 chat messages and 1 generation per Studio tool a day, 3 audio overviews a week, and 1 literature review every 30 days; deep research and infographics are Pro only. Pro: $7.50/month billed yearly or $15 monthly, with 200 notebooks, 200 sources per notebook, 100 generations per Studio tool, 20 audio overviews, 10 infographics, 10 literature reviews, and 15 deep research runs a day. | Basic is free with limited Agent and Reports use. Pro is $49/month and Scale $169/month, both billed yearly; Enterprise is custom. |
Elicit details checked 2026-10-07 against: Elicit pricing, Elicit search coverage, Elicit export guide, Elicit changelog.
When is Elicit the better choice?
Elicit is the stronger tool when the review itself is the deliverable: a systematic review, a guideline, or a regulatory submission where you screen thousands of records and extract dozens of fields per paper. Its paid plans raise screening and extraction limits well past what a single notebook handles, and teams can work in shared projects or call it through an API.
When is SolomindLM the better choice?
SolomindLM fits a student or early researcher who needs a literature review as one part of a larger project. The review runs inside a notebook that also holds your own PDFs and lecture notes, so you can chat across everything, then turn it into flashcards or practice questions.
- You want the written review with references already formatted in APA, MLA, Chicago, AMA, IEEE, Vancouver, or Harvard
- You want to see and edit the extraction columns before the run starts
- You want PRISMA-style counts and screening reasons without a $49/month plan
- You also study from the same papers with flashcards, quizzes, or written questions
How do the literature review workflows differ?
In SolomindLM you describe the topic, it plans queries, searches, removes duplicates, ranks, and screens papers with a reason for each decision. It then proposes extraction columns and waits for you to approve or edit them before filling the evidence table and writing the review.
Elicit runs a similar search, screen, and extract pipeline through its Research Agent and systematic review workflow, at larger scale. It hands formatted references to your reference manager instead of writing them in a chosen style.
What neither tool replaces
Both tools speed up searching and reading; neither replaces your judgment on inclusion criteria or study quality. Check screening decisions and extracted values against the papers before you rely on them.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free Elicit alternative?
Yes. SolomindLM's free plan includes academic search, chat over your own papers, and one literature review every 30 days. Elicit also has a free Basic plan for search, summaries, and chat with papers, but its systematic review workflow needs Pro.
Can SolomindLM do a systematic review like Elicit?
It runs a PRISMA-style pipeline with screening reasons, counts, and an evidence table, which suits course and thesis reviews. For a formal systematic review screening thousands of records with dual-reviewer workflows, Elicit or a dedicated platform is the better fit.
Does Elicit format citations in APA or MLA?
Elicit's help center says to export references as RIS or BibTeX and format them in a reference manager such as Zotero. SolomindLM formats references in twelve styles inside the literature review and the Cite paper dialog.
Which is cheaper, Elicit or SolomindLM?
SolomindLM Pro is $7.50/month billed yearly or $15 monthly. Elicit Pro is $49/month billed yearly, as listed on its pricing page in October 2026.
Can I import my Zotero library into SolomindLM?
Yes, by exporting it as a BibTeX or RIS file and uploading or pasting it. You can also add papers by DOI or arXiv ID. There is no live Zotero sync.
Related pages
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