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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Category

Best Research software, apps and tools

428 hand-picked research tools, apps and resources, each one checked by a real person. 423 of them are free or have a free plan.

Updated

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Research tools help you find, check and organise information, whether that is papers, data, maps or what is already public about a person or topic. The useful ones show where each fact came from, so you can judge it yourself rather than trust a summary.

This category covers search and reading tools, open data maps, investigation and OSINT tools, and AI helpers that gather sources for you. Start with a clear question, keep a note of every source as you go, and check anything important against a second source before you rely on it.

All resources

Type

Pricing

Platform

428 resources

Mendeley

A reference manager for saving, organising and citing research.

Desktop AppFree planCross-Platform
4.4Visit

qsv

A fast toolkit for cleaning and analysing CSV files.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

buku

A private bookmark manager you control from the command line.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit

Ecosia

A search engine that uses all its profits for climate action and tree planting.

WebsiteFreeWeb, Android
4.4Visit

Feeder

An RSS reader that gathers news sites, newsletters and channels in one list.

Web AppFree planWeb, iOS
4.4Visit

DBeaver

One free tool to browse and query many kinds of databases.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

DuckDuckGo

A free private browser and search engine that blocks trackers by default.

Web AppFree planWindows, macOS
4.6Visit

PDF.js

Mozilla's PDF viewer that runs in your browser.

Web AppFreeWeb, Firefox
4.6Visit

Forvo

A pronunciation dictionary of words spoken by native speakers.

WebsiteFreeWeb
4.5Visit

Levels.fyi

Pay data by company, role and level to help you judge and negotiate offers.

WebsiteFree planWeb
4.6Visit

Mathway

A math solver that answers problems from algebra to calculus and statistics.

Web AppFree planWeb, iOS
4.3Visit

Tor Browser

A free browser that protects you from tracking, surveillance and censorship.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.5Visit

Wikiwand

A cleaner way to read Wikipedia, with an AI that answers only from Wikipedia.

Web AppFree planWeb, Chrome
4.4Visit

CORE

Search millions of free, open access research papers.

WebsiteFreeWeb
4.5Visit

jq

Slice, filter and reshape JSON data from the command line.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.7Visit

MeTube

A web page for downloading videos and audio from many sites.

Web AppFreeWeb
4.5Visit

Showing 36 of 428

Research at a glance

Counted from the listings on this page.

Pricing
Of 428 picks, 335 are completely free, 88 have a free plan and 5 are paid.
Highest rated
Dive into Deep Learning (4.9/5), ScreensDesign (4.8/5) and Annotated Deep Learning Paper Implementations (4.8/5) have the highest ratings in our reviews.
Formats
Most common: Website (195), Web App (82), AI Tool (54) and Desktop App (39).
Often also listed under
Learning (186), AI Productivity (102), Reading (61) and Workflows (57).
Platforms
Most listed: Web (339), macOS (65), Linux (62) and Cross-Platform (61).
Best for
Picked most often for Developers (228), Professionals (195) and Students (189).
Learning curve
258 beginner-friendly, 117 intermediate and 53 advanced.
Newest addition
Beancount, added 13 November 2026.

Research tools: common questions

Straight answers to what people ask before picking a tool.

What are the best research tools?
The highest-rated research picks in the directory right now are Dive into Deep Learning, ScreensDesign and Annotated Deep Learning Paper Implementations. Each one is checked by hand, and the full list above is sorted by our recommendation.
What is the best free research tool?
Dive into Deep Learning and Annotated Deep Learning Paper Implementations are the top-rated completely free options. If a free plan is enough, ScreensDesign is also worth a look.
How many research tools are listed?
428 research resources are listed: 335 completely free, 88 with a free plan and 5 paid. New ones are added as they are checked.

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