Two research & learning tools, one decision. Here is the honest split.
| ChatPDF | SciSpace | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Free plan |
| Best at | Contracts, papers, manuals, and reports you need answers from without reading cover to cover. | Actually understanding dense papers, not just summarizing them. |
| In short | Upload a PDF, ask it questions. The fastest way to interrogate a long document. | Read papers with an AI copilot - explains passages, math, and tables, and finds related work. |
| On Atlas | 3 starter prompts | 3 starter prompts |
Pick ChatPDF when the job is Contracts, papers, manuals, and reports you need answers from without reading cover to cover.. Pick SciSpace when the job is Actually understanding dense papers, not just summarizing them.. Still torn? Run one real task through both free tiers. An hour of testing beats a week of reviews.
Summarize the strongest evidence for and against [claim]. Cite primary sources only, rate the strength of the evidence, and end with what is still unknown.