#1

Heptabase

★★★★★ 4.6 $11.99+

Visual note-taking tool that helps you make sense of complex topics using whiteboards, cards, and mindmaps to visually organize your knowledge and research.

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✓ Visual-first approach to note-taking✓ Whiteboards for spatial thinking✓ Card-based system is very flexible
#2
Elicit

Elicit

★★★★★ 4.5 Free / $10+ Free plan

AI research assistant that finds, summarizes, and extracts data from academic papers.

paper-searchsummarizationdata-extractionsynthesis
✓ Searches 125M+ academic papers✓ Extracts structured data from papers✓ Summarizes findings across multiple studies
#3
Research Rabbit

Research Rabbit

★★★★★ 4.5 Free Free plan

Free research discovery app that helps find related papers and visualize connections.

paper-discoverynetwork-visualizationcollectionsrecommendations
✓ Completely free✓ Visual paper networks✓ Collection management
#4

Semantic Scholar

★★★★ 4.4 Free Free plan

AI-powered research tool by Allen Institute for AI that helps scholars find relevant papers using semantic understanding, with TLDR summaries and citation analysis.

semantic-searchtldr-summariescitation-graphsresearch-feeds
✓ Completely free to use✓ AI-generated paper summaries (TLDR)✓ Influence and citation metrics
#5

Scite

★★★★ 4.3 Free / $15+ Free plan

Smart citation platform that uses AI to analyze how papers cite each other, helping researchers evaluate whether evidence supports or contrasts scientific claims.

smart-citationscitation-contextai-assistantreference-checking
✓ Shows if citations support or contrast claims✓ AI assistant for research questions✓ Dashboard for tracking citation context
#6
Mendeley

Mendeley

★★★★ 4 Free Free plan

Reference manager and academic social network for organizing research papers.

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✓ Free✓ Social network features✓ Good PDF reader

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