Federico De Ponte

Founder, OpenDraft

December 29, 2024

18 min read

OpenDraft vs Jenni AI vs Elicit: Best AI Research Tools Compared (2025)

Looking for the best AI tool to accelerate your academic research? We compare OpenDraft, Jenni AI, Elicit, Consensus, and ChatGPT across features, pricing, citation accuracy, and use cases to help you choose the right tool for your needs.

The Challenge of AI-Assisted Academic Research

Academic research has fundamentally changed in the age of AI. What once took weeks of manual literature review can now be accomplished in hours—if you have the right tools. But with dozens of AI research assistants competing for your attention, how do you choose?

The stakes are high. A good AI research tool can accelerate your thesis, dissertation, or paper by 10x. A poor choice can waste time, produce unreliable citations, or even compromise academic integrity with hallucinated references.

This comprehensive comparison examines five leading AI research tools: OpenDraft, Jenni AI, Elicit, Consensus, and ChatGPT. We'll analyze their strengths, weaknesses, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you make an informed decision.

Quick Comparison Table

1. OpenDraft: Open Source Multi-Agent Research System

What is OpenDraft?

OpenDraft is an open-source AI system that generates complete research drafts with verified citations. Unlike single-model AI assistants, OpenDraft uses 19 specialized agents working in coordination to research, write, and cite academic content.

The key innovation is architectural: instead of asking a language model to generate citations (which leads to hallucinations), OpenDraft queries real academic databases—Semantic Scholar, CrossRef, and arXiv—ensuring every citation is verifiable.

Key Features

• 19 Specialized Agents: Scout agents find papers, Signal agents assess relevance, Scribe agents write content, Architect agents structure output
• Verified Citations: All citations sourced from 200M+ papers in academic databases (Semantic Scholar, CrossRef, arXiv)
• Zero Hallucination: Architectural design makes fake citations structurally impossible
• Full Draft Generation: Produces complete research sections, literature reviews, or thesis chapters
• Open Source (MIT License): Complete transparency, self-hosted deployment, no vendor lock-in
• Free Self-Hosted Option: Use with your own OpenAI API key (pay only for API usage, ~$2-5 per research draft)

Pricing

• Self-Hosted: Free (you pay only for OpenAI API costs, typically $2-5 per draft)
• Cloud Version: Coming soon with managed hosting

Pros

• 100% verified citations with DOIs from academic databases
• Completely open source—audit the code, customize behavior, no black boxes
• Multi-agent architecture produces higher-quality research than single-model tools
• Free for self-hosting (just pay OpenAI API costs)
• Generates complete drafts, not just outlines or snippets
• Covers 200M+ papers across all academic disciplines

Cons

• Requires technical setup (Docker, OpenAI API key) for self-hosting
• Not a web app—runs locally on your machine
• No real-time writing interface (generates complete drafts rather than interactive editing)
• Setup time of ~10 minutes may be too much for non-technical users

Best For

• Researchers writing literature reviews, thesis chapters, or research papers
• Students who want verified citations without hallucination risk
• Anyone who values open source, transparency, and data control
• Users comfortable with basic command-line tools

2. Jenni AI: AI Writing Assistant with Citation Features

What is Jenni AI?

Jenni AI is a web-based AI writing assistant designed for academic and professional writing. It provides real-time autocomplete suggestions, paraphrasing, and citation management within a familiar word-processor-like interface.

Jenni focuses on the writing experience—you type, and AI suggests how to continue. It's less about generating full drafts and more about augmenting your writing process with intelligent suggestions.

Key Features

• AI Autocomplete: Suggests next sentences as you write
• Citation Assistant: Insert citations from academic databases
• Paraphrasing Tool: Rewrite sentences to avoid plagiarism
• Outline Generation: Create structured outlines for papers
• Multiple Citation Styles: APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE
• Chat Interface: Ask questions about your research topic

Pricing

• Free Plan: 200 AI words per day
• Unlimited Plan: $20/month—unlimited AI writing, priority support

Pros

• Intuitive web interface—no technical setup required
• Real-time writing assistance feels natural and responsive
• Citation insertion from real academic databases
• Good for maintaining flow while writing
• Works well for incremental writing (write a little each day)

Cons

• Limited citation verification: While it can search databases, the AI-generated text around citations may still contain inaccuracies
• Free tier is very limited (200 words/day is about one paragraph)
• $20/month ongoing cost adds up over time
• Not open source—you can't audit how citations are verified
• Requires internet connection and account creation
• Less suitable for generating complete drafts from scratch

Best For

• Writers who prefer interactive, sentence-by-sentence assistance
• Students already comfortable writing but want AI suggestions
• Users who want a polished web interface without technical setup
• Those writing shorter documents or working incrementally

3. Elicit: AI Research Assistant for Paper Discovery

What is Elicit?

Elicit is an AI research assistant focused on finding and summarizing academic papers. You ask a research question, and Elicit searches academic databases to find relevant papers, then uses AI to extract key information.

Unlike writing-focused tools, Elicit emphasizes research discovery—helping you find what's been published on a topic, identify key papers, and extract data into structured tables.

Key Features

• Semantic Search: Find papers by research question, not just keywords
• AI Summaries: Get one-sentence summaries of papers
• Data Extraction: Pull specific information (methods, sample sizes, etc.) into tables
• Paper Discovery: Explore related papers and citation networks
• Systematic Reviews: Tools for structured literature reviews

Pricing

• Basic: Free—limited searches per month
• Plus: $10/month—more searches, better AI summaries
• Pro: $42/month—unlimited searches, priority access

Pros

• Excellent for discovering papers you wouldn't find with keyword search
• Structured data extraction saves time in systematic reviews
• Free tier is genuinely useful (unlike many freemium tools)
• Great for exploring unfamiliar research areas
• Citations are real (pulled from databases, not generated)

Cons

• Doesn't generate written content: You still need to write your paper yourself
• AI summaries can miss nuances or oversimplify findings
• Not suitable for generating literature reviews or thesis sections
• Requires subscription for heavy use
• No open-source option—black-box system

Best For

• Researchers conducting systematic literature reviews
• Exploring new research areas where you don't know key terms yet
• Extracting structured data from multiple papers
• Finding papers (not writing content)

4. Consensus: AI-Powered Evidence Synthesis

What is Consensus?

Consensus is an AI search engine that synthesizes scientific evidence to answer research questions. Instead of returning a list of papers, Consensus analyzes findings across multiple studies to tell you what the research consensus is.

It's particularly strong in health, medicine, and social sciences where meta-analysis and evidence synthesis are important.

Key Features

• Consensus Meter: Shows whether research supports or contradicts a claim
• Evidence Synthesis: Aggregates findings across multiple papers
• Study Snapshots: Quick summaries of methodology and results
• Citation Suggestions: Provides papers that support specific claims
• Filtered by Study Design: Focus on RCTs, meta-analyses, etc.

Pricing

• Free: Limited searches per month
• Premium: $9/month—unlimited searches, advanced features
• Enterprise: $30/month—teams, priority support

Pros

• Excellent for understanding the state of evidence on a question
• Consensus meter provides at-a-glance view of research trends
• Strong in health sciences and evidence-based research
• Good for fact-checking claims against published research
• Real citations from academic databases

Cons

• No content generation: Doesn't write research papers or sections
• Limited to questions with substantial published research
• Consensus summaries may oversimplify complex debates
• Less useful for exploratory research or novel topics
• Not open source

Best For

• Medical and health sciences researchers
• Evidence-based research where you need to know the consensus
• Fact-checking specific claims against the literature
• Understanding the balance of evidence on controversial questions

5. ChatGPT: General-Purpose AI with Major Limitations for Research

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a general-purpose conversational AI developed by OpenAI. While incredibly versatile and widely used, it has significant limitations for academic research due to citation hallucination.

Key Features

• Conversational Interface: Ask questions in natural language
• Code Assistance: Generate code, debug, explain algorithms
• Writing Help: Draft outlines, brainstorm ideas, rewrite text
• Web Browsing (Plus): Search the internet for current information
• Custom GPTs: Specialized versions for specific tasks

Pricing

• Free: GPT-3.5 model with rate limits
• Plus: $20/month—GPT-4, web browsing, priority access

Pros

• Extremely versatile—useful for brainstorming, outlining, explaining concepts
• Good for understanding complex topics at a high level
• Helpful for generating research questions or thesis structures
• Free tier available
• Widely adopted with extensive documentation and community

Cons

• Citation hallucination: Frequently fabricates academic citations that look real but don't exist
• No database integration: Can't verify citations against Semantic Scholar, CrossRef, etc.
• Unreliable for literature review: May confidently cite papers that were never published
• Web browsing doesn't solve the citation problem (still hallucinates)
• Not specialized for academic research
• Every citation requires manual verification

Best For

• Brainstorming and ideation (not final content)
• Understanding concepts or getting explanations
• Outlining paper structure (without citations)
• General writing tasks outside academia
• NOT suitable for: Literature reviews, cited research, or any work requiring accurate references

Honorable Mentions: Other Tools Worth Considering

Semantic Scholar

Not an AI writing tool, but an excellent academic search engine powered by AI. Free, covers 200M+ papers, provides citation graphs and influence metrics. Great for manual research discovery.

SciSpace (formerly Typeset)

AI tool for reading and understanding research papers. Upload PDFs and ask questions about them. Good for literature review when you have papers but need help extracting insights.

Scite.ai

Specialized in citation context analysis—shows how papers cite each other (supporting, contradicting, or mentioning). Excellent for understanding debates in the literature.

Head-to-Head Comparison: Key Criteria

Citation Accuracy

Content Generation Capability

Cost Analysis (Annual)

Use Case Recommendations

Writing a Master's Thesis or PhD Dissertation

Best Choice: OpenDraft

Why: You need to generate substantial content (10,000-100,000 words) with extensive, verified citations. OpenDraft's multi-agent system produces complete chapters with real citations. The one-time setup investment pays off across multiple thesis chapters.

Alternative: Jenni AI (if you prefer interactive writing and already have a writing process)

Literature Review for a Research Paper

Best Choice: OpenDraft or Elicit

Why: OpenDraft generates written literature reviews with citations. Elicit helps you discover and organize papers first, then you write manually. Choose based on whether you want content generation (OpenDraft) or research organization (Elicit).

Systematic Review or Meta-Analysis

Best Choice: Elicit + Consensus

Why: Elicit excels at structured data extraction from multiple papers. Consensus helps synthesize evidence. Both are designed for systematic approaches to literature.

Understanding Evidence on a Specific Question

Best Choice: Consensus

Why: Consensus's evidence synthesis gives you the big picture quickly. Perfect for fact-checking or understanding the state of research on a question.

Brainstorming and Outlining (No Citations Needed)

Best Choice: ChatGPT

Why: For non-cited work like brainstorming, outlining, or understanding concepts, ChatGPT is excellent and versatile. Just don't rely on its citations.

Writing with Incremental AI Assistance

Best Choice: Jenni AI

Why: If you prefer writing sentence-by-sentence with real-time AI suggestions, Jenni's interface is purpose-built for this workflow.

Why OpenDraft is Different: The Multi-Agent Advantage

Most AI research tools use a single language model to handle all tasks—finding papers, summarizing them, generating content, and creating citations. This "jack of all trades" approach inevitably leads to compromises.

OpenDraft's 19-agent architecture assigns specialized roles:

• Planner Agents: Break research topics into specific queries
• Scout Agents: Query academic databases (Semantic Scholar, CrossRef, arXiv)
• Signal Agents: Evaluate paper relevance and quality
• Scribe Agents: Generate written content based on verified sources
• Architect Agents: Structure output and format citations

This separation of concerns means each agent can be optimized for its specific task. Scout agents don't generate text—they query databases. Scribe agents don't invent citations—they reference pre-verified papers.

The result is a system where hallucinated citations are architecturally impossible, not just unlikely.

The Open Source Advantage

OpenDraft is the only major AI research tool that's fully open source (MIT license). This matters for several reasons:

Transparency

You can inspect exactly how citations are verified, how agents coordinate, and what prompts are used. No black boxes, no proprietary algorithms you have to trust blindly.

Academic Integrity

When your institution asks "how did you verify these citations?", you can point to the specific code that queries CrossRef and Semantic Scholar. With closed-source tools, you're trusting a company's claims.

Customization

Need to integrate a field-specific database? Want to modify agent behavior? You can fork the code and adapt it to your needs. Closed-source tools offer no such flexibility.

Data Privacy

Self-hosting means your research stays on your machine. No company servers, no terms of service that might claim rights to your input/output, no data mining of your research.

Long-Term Viability

If a commercial tool shuts down or pivots, your workflow breaks. Open-source software can be maintained by the community indefinitely.

Limitations: What OpenDraft Doesn't Do

To be fair, OpenDraft isn't the best choice for every use case:

Interactive Writing

OpenDraft generates complete drafts in batch mode. If you prefer real-time, sentence-by-sentence AI suggestions as you type, Jenni AI is better suited.

Web Interface

OpenDraft currently requires command-line setup. If you need a polished web interface with zero technical setup, Elicit or Jenni AI are more accessible.

Paper Discovery Only

If you just want to find papers without generating written content, Elicit is more focused on that specific task.

Evidence Synthesis Without Writing

If you need to understand research consensus without writing a literature review, Consensus is purpose-built for that.

Final Recommendations by User Type

For Graduate Students (Master's/PhD)

Primary: OpenDraft (for thesis chapters, literature reviews)
Secondary: Elicit (for initial paper discovery)
Avoid: ChatGPT (for cited academic work)

For Researchers Writing Papers

Primary: OpenDraft (for lit reviews and background sections)
Secondary: Consensus (for fact-checking claims)
Consider: Jenni AI (if you prefer interactive writing)

For Systematic Reviews

Primary: Elicit (for data extraction and organization)
Secondary: OpenDraft (for writing the review)
Also: Consensus (for evidence synthesis)

For Undergraduate Students

Primary: Consensus or Elicit (easier to start with, web-based)
Upgrade to: OpenDraft (for longer papers like capstone projects)
Use Carefully: ChatGPT (only for brainstorming, never for citations)

For Non-Technical Users

Start with: Consensus or Jenni AI (web-based, no setup)
Consider: OpenDraft (if willing to invest 10 minutes in setup for better results)

Conclusion: The Right Tool for Your Needs

There's no single "best" AI research tool—it depends on your specific needs:

• Choose OpenDraft if you need complete research drafts with verified citations, value open source, and want the most accurate citation system available
• Choose Jenni AI if you prefer interactive, real-time writing assistance and don't mind paying $20/month
• Choose Elicit if you primarily need to discover and organize papers, not generate written content
• Choose Consensus if you need to understand research consensus on specific questions, especially in health sciences
• Avoid ChatGPT for any work requiring accurate citations—use it only for brainstorming and non-cited tasks

For most academic researchers and graduate students, OpenDraft offers the best combination of citation accuracy, content generation quality, and cost-effectiveness. The multi-agent architecture and database-first approach represent a fundamental advance over single-model AI tools.

The 10-minute setup investment pays dividends across multiple research projects, and the open-source nature ensures you maintain control over your research workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is OpenDraft really free?

Yes, OpenDraft is 100% open source (MIT license) and free to self-host. You only pay for OpenAI API usage, which typically costs $2-5 per research draft. There are no subscription fees, account requirements, or usage limits.

Can I trust citations from these AI tools?

It depends on the tool:

• OpenDraft, Elicit, Consensus: Yes—citations come from real academic databases
• Jenni AI: Mostly, but verify important citations
• ChatGPT: No—frequently hallucinates citations; verify everything

Which tool is best for a PhD dissertation?

OpenDraft is ideal for dissertations because it generates complete chapters with extensive verified citations. The multi-agent system handles the complexity of dissertation-length literature reviews better than single-model tools.

Do I need to know programming to use OpenDraft?

No programming knowledge required. You need basic command-line skills (copy-paste commands) and 10 minutes for Docker setup. If you can install software on your computer, you can use OpenDraft.

Can I use multiple tools together?

Absolutely. Many researchers use:

• Elicit or Consensus for initial paper discovery
• OpenDraft for generating written literature reviews
• Jenni AI or ChatGPT for editing and refinement (without adding new citations)

What about academic integrity?

All AI writing tools require disclosure according to your institution's policies. OpenDraft's open-source nature makes it easier to explain exactly how it works to academic committees. Always review and understand AI-generated content before submitting.

About the Author: This comparison was created by Federico De Ponte, developer of OpenDraft. While we built OpenDraft, this comparison strives to be objective and fair to competitors. Last Updated: December 29, 2024