What it does best
Searches across research databases. Returns answers with citations from studies.
Quick info about Consensus
Where it fits in your workflow
Use it for evidence based answers in health, science, and policy research.
Plans and availability
Free basic use. Premium tiers unlock more features. No open API.
Is this the right AI tool for you?
0 / 500
Where Consensus shines
Consensus is a research engine that answers questions by pulling findings from peer-reviewed studies and summarizing them in plain language with citations. You type a question, and it returns a concise answer plus key passages, study lists, and sometimes simple charts showing agreement or effect direction. It is built to help non-experts see what the literature says without wading through every paper.
Common use cases:
Get a quick, cited answer to a research question
See which studies support or challenge a claim
Skim key quotes and methods before deciding what to read fully
Collect a shortlist of papers for a report or policy brief
Check whether a commonly repeated claim is actually supported
Get a quick, cited answer to a research question
See which studies support or challenge a claim
Skim key quotes and methods before deciding what to read fully
Collect a shortlist of papers for a report or policy brief
Check whether a commonly repeated claim is actually supported
What Consensus offers for evidence backed answers from papers
Consensus is a search engine that answers questions by synthesizing findings from peer reviewed studies. You ask in plain language, it retrieves relevant papers, and it presents a short answer with quoted snippets and links to the sources. The interface emphasizes evidence first reading by showing the exact passages that support a claim and by grouping results around positions or outcomes. For users who want a clear view of what the literature says without wading through marketing pages, this framing brings the signal to the surface and keeps citations attached to every statement.
Where Consensus is helpful and practices that strengthen conclusions
Consensus is most helpful when you need a fast reading of a question that already has a measurable outcome in the literature. It is useful for health behavior questions, education interventions, and policy effects where meta analyses and randomized trials exist. To keep conclusions sound, constrain queries with populations, time frames, and contexts, then open the linked papers to check study design and limitations. Build a short comparison table that records effect sizes, sample sizes, and caveats. When results conflict, ask for explanations of heterogeneity such as differences in protocol or baseline risk, and carry those caveats into your summary for stakeholders.
Limits to remember and responsible communication of findings
Consensus does not replace domain expertise and it does not resolve methodological disputes on its own. It can miss non indexed sources and very recent preprints. Summaries and snippets are helpful pointers, yet they must be read in the context of full papers before any high stakes decision. Communicate uncertainty plainly and do not present a synthesized answer as conclusive when the evidence base is thin. For privacy and compliance, avoid entering identifying patient or client data and keep your notes in a secure system. With these boundaries, Consensus brings efficiency and discipline to evidence based communication and reduces the risk of cherry picking.
Our analysis of Consensus for evidence centered search
We like Consensus because it forces answers to come with citations and puts quotes from the literature next to claims. We do not like that coverage can be patchy for niche topics and that effect sizes sometimes need manual aggregation to compare properly. It could be better with built in tables that compute standardized metrics across studies and with clearer flags when only observational evidence is available. What stands out is how the tool changes behavior. People look at sources first and narrative second, which is the right order for evidence based work. Security posture is similar to other scholarly search tools. Keep queries free of private data and store decisions with references in your own system. Consensus is for researchers, clinicians, policy teams, and curious readers who want claims tied to papers. Its strength is citation forward synthesis. Its weakness is residual gaps that only deep reading and expert judgment can close.
Our verdict:
Consensus is an effective front door to the literature when you need a sourced answer. Use it to collect and compare evidence, then read the studies that drive your conclusions.
Consensus is an effective front door to the literature when you need a sourced answer. Use it to collect and compare evidence, then read the studies that drive your conclusions.
At a glance
Platforms
Integrations
Export formats
Coverage & data
Sources
- Scholarly indexes and full-text where available
- model-generated summaries tied to citations.
Coverage
Plain-language,Update frequency
FrequentAcademic adoption
Reported in academia
Commonly used for literature orientation and classroom demos of evidence-based claims.
Plans & limits
Free plan
Daily question limits and reduced features on free tier.
Pro features
Higher limits, advanced filters, and export options depending on plan.
Ads / tracking
YesCommunity signal
Mentions
Used by journalists and students for quick, cited overviews; appreciated for plain-language answers with links.
Compared to similar tools
Consensus gives sourced, readable answers. Elicit structures extractions into tables; Scite analyzes how papers are cited across the literature.
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