AI tools for researchers with an API in 2026
17 AI tools for researchers on Finder Atlas offer an API. In 2026 the top of the list is Claude, Grok and DeepSeek, ranked by reviews from people who use them.
Literature search, paper summaries, evidence and citations.
Across AI Assistants (11), Education & Research (3), Developer Tools (1), Image & Visual AI (1) and Productivity (1).
The list
- 1
Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, coding and working with files
Free plan, paid from $20/month · Web, macOS, Windows · API · Mobile app
- 2
xAI's AI assistant with live X and web search, image and voice tools
Free plan, paid from $8/month · Web, iOS, Android · API · Mobile app
- 3
DeepSeek
FreemiumFree AI chat app and low-cost API running DeepSeek's open-weights V4 models
Free plan, paid from $0.15/1M input tokens · Web, iOS, Android · API · Mobile app
- 4
Google Gemini
FreemiumGoogle's AI assistant for chat, research, image and video creation, and Workspace apps
Free plan, paid from $4.99/month · Web, iOS, Android · API · Mobile app
- 5
Perplexity
FreemiumAI answer engine that searches the live web and cites its sources
Free plan, paid from $20/month · Web, iOS, Android · API · Mobile app
- 6
Gemini Notebook
FreemiumGoogle's Gemini Notebook, formerly NotebookLM, answers questions and builds summaries from your own sources
Free plan, paid from $4.99/month · Web, iOS, Android · API · Mobile app
- 7
Qwen
FreemiumAlibaba's free AI assistant and open-weight model family, on web, mobile and API
Free · Web, Android, API · API · Mobile app
- 8
Elicit
FreemiumAI research assistant for literature search, systematic reviews and evidence reports
Free plan, paid from $75/user/mo · Web, API · API
- 9
Image and video generation models with a pay-per-use API and open weights
From $0.008/image · Web, API · API
- 10
Replicate
PaidRun, fine-tune and deploy open-source AI models through a pay-per-use API
Web, API, CLI · API
- 11
Trust Me Bro
FreemiumPaste a claim, get cited research for and against it and a shareable receipt
Free plan, paid from $9.99/month · Web, Chrome Extension, API · API
- 12
Kagi
Free trialAd-free, subscription-funded search engine with built-in AI assistant and summarization tools
Free plan, paid from $5/month · Web, iOS, Android · API · Mobile app
- 13
Z.ai Chat
FreemiumFree GLM-powered AI chatbot and agent from Zhipu AI for writing, coding and research
Free plan, paid from $18/month · Web, API · API
- 14
Consensus
FreemiumSearch peer-reviewed research and get cited, evidence-based answers in seconds
Free plan, paid from $20/month · Web, Android · API · Mobile app
- 15
Manus
FreemiumGeneral AI agent that plans, researches, codes and delivers finished work autonomously
Free plan, paid from $20/month · Web, macOS, Windows · API · Mobile app
- 16
Kimi
FreemiumChat, research and agent assistant from Moonshot AI, built on its Kimi K3 model
Free plan, paid from $19/month · Web, macOS, iOS · API · Mobile app
- 17
Felo
FreemiumMultilingual AI search engine that also builds slides, mind maps and research reports
Free plan, paid from $14.99/month · Web, iOS, Android · API · Mobile app
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI tool for researchers?
Claude tops this list. Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, coding and working with files. It is freemium (free plan, paid from $20/month).
Which AI tools for researchers are free?
Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Google Gemini and Perplexity have a free plan, among 27 in total.
Which AI tools for researchers have an API?
Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Google Gemini and Perplexity offer an API, among 17 in total.
How is this list ranked?
Tools with reviews on Finder Atlas come first, by rating. Then listings claimed by their makers, then listings checked by our editors, then Finder Atlas's own 0 to 10 editorial score. Nothing on the list is paid placement.
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