Curated stack · 4 tools

Student research & study

Every tool here has a free tier to start on. Paying for the cheapest plan of each priced tool comes to about $49/mo; we couldn't confirm current prices for Perplexity, NotebookLM, QuillBot, so check those before you buy.

The tools

What each tool does here.

01Research & sourcesFree tier
P

Perplexity

“Answer engine with citations”

Why you'd click
Quick sourced research
Red flags
Citations can mislead; Pro limits cut mid-term in 2026 (incl. annual plans)
Price
$0 with these limitsunlimited basic search; limited Pro searchesUpgrade: $17/mo billed annually (Pro)
Opening line
Compare heat pumps vs furnaces, cite sources.
Research Search
Visit site
02Research & sourcesFree tier
N

NotebookLM

“Chat with your sources, audio overviews”

Why you'd click
Studying documents
Red flags
Only your uploaded sources
Price
$0 with these limitsfree with a Google account; higher limits on paid Google AI plans
Opening line
Make a study guide from these PDFs.
Research Search
Visit site
03Research & sourcesFree tier
E

Elicit

“AI for academic papers”

Why you'd click
Literature reviews
Red flags
Mainly academic
Price
$0 with these limitsunlimited paper search; limited reportsUpgrade: $49/user/mo billed annually (Pro)
Opening line
Find RCTs on intermittent fasting.
Research Search
Visit site
04Writing toolsPaid · has free tier
Q

QuillBot

“Paraphraser and summarizer”

Why you'd click
Students
Red flags
Paraphrasing ≠ originality
Price
$8.33/mo billed annually (Premium)Free tier
Opening line
Paraphrase this in simpler words.
Writing
Visit site
PerplexityResearch & sources — $17/mo
NotebookLMResearch & sources — Free tier
ElicitResearch & sources — $49/mo
QuillBotWriting tools — $8.33/mo
Cheapest paid total$49/mo if you pay for every priced tool · every tool has a free tier (checked Oct 2026)