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Paperpal: plans, prices, strengths and limits
Paperpal has a free plan with 200 grammar edits a month and 5 writing and 5 research uses a day. Paperpal Prime costs $25 a month or $144 a year, and Paperpal Pro costs $59 a month or $348 a year, with unlimited grammar, writing and research uses.
Prices for United States, before sales tax Data release 2026.11.07-2, Nov 7, 2026 Rules 2.5.0
- Made by
- Cactus Communications
- Individual plans
- 3, one free
- Paid plans
- $25 to $59 a month
- Facts checked
- Nov 7, 2026
Hidden gem A smaller tool fewer people know yet. We list it after the main picks for each job its maker documents; we have not tested it. How we choose them
Quick verdict
Paperpal is an academic writing tool from Cactus Communications. It checks academic grammar and language, paraphrases, trims and translates text, answers research questions with citations from more than 250 million research articles, lets you chat with your PDFs, runs plagiarism checks and makes scientific figures, in its web app, a Word add-in and a Google Docs add-on. Paperpal Free gives 200 grammar edits a month, 5 writing and 5 research uses a day, 5 PDF chats a month, lite plagiarism and journal-fit reports and a 300 MB library. Paperpal Prime is $25 a month or $144 a year ($12 a month), with 20,000 grammar edits, 500 writing and 500 research uses, 150 PDF chats and 10,000 plagiarism-check words a month, and a 2 GB library. Paperpal Pro is $59 a month or $348 a year ($29 a month), with unlimited grammar, writing and research uses, 500 PDF chats and 30,000 plagiarism-check words a month, a 10 GB library and 1 custom illustration a month. Paperpal's pricing page gives no tax note.
On data, Paperpal says your documents, uploads and personal information "are never used for model training and remain fully confidential, on every plan including Free". On rights, its Terms say you keep ownership of AI output and that Paperpal transfers its rights in the output to you, but no page we read gives an explicit commercial-use permission, so commercial use is not verified.
Paperpal's pages disagree on its AI models: the Copilot FAQ says it uses no GPT models and its own proprietary model trained on scholarly data, while the Terms of Use say features may use third-party AI technologies. This verdict rests on what Paperpal documents, not on our tests, which we have not run yet.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- No training on your documents, on any planPaperpal says documents, uploads and personal information are never used for model training and remain confidential, on every plan including Free. No opt-out is needed.
- Inside Word, Google Docs and OverleafAn official Word add-in offers suggestions, paraphrasing, research and citation formatting. A Google Docs add-on gives grammar checks, paraphrasing, tone changes and word reduction, and the Chrome and Edge extensions support Google Docs and Overleaf.
- Cited answers from research articlesResearch Q&A answers questions with citations from more than 250 million research articles: 5 uses a day on Free, 500 a month on Prime and unlimited on Pro. Chat with PDFs compares your uploaded papers: 5 a month on Free, 150 on Prime and 500 on Pro.
- Plagiarism checks and figures on paid plansPrime includes 10,000 plagiarism-check words a month and Pro 30,000; Free gets a lite report. Illustrate (beta) makes scientific figures, with PNG download on Free and high-resolution SVG export on Prime and Pro.
- Multi-year optionsBesides monthly and yearly billing, Paperpal sells one-time 2-year and 3-year purchases: $229 and $289 for Prime, $555 and $699 for Pro.
Limits
- Commercial use not statedNot verified. Paperpal's Terms say it transfers its rights in the output to you and that you keep ownership, but no page we read gives an explicit permission to use the output commercially.
- Paperpal's pages disagree on its modelsConflict. The Copilot FAQ says Paperpal uses none of the GPT models and has its own proprietary model trained on scholarly data. The Terms of Use say features may use machine learning models and third-party AI technologies.
- Free is small, Prime is countedPlan limit. Free allows 200 grammar edits a month, 5 writing and 5 research uses a day and 5 PDF chats a month, with no consistency checks. Prime counts grammar edits, writing uses, research uses and PDF chats monthly; only Pro is unlimited for grammar, writing and research.
- Pro agents are unlimited only for nowPlan limit. Pro lists its Research and Writing Agents as unlimited during a promotional period, with no end date given. Free lists limited agent usage and Prime 10 times Free's.
- Gaps in what is documentedNot verified. The pricing table marks version history, document export and citation formatting per plan with icons we could not read, so which plan includes them is not confirmed. Context size, a data export and ads are not stated.
Based on what Cactus Communications documents for each plan, not on our tests.
Who it suits
A good fit if you
- Students and researchers who write papers and theses in Word, Google Docs or Overleaf
- Keeping unpublished research out of model training, on every plan
- Answering research questions with citations from published articles
- Plagiarism checks before submission, on Prime or Pro
Look elsewhere if you
- Commercial writing where you need an explicit license: not stated
- Heavy daily use on Free: 5 writing and 5 research uses a day
- General chat or tasks outside academic writing: Copilot is built for academic work
- Spreadsheets or data analysis: not documented
Plans and prices
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperpal Free | Free | Nov 7, 2026 | |
| Paperpal PrimeBilled as $144 a year on the Annual toggle ($12 a month). One-time 2-year ($229) and 3-year ($289) Prime purchases also exist. | $25 a month | $144 a year | Nov 7, 2026 Source |
| Paperpal ProBilled as $348 a year on the Annual toggle ($29 a month). One-time 2-year ($555) and 3-year ($699) Pro purchases also exist. | $59 a month | $348 a year | Nov 7, 2026 Source |
Prices for United States, before sales tax unless a plan says otherwise. A yearly plan is paid up front and is not cancel-any-time.
Features by plan
What Cactus Communications documents for each plan. A hatched mark means we could not verify it, which is not the same as "not offered".
| Feature | Paperpal Free | Paperpal Prime | Paperpal Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Models and limits | |||
| Top models included | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Context window | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Models from several companies | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| General-purpose assistant | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Research and sources | |||
| Web search with sources | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Deep research reports | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Research paper search | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Files and data | |||
| File and document uploads | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spreadsheet and data analysis | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Images, video and voice | |||
| Image generation | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Real-time voice | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Image editing and design | |||
| Vector (SVG) files | No | Yes | Yes |
| Diagrams from text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music, voice and transcription | |||
| Dictation into any app | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Writing and slides | |||
| Slides from a prompt | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Grammar and spelling checks | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Paraphrasing and tone changes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Projects and memory | |||
| Projects | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Custom assistants | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Memory across chats | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Integrations and agents | |||
| Connectors to other apps | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Inside Gmail | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Inside Google Docs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Google Sheets | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Inside Word | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Excel | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Inside PowerPoint | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Inside Outlook | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Browser agent | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Privacy and control | |||
| Opt out of model training | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Export your data | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Shows ads | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Rights and licensing | |||
| Commercial use of outputs | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Apps and extras | |||
| Cloud storage included | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Usage included | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The details and sources of every row are in Compare two AIs and the data release.
What it documents for each use
- Research & Search Find and read research papers
- Writing & Content Fix grammar and tone in my writing
- Images & Design Turn text into diagrams
- Business & Productivity Use AI inside Google Docs · Use AI inside Word
A use is listed when at least one plan documents every feature a task needs. Answer quality is a separate question: see below.
Using it day to day
Paperpal runs as a web app, as an official Microsoft Word add-in, as a Google Docs add-on and as Chrome and Edge extensions that support Google Docs and Overleaf. Copilot drafts outlines, titles, abstracts, keywords, summaries, study highlights and email templates for academic work. Research Q&A gives cited answers from research articles rather than live web pages, and Chat with PDFs answers questions across papers you upload, including about equations and tables. Your reference library holds 300 MB on Free, 2 GB on Prime and 10 GB on Pro, and documents export as .docx and PDF.
Usage by plan: Free has 200 grammar edits a month, 5 paraphrase, trim, translate and AI review uses a day, 5 research uses a day and 5 PDF chats a month. Prime has 20,000 grammar edits with unlimited consistency checks, 500 writing uses, 500 research uses and 150 PDF chats a month. Pro is unlimited for grammar, writing and research, with 500 PDF chats a month. Plagiarism checks are lite on Free, 10,000 words a month on Prime and 30,000 on Pro.
Privacy, data and ads
Paperpal says your documents, uploads and personal information are never used for model training and remain fully confidential, on every plan including Free, so there is no training setting to change. Documents export as .docx and PDF, but we found no description of a full account data or chat history export. Whether Paperpal shows ads is not verified.
Read the vendor's own page: Paperpal privacy and data controls. We make no legal or compliance claim.
Test results
We have not tested Paperpal yet, so this page makes no claim about answer quality, and we show no example outputs. Run the same kit in it and in the alternatives, in your own account:
- Summarize a report with traceable facts
- Analyze a spreadsheet and get the numbers right
- Edit an email without losing a detail
- Diagnose and repair a small program
- Research a question with sources that support the answer
- Make sense of documents that disagree
- Research a current question within a date window
- Edit an article without changing its facts
- Turn project notes into a report that agrees with itself
- Implement a small specification
- Refactor code without changing what it does
- Make a picture that follows a detailed brief
- Put exact text into a graphic
- Change one thing in a picture and nothing else
- Make a short clip that follows a brief
- Make a song that sings your lyrics exactly
- Read a script with names, numbers and abbreviations
- Design a logo with an exact name
Getting started
- Start on Paperpal Free in the Word add-in or Google Docs add-on with a section of a paper you are working on.
- Try a few research questions and check that each cited article says what the answer claims.
- If you write regularly, compare Prime at $25 a month with $144 a year, and Pro at $59 a month with $348 a year. Do not count on Pro's unlimited agents lasting: Paperpal calls it a promotional period.
- If you will publish or sell the text, ask Paperpal about commercial use: its Terms transfer rights in the output to you but do not mention commercial use.
- Compare Paperpal with Jenni AI and other tools on our tools page, and read how we check vendor claims.
Your fit
Tell Find my AI what you do and what matters; it checks every plan of Paperpal against your priorities, next to the alternatives.
Alternatives
- Jenni AI Jenni AI searches more than 200 million papers and formats citations in more than 10,000 styles, with unlimited citations on every plan; Plus is $30 a month, though its Terms bar commercial endeavors unless Jenni approves them. About Jenni AI
- Grammarly Grammarly Free checks spelling and grammar as you type in many apps, and Pro at $30 a month adds plagiarism and AI text detection and Citation Finder; training is on by default until you turn it off. About Grammarly
- Elicit For finding and screening papers, Elicit Basic is free with unlimited search over 138 million papers and chat with papers, and Pro at $75 a month adds systematic reviews of up to 5,000 papers. About Elicit
Recent changes
- Paperpal Pro added
- Paperpal Prime added
- Paperpal Free added
Every change is in the change log.
Questions
Is Paperpal free?
Yes. Paperpal Free includes 200 grammar edits a month, 5 writing and 5 research uses a day, 5 PDF chats a month, lite plagiarism and journal-fit reports and a 300 MB library.
How much does Paperpal Prime cost?
Paperpal Prime is $25 a month or $144 a year ($12 a month). Paperpal also sells one-time 2-year ($229) and 3-year ($289) Prime purchases. The pricing page gives no tax note.
What is the difference between Paperpal Prime and Pro?
Prime has monthly limits: 20,000 grammar edits, 500 writing and 500 research uses, 150 PDF chats and 10,000 plagiarism-check words. Pro, at $59 a month or $348 a year, is unlimited for grammar, writing and research, with 500 PDF chats, 30,000 plagiarism-check words and a 10 GB library.
Does Paperpal use my papers to train AI?
No, according to Paperpal: it says documents, uploads and personal information are never used for model training, on every plan including Free.
Does Paperpal work in Word and Google Docs?
Yes. Paperpal has an official Microsoft Word add-in and a Google Docs add-on, and its Chrome and Edge extensions also support Overleaf.
Does Paperpal use ChatGPT?
Paperpal's pages disagree. Its Copilot FAQ says it uses none of the GPT models and has its own proprietary model, while its Terms of Use say features may use third-party AI technologies.
Sources
8 official pages, checked Nov 7, 2026. This page was written by the What the tech desk with AI assistance from the facts in our data release; no company paid for or reviewed it.
- Paperpal CopilotCactus Communications
- Paperpal Pricing & PlansCactus Communications
- Paperpal Chat PDFCactus Communications
- Paperpal Terms of UseCactus Communications
- Paperpal for Google DocsCactus Communications
- Paperpal for MS WordCactus Communications
- Paperpal Data SecurityCactus Communications
- Paperpal AI Reference FinderCactus Communications
About this page
- Published by
- What the tech, Helsinki, Finland
- Author
- What the tech
- Reviewed by
- Peyman Khosravani
- Review scope
- Checked that this page matches the facts in data release 2026.11.07-2: a check against documented sources, not a hands-on test of the product.
- Evidence
- Facts documented by each company, each linked to its official source and dated. Test results appear only where an editor ran the test.
- Data release
- 2026.11.07-2, Nov 7, 2026
Product ownership is separate from publication: What the tech publishes this page; Cactus Communications supplies Paperpal. Official Paperpal website. Product names and logos do not imply endorsement of this publication.