Answer Engines

About this category

17 products from 17 companies, the earliest first recorded in 2009.

By business model: Freemium 10 · Free 5 · Paid 2.

Recorded uses in this category: Research with citations, Search, Questions over your own documents.

The longest-standing record here is Ecosia (2009); the most recent arrival is Naver (2026).

This category covers services that answer questions directly by combining web search with generative AI, returning a synthesized answer with citations rather than a list of links. They are used for research and quick factual look-ups.

Fields taken from the product records use the record dates shown. Sourced claims are labelled per product: verified against the linked page on the date shown, taken from the product record without re-checking, or not independently verified.

Every product here, one line each

• Andi — Free; Research with citations, Search. Made by Andi, first recorded 2022. Pricing: Andi is free to use, with no advertising.
• Comet — Freemium; Research with citations, Search. Made by Perplexity, first recorded 2025. Pricing: Comet is free to use; higher usage limits and premium features come with paid Perplexity subscriptions.
• Consensus — Freemium; Research with citations, Search. Made by Consensus, first recorded 2022. Pricing: A free tier is available; paid plans add unlimited searches and advanced analysis features.
• Ecosia — Free; Research with citations, Search. Made by Ecosia GmbH, first recorded 2009. Pricing: Ecosia does not publish paid plans; the company states that it uses 100% of its profits for climate action and publishes monthly financial reports.
• Elicit — Freemium; Research with citations, Search. Made by Elicit, first recorded 2022. Pricing: A free tier is available; paid plans add higher usage levels and advanced extraction.
• Exa — Paid; Research with citations, Search. Made by Exa, first recorded 2021. Pricing: Pricing is usage-based per search and content request; new developers receive free credits.
• Felo — Freemium; Research with citations, Search. Made by Felo, first recorded 2024. Pricing: Felo is free for a limited number of daily advanced searches; the Pro plan unlocks more searches and premium models.
• Genspark — Freemium; Research with citations, Search. Made by Genspark, first recorded 2024. Pricing: Prices are published in USD on Genspark's help centre: Free $0 with 100 credits per day (up to a lifetime allowance) and 1 GB of AI Drive storage; Plus $24.99/month, or $19.99/month billed annually at $239.99/year (from 10,000 monthly credits, 50 GB); Pro $249.99/month, or $199.99/month billed annually at $2,399.99/year (from 125,000 monthly credits, 1 TB); Team $35 per seat/month (10,000 credits per seat/month); Enterprise custom. Annual figures are the monthly equivalent when billed yearly, not a month-to-month rate. Benefits are stated as valid through 30 June 2027.
• iAsk — Free; Research with citations, Search. Made by iAsk.Ai, first recorded 2023. Pricing: iAsk.Ai is free for standard use; the Pro subscription unlocks premium models, unlimited usage, and extra tools.
• Liner — Freemium; Research with citations, Search. Made by Liner, first recorded 2015. Pricing: Liner has a free plan with ads and daily limits on some features; Pro subscriptions apply across Liner, Liner Scholar, and Liner Write and add higher limits and access to major AI models.
• Naver — Free; Research with citations, Search. Made by Naver Corporation, first recorded 2026. Pricing: Naver does not publish separate pricing for AI Tab; the feature is available to all users within its search service.
• Perplexity — Freemium; Research with citations, Search. Made by Perplexity AI, first recorded 2022. Pricing: A free tier is available; Perplexity Pro adds more Deep Research queries, frontier model choice, and file limits.
• Quark — Freemium; Research with citations, Search. Made by Alibaba Group, first recorded 2016. Pricing: Quark is free to download, and its App Store listing shows in-app purchases.
• Qwant — Free; Research with citations, Search. Made by Qwant, first recorded 2013. Pricing: Qwant's AI answers and page summaries are described as free and unlimited once a user creates a Qwant account.
• SciSpace — Freemium; Research with citations, Questions over your own documents. Made by PubGenius, first recorded Not recorded. Pricing: A free PDF tier and paid Premium options are advertised. The fetched pricing page did not expose current subscription amounts or exact credit allowances, so those figures remain unlisted.
• Scite — Paid; Research with citations, Search. Made by Research Solutions, first recorded Not recorded. Pricing: Basic is advertised at USD 12 per month billed yearly, with a 7-day trial. This is an annual-billing rate, not a monthly-billed price. The trial FAQ says the selected subscription begins automatically unless cancelled.
• You.com — Freemium; Research with citations, Search. Made by You.com, first recorded 2021. Pricing: You.com offers free credits for new API keys and usage-based pricing for its search APIs; enterprise plans add custom QPS limits and zero data retention.

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