Consensus Pricing 2026: Plans, Costs & Best Value
Quick answer: Consensus Free keeps paper search unlimited. Paid individuals: Pro $20/mo or $144/yr (~$12/mo), Deep $65/mo or $540/yr (~$45/mo). The real meter is Deep reviews — Free 3/mo, Pro 15/mo, Deep 200/mo. Teams/Enterprise are custom.
Checked against Consensus Help Center subscription plans (updated July 2026) in August 2026. Student/clinician discounts can cut list price — confirm at checkout.
Related: Elicit pricing, SciSpace pricing, Perplexity pricing, Consensus alternatives, Consensus review.
Pick a plan in 30 seconds
- Occasional evidence checks → Free (3 Deep reviews).
- Weekly lit synthesis / unlimited Pro messages → Pro (~$12–$20/mo).
- Heavy Deep-review months (>15) → Deep (~$45–$65/mo).
- Lab / department seats → Teams (custom; often ~50 Deep/user class).
- Structured extraction & systematic reviews → also price Elicit.
Pricing plans
| Plan | Monthly Price | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Unlimited Papers search; 15 Pro messages/mo; 3 Deep reviews; 10 Study Snapshots |
| Pro | $20/mo ($144/yr ≈ $12/mo) | Unlimited Pro messages; 15 Deep reviews/mo; unlimited Study Snapshots |
| Deep | $65/mo ($540/yr ≈ $45/mo) | Everything in Pro + 200 Deep reviews/mo |
| Teams | Custom | Pro-class features; ~50 Deep reviews/user/mo class; centralized billing |
| Enterprise | Custom | Large orgs (200+ users class), library integrations, training |
Deep review = multi-paper literature-style synthesis (heavier than a Pro message). Paper search itself stays unlimited on Free.
Hidden costs
- Cliff from 15 → 200 — nothing between Pro and Deep; needing ~30 reviews still means Deep.
- Deep reviews do not roll — one busy month is a bad reason to stay on Deep forever.
- Full text — summaries cite papers; PDFs still need OA or your library.
- Teams API — Search API (when live) can bill per request on top of seats.
- Annual lock — ~40% off Pro ($20 → ~$12) if usage is steady.
Who should pay
Free — Students / clinicians triaging yes/no science questions.
Pro — Active researchers who live in Pro messages and stay under 15 Deep/mo.
Deep — Review-heavy clinicians and lit-scan weeks that blow past 15.
Teams / Enterprise — Shared billing across a lab or campus.
When to skip Consensus
Skip if:
- You need table extraction / systematic review workflows — Elicit.
- You want PDF reading + paraphrasing more than consensus meters — SciSpace.
- You need open-web answers, not peer-reviewed synthesis — Perplexity.
Final Verdict
Stay Free until Deep-review caps hurt. Most individuals should annual-bill Pro (~$12/mo). Jump to Deep (~$45/mo yearly) only after you consistently exceed 15 Deep reviews — not after one dissertation crunch week.
Pricing checked August 2026. Verify on consensus.app/pricing. See our affiliate disclosure.
How Consensus compares to alternatives
Next: Elicit pricing, SciSpace pricing, Perplexity pricing, Consensus alternatives.