Rayyan

Rayyan is a systematic-review platform for research teams coordinating evidence reviews. It suits groups that need a shared process across screening and later review stages, with AI assistance that leaves final decisions to researchers. Its breadth is compelling, but the right plan depends on reviewer capacity, review volume and whether file-based reference imports fit the team’s workflow.

Overview

Rayyan combines collaboration, deduplication, title-and-abstract and full-text screening, data extraction, risk-of-bias assessment and reporting in one workflow. Keeping these stages together can help a team maintain continuity through a review, rather than shifting work between separate tools. It is less suited to someone who only needs a citation manager.

External references are imported as exported files from databases or reference managers; Rayyan does not connect directly to databases. That adds a manual step to the process. For large collections, its Systematic Auto-Resolver can deduplicate up to 200,000 references using the review protocol, which makes the platform relevant to substantial reviews as well as smaller projects.

Key features

ResearchPilot AI Reviewer screens articles against user-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria and supplies decisions with reasoning notes. AI Analyzer recommends include or exclude decisions with justifications based on the review criteria, while leaving the final call to the researcher. This division gives teams AI-assisted screening without handing over accountability for inclusion decisions.

ResearchPilot can also extract answers to custom questions from PDFs and metadata, highlight relevant text, and let users review the extracted answers. That can support structured data collection, though researchers remain part of the review process. The workflow also covers risk-of-bias assessment and reporting.

API access supports programmatic work with reviews, references, decisions and metadata, plus an official Python SDK, workflow automation and external system integrations. That is useful for teams building review processes around other systems, though API access is an Enterprise feature. Rayyan’s enterprise security offering states HIPAA and GDPR compliance, SOC 2 controls, encryption in transit and at rest, and SAML 2.0, OAuth and MFA support.

Mobile access is advertised for on-the-go or offline work, but the Free plan has limited access; Essential and higher provide unlimited mobile app access. Support also scales by plan, from Standard on Free and Essential to priority on Advanced and Business / Academic, and dedicated support on Enterprise.

Pricing

Free is a useful starting point for small projects, but its 3 active reviews, 2 free reviewers and single sample impose clear ceilings. Essential is the lower-cost paid step for teams that need duplicate resolution, PRISMA diagrams or broader mobile access; it is billed annually per seat and does not include the Advanced plan’s stated AI PICO extraction. Advanced raises the review and reviewer limits and adds unlimited samples and priority support, making it the more capable fit for recurring work. Business / Academic is aimed at organizations coordinating many reviewers: its 5-license starting point and 50 organization-wide reviews are a different commitment from per-seat individual plans. Enterprise is for organizations needing unlimited reviews and viewers, API access or single sign-on, with custom pricing.

Platforms

Rayyan supports Android, iOS, web and API access. Its mobile app extends work away from a desktop, subject to the Free plan’s access limit. Export formats include RIS, BibTeX, EndNote and CSV.

Who it's for

Rayyan is a strong candidate for teams conducting systematic evidence reviews, particularly organizations in pharma, medical devices, contract research, universities, healthcare, government and health technology assessment. The combination of protocol-based screening, collaboration, extraction and reporting suits a coordinated review. A solo researcher with a small, occasional project may find the Free plan adequate, but teams that need direct database connections should account for the export-and-upload workflow.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Broad review workflow: Import, screening, extraction, risk-of-bias assessment and reporting sit within one platform.
• AI with researcher oversight: Reviewer and Analyzer provide reasoned screening support, while final decisions stay with the researcher.
• Large-scale deduplication: The Auto-Resolver can handle up to 200,000 references using the review protocol.
• Plan choices for different team sizes: Options range from a free plan to organization-wide and enterprise tiers, with stated reviewer and review limits.

Cons

• No direct database connection: Teams must export references from external databases or managers and upload the files.
• Free capacity is narrow: Three active reviews, two free reviewers and one sample limit ongoing or collaborative use.
• Paid pricing is annual: Essential and Advanced are priced per seat with annual billing, while Business / Academic starts at five licenses.
• API access is Enterprise-only: Teams needing programmatic access must consider the custom-priced tier.

Alternatives

AI Literature Review Software, Literature Review Software and Systematic Review Software are category guides for comparing options.

Choose ASReview if free and open-source software is the priority; it has no licensing fees or subscriptions, though running your own hardware or server may incur costs. Universal SLR Assistant is another free, open-source option, with possible cloud AI provider API fees. Abstrackr suits readers seeking a free web tool with no seat limits, usage caps or subscription.

Axelium offers a free plan with one lifetime review and one seat, while its Researcher plan is $29 a month for three reviews per month. Elicit is an alternative for readers interested in searching across more than 138 million papers, with unlimited summaries and chat with papers on its Basic plan alongside limited Research Agent and Research Reports usage. Mapped Research offers a free tier with up to 1,000 screening citations, 200 AI-assisted screenings, PRISMA auto-generation, open-access full-text retrieval and up to 3 collaborators.

Moara has a free tier for libraries of up to 50 papers, with Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar search, Zotero and LibKey, and viewer or editor collaboration. Scholarcy is oriented toward article summarization; its free tier allows 10 summaries and one-at-a-time flashcard exports.

Verdict

Rayyan is a strong choice for research teams that need a shared, auditable systematic-review workflow and want AI support across screening and extraction without yielding final decisions. Its integrated stages and large-scale deduplication are the main reasons to choose it. Look elsewhere if direct database connections are essential, or if annual seat and license commitments do not suit the project.