Consensus is an AI-powered academic answer engine from Consensus NLP, Inc. that answers research questions by searching a database of more than 220 million peer-reviewed papers and grounding every response in citable studies. It's built for students, researchers, and anyone who wants an evidence-based answer to a scientific question instead of a general-purpose AI summary.
What it is
Consensus searches across its database of over 220 million peer-reviewed research papers to answer questions with findings drawn directly from the scientific literature. Beyond basic search, it offers Pro Analysis and Deep Search features, plus a 'Consensus Meter' that synthesizes findings across multiple papers, all aimed at giving an evidence-based answer rather than a single AI-generated opinion.
How it answers and cites sources
Every Consensus response is tied back to a real research paper: the vendor says, 'unlike general AI tools, every response is tied back to a real research paper and is grounded in scientific research.' Its Pro messages 'summarize key findings from the top papers in your search and provide a high-level synthesis with citations,' so answers come with inline citations to the underlying studies. The paper database itself is built from trusted sources including Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, and Consensus's own crawl of the scholarly web.
Pricing and access
Consensus follows a freemium model. It is free to use, with a Free tier ($0) that gives 'access to essential search functionalities' for getting started; a Pro subscription costs $15/month, or $120/year billed annually — equivalent to $10/month. An API is not yet available: Consensus's help center lists a 'Consensus Search API' as 'Coming Soon' rather than a current feature.
Privacy and data use
Consensus states that it does not use personal or non-personal user information to train large language models, and that it does not send user data to third parties for that purpose: 'Consensus does not use your personal or non-personal information to train large language models. Furthermore, we do not send any user data to third parties for the purpose of training large language models.' The sources reviewed here don't specify GDPR certification or EU-hosting details, so organizations with strict compliance needs should confirm current terms with Consensus directly.
Who it's for
Consensus is aimed at researchers, students, and professionals who need answers grounded in peer-reviewed literature rather than the open web — for example, checking what the science actually says on a topic before writing it up. Because its corpus is updated weekly rather than reflecting the live web, and because there is no API yet, it suits people doing literature-style research more than developers wanting to embed real-time citations into an app.