Consensus
Search academic papers and see where the evidence actually lands.
Overview
Consensus searches peer-reviewed research and summarizes what the body of papers says about a question, including how much they agree. For anyone who needs evidence rather than opinion, it fills a gap that general assistants do not.
Key features
Consensus meter
Shows how much the papers agree on a yes/no question.
Paper summaries
Findings extracted from each result.
Study quality signals
Sample size and design surfaced in results.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Unlimited searches, limited AI features |
| Premium | $8.99/mo (annual) | Unlimited AI summaries and analysis |
Pricing last checked: Aug 1, 2026. Always confirm current pricing on the official site.
Pros & cons
Pros
- Grounded in peer-reviewed literature, not the open web
- Consensus meter is a genuinely novel way to read a field
- Strong free tier
Cons
- Only as good as the published literature β gaps and biases carry through
- Not useful for non-academic questions
Who it's not for
A recommendation is only worth something if it says who should skip the tool. Consensus is a poor fit if:
- Fields with thin research coverage β absence of results is not absence of evidence
- Readers who will not click through to the underlying papers
- Clinical decisions β this is a research tool, not medical advice
Privacy & your data
Queries are processed in the cloud; results summarise published papers. The risk is interpretive, not privacy: read the abstracts it cites before repeating a claim.
Policies change. This summary reflects our last review β the vendor's current privacy policy is always the authority.
How to use
Ask a yes/no question
The consensus meter only works on questions the literature can answer directionally.
Read the actual papers
Use it to find studies, then read the ones your conclusion depends on.
FAQs
- Can I cite Consensus?
- Cite the underlying papers, never the tool. It is a discovery aid, not a source.
User reviews
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