Litmaps
Focus: papers. Shares literature review and citations with Connected Papers. Rated 4.5 (Connected Papers: 4.6).
Web AppFree planWeb
4.5Visit
Web App
Connected Papers
A visual tool for finding academic papers related to one you know.
Rating
4.6 / 5
Pricing
Freemium
Difficulty
Beginner
Works on
Web
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is Connected Papers?
Connected Papers builds a visual graph of research papers related to a paper you enter, grouping similar work together so you can spot key studies and recent follow-ups. It helps with literature reviews, and the free plan includes a limited number of graphs each month.
Pros: what Connected Papers does well
- Clear visual map of related research
- Finds older and newer key papers
- Quick to start from one paper
Cons: where it falls short
- Monthly graph limit on the free plan
- Coverage depends on its paper database
Who Connected Papers is for
Students and researchers starting a literature review on a new topic.
Who can skip it
People who rarely read academic research.
What people use Connected Papers for
- Finding the key papers around a topic when starting a literature review
- Spotting earlier work a paper builds on, and newer work that builds on it
- Checking you have not missed an important paper before submitting
How to get started
- 1Go to connectedpapers.com and search for a paper by title, DOI or keywords.
- 2Open the graph: similar papers sit closer together, and bigger circles have more citations.
- 3Use the Prior works and Derivative works views to find older foundations and newer follow-ups.
- 4Export the papers you want to your reference manager.
Connected Papers pricing
Connected Papers has a Free plan with a limited number of new graphs each month, and paid Academic and Business plans that remove the limit. Academic is for researchers, non-profits and personal use; Business is for commercial use. See current prices on Connected Papers's site
Checked 2026-10-27. Prices change, so double-check before you pay.
Connected Papers FAQ: quick answers
- Is Connected Papers free?
- Yes, you can build a limited number of graphs each month for free. Paid plans give unlimited graphs.
- How is a Connected Papers graph built?
- Papers are arranged by similarity, based on shared citations and references, not just direct citation links.
Connected Papers alternatives
Not sold on Connected Papers? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
NotebookLM
Focus: summaries, study and audio overview. Shares research and citations with Connected Papers. Adds iOS and Android. Same 4.6 rating.
Web AppFree planWeb, iOS
4.6Visit
Open Knowledge Maps
Focus: academic search and open access. Shares research and literature review with Connected Papers. Free (Connected Papers: Freemium). Rated 4.5 (Connected Papers: 4.6).
Web AppFreeWeb
4.5Visit
Perplexity
Focus: search. Shares citations and research with Connected Papers. An AI tool, not a web app. Adds iOS, Android and Chrome. Rated 4.5 (Connected Papers: 4.6).
AI ToolFree planWeb, iOS
4.5Visit
Our World in Data
Focus: data, statistics and open access. Shares research with Connected Papers. A website, not a web app. Free (Connected Papers: Freemium). Rated 4.8 (Connected Papers: 4.6).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.8Visit
Wikipedia
Focus: encyclopedia, reference and open knowledge. Shares research with Connected Papers. A website, not a web app. Free (Connected Papers: Freemium). Adds iOS and Android. Rated 4.8 (Connected Papers: 4.6).
WebsiteFreeWeb, iOS
4.8Visit
Free alternatives to Connected Papers
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
Internet Archive
Focus: digital library, wayback machine and archives. Shares research with Connected Papers. A website, not a web app. Free (Connected Papers: Freemium). Rated 4.7 (Connected Papers: 4.6).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit
PubMed
Focus: medical research, papers and science. Shares citations with Connected Papers. A website, not a web app. Free (Connected Papers: Freemium). Rated 4.7 (Connected Papers: 4.6).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit
Purdue OWL
Focus: writing guide, apa and grammar. Shares citations with Connected Papers. A website, not a web app. Free (Connected Papers: Freemium). Rated 4.7 (Connected Papers: 4.6).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit
Deep Learning Papers Reading Roadmap
Focus: deep learning, papers and roadmap. Shares research with Connected Papers. A course, not a web app. Free (Connected Papers: Freemium). Same 4.6 rating.
CourseFreeWeb
4.6Visit
Google Dataset Search
Focus: datasets, open data and data analysis. Shares research with Connected Papers. A website, not a web app. Free (Connected Papers: Freemium). Same 4.6 rating.
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.6Visit
Open Notebook
Focus: notebooklm alternative, ai chat and podcasts. Shares research with Connected Papers. An AI tool, not a web app. Free (Connected Papers: Freemium). Same 4.6 rating.
AI ToolFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.6Visit
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