Explainpaper

What is Explainpaper?

Explainpaper is a reading tool for academic papers. You upload a PDF, highlight a sentence or passage you cannot follow, and a language model explains it in simpler terms while taking the rest of the paper into account. Explanations can be set from beginner to expert level and are offered in more than 50 languages. You can also chat with the paper, ask follow-up questions and jump to the sections the answers cite, and view an auto-generated outline with key findings and main arguments. On the paid plan you can click graphs, figures and equations to have them explained, import a Zotero library, and save and share highlights. The homepage says more than 400,000 researchers use it. The Free plan costs $0/month with unlimited highlight explanations on basic AI models, and Pro costs $16/month with advanced models, full-paper summaries and a 7-day trial.

Use cases

• Explain jargon in a research paper
• Chat with an academic PDF
• Summarize a whole paper
• Read papers outside your field
• Explain equations, graphs and figures
• Get explanations in another language
• Save and share paper highlights

Who it's for

• Students
• Researchers
• Academics
• Curious readers

Why use Explainpaper

• Explanations appear right next to the passage, so you stay in the paper instead of searching for terms elsewhere.
• Setting the complexity level and language makes dense material approachable for non-specialists.
• Chat answers are based on the paper's own content and point to the relevant sections.
• The Free plan has no time limit and needs no payment details.
• Pro has a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Explainpaper features

• Highlight text to get an in-context explanation
• Adjustable complexity from beginner to expert
• Explanations in 50+ languages
• Chat with your paper with section citations
• Auto-generated outline with clickable page references
• Snap Explain for math formulas, graphs and figures
• Full-paper summaries and key takeaways
• Saved and shareable highlights
• Zotero library import

Explainpaper integrations

• Zotero
• Stripe

How to get started with Explainpaper

1. Go to explainpaper.com and upload a research paper.
2. Highlight any sentence or passage you do not understand.
3. Read the simplified explanation, and adjust the complexity level or language if needed.
4. Ask follow-up questions or chat with the paper to dig deeper.
5. Use the outline and summaries to get an overview, and save highlights if you are on Pro.

Explainpaper limitations

• The Free plan uses early generation AI models and basic explanations only
• Paper summaries, saved highlights and chat are Pro features
• Starting the 7-day Pro trial needs a card on file
• AI explanations can be wrong and should be checked against the paper

Explainpaper pricing

Yes, Explainpaper has a free plan. Paid plans start at $16 per month, according to the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026.

Explainpaper plans

• Free

  $0/month

  • Basic explanations on highlighted text
  • Follow-up questions
  • Import your Zotero library
  • Early generation AI models

• Pro

  $16/month

  • Snap Explain for math formulas and graphs
  • Advanced models for academic reasoning
  • Full-paper summaries and key takeaways
  • Saved and shareable highlights
  • Chat with your paper

• Teams

  Custom

  custom agreement

  • Pricing and billing set by agreement

Plans as listed on the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026. Prices can change and may vary by country or exclude tax. Check the official pricing page.

Explainpaper alternatives

The main Explainpaper alternatives listed on Debuly are ChatPDF, Elicit, Consensus, SciSummary, aiPDF and AMiner. The table compares pricing and platforms; order is A–Z.

1. 

   aiPDF

   Chat app that summarizes PDFs, EPUBs, web pages and YouTube links, then answers questions about them with references to the source text.

   Research and searchProductivityChat assistants
   FreemiumVisit aiPDF (official site)
2. AM

   AMiner

   AI academic search platform for finding papers, scholars and research trends, with AI reading and deep research tools.

   Research and searchWriting
   Visit AMiner (official site)
3. 

   ChatPDF

   Upload a PDF, Word or PowerPoint file and ask questions in any language, with answers linked to the source page.

   Research and searchProductivityWriting
   FreemiumVisit ChatPDF (official site)
4. 

   Consensus

   AI search engine for research that answers questions from peer-reviewed papers, with every claim linked back to its source.

   Research and search
   FreemiumVisit Consensus (official site)
5. 

   Elicit

   AI research assistant that searches 138 million papers, extracts data into tables and runs systematic reviews and cited reports.

   Research and searchProductivityWriting
   FreemiumVisit Elicit (official site)
6. 

   SciSummary

   AI tool that summarizes scientific papers into structured sections, with figure analysis, chat, citations and a searchable library.

   Research and searchProductivity
   Free trialVisit SciSummary (official site)

Explainpaper FAQ

Sources & verification

Facts on this page come from the official sources below, each with the date we read it. Written by Debuly; the vendor did not review this page.

Image credits

• Logo: from explainpaper.com · fetched 23 Oct 2026 · Vendor trademark, used only to identify the product; removed on request
• Cover: none collected yet, so a generated tile is shown.

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