Folio

Free plan APIExtensionWeb

What Folio is

Folio is an integrated workspace for research, reading, writing, citations, and proof of work. Folio Search sends a query across papers, books, the web, and video, and its Synthesizer cites the results it retrieves. While writing, users can insert citations from their source library and have Folio build the bibliography automatically. Research libraries can be imported from Zotero, with reference files accepted in BibTeX, RIS, CSL-JSON, MODS, and EndNote XML formats.

Folio also offers an MCP connector for Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and other compliant clients. Its free Scholar plan includes unlimited documents and sources, alongside daily and monthly quotas for several tools. Fellow costs $9.99 a month, or $99 per year, and adds unlimited literature search, Research Radar, and version history. Chair costs $25 a month, or $250 per year, and includes team and supervisor features such as more discovery agents and priority support. Folio is available on the web, through an extension, and by API. The extension supports Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Arc; native iOS and Android apps are not available yet, though the web app is laid out for small screens. Folio says it does not sell user data or train models on users’ writing. Users can export data in machine-readable formats or permanently delete their account in settings.

Who it suits

Scholar suits people who want a free workspace for writing and proving work, while Fellow is aimed at people keeping up with a field. Chair is presented for supervisors and teams that need its added collaboration and support features.

What it does well

Scholar includes unlimited documents and sources at no cost.
Search spans papers, books, the web, and video.
The Synthesizer cites retrieved results.
Imports Zotero libraries and several reference file formats.
Users can export their data or delete their account from settings.

What to know first

Scholar has daily and monthly quotas on several tools.
The browser extension does not support Firefox or Safari.
Native iOS and Android apps are not available yet.
Folio has no SOC 2 report or ISO 27001 certification today.

Limits

Scholar is free forever with no card, unlimited documents and sources, 40 literature searches per day, 3 authorship certificates per month, 5 citation or claim checks per month, 3 Research & start briefs per month, 10 Scholar AI answers per month, and 3 proofreads per month. Fellow costs $9.99 a month or $99 per year; Chair costs $25 a month or $250 per year.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
Scholar	Free forever · Unlimited documents and sources · 40 literature searches/day · 3 Research & start briefs/month · 10 Scholar AI answers/month · 3 proofreads/month · 5 citation/claim checks/month · 3 authorship certificates/month · Surveyor up to 50 responses · MCP connector	Free
Chair	Monthly; $250/year annual billing · At least 2× Fellow AI limits · Unlimited proofreading · 10 Discovery Agents · Deep Scan · Briefing audio · Scholar AI in co-editing chat · Surveyor up to 1,000 responses per link · Priority and founder support	$25 a month
Standalone and extracurricular institutions	From $79/month billed annually, or $99 billed monthly · Tutoring centers, academies, bootcamps and test-prep programs	$79 a month
Fellow	Monthly; $99/year annual billing · Unlimited certificates · 20 citation/claim checks/day · Document Audit 1/day · 3 Discovery Agents · Research Radar · Discovery and synthesis · 50-version history · Surveyor up to 200 responses · View/comment collaboration	$9.99 a month
K–12 school or district	Custom, quoted per institution · Institution deployment	On request
Higher education	Custom, quoted per institution · University, college or faculty deployment	On request

As usefolio.co lists them, read 15 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Getting started

Visit the Folio website and choose Scholar, Fellow, or Chair.
Use Folio on the web, through its API, or with the browser extension.
Import a Zotero library or a supported reference file if you have one.
Connect a compliant client through Folio’s MCP connector if you use one.
Add sources to your library and insert citations while writing.

Verdict

Choose Folio if you want research search, cited synthesis, writing citations, and bibliography creation in one workspace. Scholar has quotas on several tools; paid plans start at $9.99 a month, and native mobile apps are not available yet.

Questions

Does Folio have a free plan?

Yes. Scholar is free forever and does not require a card. It includes unlimited documents and sources, with quotas on several tools.

How much do the paid plans cost?

Fellow is $9.99 a month or $99 per year. Chair is $25 a month or $250 per year.

Which platforms does Folio support?

Folio is available on the web, as an extension, and through an API. Its extension supports Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Arc; native iOS and Android apps are not available yet.

Can Folio import existing references?

Yes. It supports Zotero library imports and BibTeX, RIS, CSL-JSON, MODS, and EndNote XML reference files.

Can users export or delete their data?

Yes. Users can export data in machine-readable formats or permanently delete their account from settings.

Does Folio have SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification?

Folio says it has no SOC 2 report or ISO 27001 certification today. It says it is built to a GDPR-aligned standard and offers a Data Processing Agreement on request.

Facts from Folio's own pages

Academic search: Its search spans OpenAlex, Crossref, Semantic Scholar, arXiv, Europe PMC, DOAJ and other sources, with results saved directly to a library. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
AI assistant integration: Folio provides an MCP connector for Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and other compliant clients. · usefolio.co, 8 Oct 2026
AI writing boundary: The product says its AI does not write into documents; it searches, checks citations, reviews arguments and proofreads instead. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Audience: Folio presents Scholar as a free plan for writing and proving work, Fellow for keeping up with a field, and Chair for supervisors and teams. · usefolio.co, 8 Oct 2026
Browser extension: The free extension saves papers, pages and links, verifies page references and lets users ask questions about a page. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Changelog news: The September 25, 2026 release added clearer failed-search messages, safer BibTeX and Chicago exports, Qualtrics import, Prolific completion handling, scheduled retraction checks and video submission receipts. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Chrome extension coverage: The extension listing says it supports sources including arXiv, Nature, Science, PubMed, IEEE, books, government pages, YouTube and general web pages. · chromewebstore.google.com, 15 Oct 2026
Chrome extension details: The listing identifies version 1.4.3, updated July 18, 2026, with a 174 KiB package and developer Tarek Gara. · chromewebstore.google.com, 15 Oct 2026
Chrome privacy disclosure: The Chrome listing says the extension handles personally identifiable information, authentication information and website content. · chromewebstore.google.com, 15 Oct 2026
Classroom: Folio Classroom is free for individual instructors and attaches a verifiable writing-process record to each student submission. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Company facts: The opened official and founder pages do not state a legal entity name, headquarters location or founding year. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Compliance: Folio describes its posture as GDPR-aligned, offers a data-processing agreement on request and publishes a subprocessor register. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Data control: Users can export their data in machine-readable formats or permanently delete their account from settings. · usefolio.co, 8 Oct 2026
Discovery synthesis: Discovery follows citation links and can assemble a structured synthesis matrix whose cells link back to sources. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Documentation: The help center lists 126 articles covering account setup, imports, citations, audits, surveys, institutions and technical integrations. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Export formats: Library exports include BibTeX, RIS and CSL-JSON, while documents can be exported as DOCX, PDF, LaTeX or web pages. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Founder: Tarek Gara identifies himself as building Folio and provides a usefolio.co contact address on his personal site. · tarekgara.com, 15 Oct 2026
Identity integrations: Institution single sign-on supports OpenID Connect and SAML 2.0, with SCIM provisioning. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Imports: Folio supports importing libraries from Zotero and reference files in BibTeX, RIS, CSL-JSON, MODS, and EndNote XML formats. · usefolio.co, 8 Oct 2026
Inline citations: The editor inserts library citations through a double-bracket picker and resolves them inline. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Institution API: The institution console provides signed webhooks and a read API, plus JSON and CSV record exports. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Institution LMS integration: Institution deployments launch from existing learning platforms through LTI 1.3 and import accounts and rosters through SCIM 2.0 and OneRoster 1.1. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Integrity reports: Folio produces authorship reports and certificates, checks references, flags retractions and matches quotations to source pages. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026
Limit: desktop app: The help center lists a native Mac and Windows offline app as a feature request, indicating it is not currently available. · usefolio.co, 15 Oct 2026

Where Folio stands on Freedom251

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