Compare software

BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)OpenAlex
Free

Free to search in the browser.

 Free

Free to search, analyze and reuse.

Web Web
  • Focused on open-access academic content
  • Draws on thousands of institutional repositories
  • Covers about half a billion scholarly works
  • Web app, API and bulk download
  • Anti-scraper check requires modern JavaScript and can slow page loads
  • Covers repository content, so some paywalled literature will be missing
  • A search catalog rather than an AI reading assistant
  • Analysis beyond the web app needs API or data skills
Web application Web application, Hosted service
Closed source Closed source
License not stated License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed Not stated if an account is needed
Needs internet Not stated if it works offline

Checked October 2, 2026

Checked October 1, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.