Freedom251 › AI Citation Generators
cytado
What cytado is
cytado helps writers find academic sources to support claims and create citations linked to the original material. It can provide printed page numbers and short quotations, then format footnotes and bibliographies in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard, and numbered footnote styles. Bibliographies can be exported to Word, PDF, LaTeX, BibTeX, or RIS, and existing bibliographies can be checked against Crossref, OpenAlex, and Google Books. The tool is available through the web, an API, and an extension, with integrations for Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Claude via MCP, and ChatGPT. Its source corpus covers English, Polish, and German publications. cytado offers a free plan, with unpaid projects limited to one at a time and daily and monthly caps on source searches. Paid choices include a one-time project payment of $13, paid once and monthly plans from $19 a month. It cannot supply page numbers for documents without printed pagination, and may return metadata and short excerpts instead of full text.
Who it suits
It suits students, researchers, and other writers who need to find academic references and format citations across common styles. Teams using Word, Google Docs, or the listed AI integrations may also find its workflows relevant.
What it does well
- Supports five listed citation styles.
- Exports bibliographies to Word, PDF, LaTeX, BibTeX, and RIS.
- Checks bibliographies against Crossref, OpenAlex, and Google Books.
- Offers a free plan without a card requirement.
- Lists integrations for Google Docs and Microsoft Word.
What to know first
- Unpaid projects are limited to one at a time.
- Daily and monthly source-search caps apply.
- Some documents have no printed page numbers.
- Some sources provide metadata and short quotes, not full text.
Limits
The free options include a Test tier with 100 resolved citations and 3 new topics, and a Free tier with 3 full sources per project. Daily and monthly source-search caps apply; the Unlocked project plan costs $13, paid once.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 3 full sources per project · summaries and quality scores · no card required | Free |
| Test | 100 citations/month · 3 new topics · test key not billed | Free |
| Unlocked project | all found sources · printed-page fragments · paragraph source finder · Word/PDF/LaTeX/BibTeX/RIS export · project remains unlocked | $13, paid once |
| Basic | monthly · 400 citations/month · 5 new topics · $0.04 extra citation · $1.00 extra topic | $19 a month |
| Start | monthly · 1,200 citations/month · 15 new topics · $0.04 extra citation · $1.00 extra topic | $49 a month |
| Pro | monthly · 3,000 citations/month · 40 new topics · $0.04 extra citation · $1.00 extra topic | $99 a month |
As cytado.com lists them, read 15 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Getting started
- Open cytado's website.
- Choose a free option or a paid project or monthly plan.
- Use the web app, a listed document integration, Chrome extension or Citation API.
- Enter a claim or submit a bibliography for source finding or checking.
- Export the bibliography in a supported format if needed.
Verdict
cytado combines source discovery, citation formatting, bibliography checking, and multiple export options. Check its project and search limits, and note that full text or page numbers are not available for every source.
Questions
Does cytado have a free plan?
Yes. The Test plan is free and includes 100 resolved citations and 3 new topics. The Free plan costs nothing and includes 3 full sources per project; neither requires a card.
What does the Unlocked project plan cost?
It costs $13, paid once. The payment covers a project for as long as you write.
What monthly plans are available?
Basic costs $19 a month, Start costs $49 a month, and Pro costs $99 a month.
Which citation styles and export formats does cytado support?
It formats APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard and numbered footnotes. Bibliographies can be exported to Word, PDF, LaTeX, BibTeX or RIS.
Which tools integrate with cytado?
The maker lists Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Claude via MCP, ChatGPT and a Chrome extension. It also offers a Citation API.
Does cytado provide page numbers for every source?
No. It does not provide page numbers for documents without printed pagination. For sources it may not republish, it returns metadata and short quotations rather than full text.
Facts from cytado's own pages
- API
- The Citation API offers endpoints to find a source for a claim, retrieve sources for a chapter, and check usage. · cytado.com, 4 Oct 2026
- API authentication
- API requests use a Bearer token, with separate cyt_test_ and cyt_live_ key types. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- API batching
- The find-source endpoint accepts up to 60 claims per request and explicitly drops excess items. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- API billing
- A resolved citation is a claim matched to a source with a page number; misses are free and new-topic harvesting is metered separately. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- API documentation depth
- The API documentation specifies request fields, response structure, pagination semantics, billing fields and error codes. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- API overage limit
- Paid API plans allow overage only up to an additional 100% of the plan before requests receive HTTP 429 responses. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- API SDK examples
- Documentation includes curl, Python requests and JavaScript fetch examples rather than a separately named official SDK. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Bibliographies
- It formats footnotes and bibliographies in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard, and numbered footnote styles, with BibTeX and RIS support. · cytado.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Bibliography generation
- The bibliography generator formats APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard and numbered footnotes, with exports to Word, PDF, LaTeX, BibTeX and RIS. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Chrome extension
- The Chrome extension displays a bubble for selected text and returns a publication, printed page, quote and copyable footnote. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Chrome limitation
- The extension cannot read Google Docs canvas text, so cytado directs Google Docs users to its dedicated add-on. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Chrome privacy
- The extension states that only text explicitly selected and submitted is sent to cytado; page content and browsing history are not collected. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Chrome store status
- The extension page says the Chrome Web Store listing was brand new and had no ratings at the time of the page capture. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Citation generation
- Users paste a sentence and cytado returns a supporting publication, the printed page containing the claim and a formatted citation. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Content limits
- The API page says cytado does not provide a page number for documents without printed pagination and returns metadata and short quotations rather than full text for sources it may not republish. · cytado.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Data handling for institutions
- The institution page says submitted reference lists are used for checking and that full student works are not stored. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Evidence matching
- The evidence API compares a specific claim with full-text passages and returns a source page or an explicit not-found result. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Exports
- Bibliographies can be exported to Word, PDF, LaTeX, BibTeX, or RIS. · cytado.com, 4 Oct 2026
- Google Docs integration
- The Google Docs add-on lets users highlight text and insert a verified citation as a native Docs footnote. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Google Docs permissions
- The add-on says it accesses only the document in which it is used, sidebar display and cytado.com, without access to the rest of Drive. · cytado.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Independent architecture
- The maker portfolio lists Chrome MV3, Word and Google Docs add-ins, and a shared account across the browser and document integrations. · karol-leszczynski.pl, 15 Oct 2026
- Independent company scale
- The maker describes himself as working solo and operating eight products. · karol-leszczynski.pl, 15 Oct 2026
- Independent infrastructure
- The maker lists AWS services, PostgreSQL, S3, Fastify, Next.js, PM2 and Python workers among the shared stack used for products. · karol-leszczynski.pl, 15 Oct 2026
- Independent maker profile
- The maker’s independent portfolio identifies Cytado as a 2026 product with web and Chrome Web Store releases, while Word, Docs and WordPress versions were in review. · karol-leszczynski.pl, 15 Oct 2026
Where cytado stands on Freedom251
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