Rayyan
Rayyan speeds up systematic literature reviews in 2026 with ResearchPilot AI agents. Free plan covers 3 reviews, paid plans start at $4.99/seat/month.
About Rayyan
What is Rayyan (2026 update)
Rayyan is an AI-powered platform for systematic literature reviews, used by researchers to screen studies, remove duplicates, extract data, and produce PRISMA flow diagrams for their reviews. It is widely used in academic and clinical research, including by teams following Cochrane review standards.
What is new in 2026
Rayyan launched ResearchPilot, a set of AI agents you can add to your review protocol to automate article screening, generate inclusion or exclusion reasoning, and run structured data extraction at scale. The company describes this as taking a review from the first article to a final decision in hours instead of weeks. Rayyan also added a Risk of Bias (RoB) assessment feature, released an all-new mobile app with offline collaboration support, and rolled out a redesigned interface based on user feedback. The PRISMA 2020 flowchart generator remains built in for documenting search and screening decisions. Core AI tools like zero-shot relevance ratings, the AI Analyzer, AI Reviewer, and Auto-Extract Data continue to be part of the platform. Rayyan is also seeing growing adoption outside clinical Cochrane-style reviews, with social science and engineering researchers using it for fast, well-documented screening on grant reports and journal submissions.
Key features
- AI-assisted title and abstract screening with relevance predictions
- Duplicate detection and auto-resolution across imported records
- ResearchPilot AI agents for automated screening and data extraction
- Risk of Bias (RoB) assessment tools
- PRISMA 2020 flow diagram generator
- PICO data extraction with AI on higher-tier plans
- Mobile app with offline access and team collaboration
- Team and reviewer invitation limits that scale by plan
Pricing in 2026
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 3 active reviews, 2 free reviewers, basic duplicate detection, AI relevance predictions, limited mobile access |
| Essential | $4.99/seat/month billed annually ($8.33/month billed quarterly) | PRISMA flow diagrams, 5 free reviewers, auto-duplicate resolution, unlimited mobile access |
| Advanced | $8.33/seat/month billed annually ($13.33/month billed quarterly) | 9 active reviews, 10 free reviewers, unlimited samples, AI-powered PICO data extraction |
| Business/Academic | $41.67/license/month billed annually, minimum 5 licenses ($2,500/year) | ResearchPilot AI, 250 free reviewers, manage 50 org-wide reviews, academic discounts available |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited reviews and viewers, ResearchPilot AI, SSO/SAML, API integration, dedicated support |
Who should use it
Rayyan fits individual researchers and small academic teams doing occasional systematic reviews, since the free plan covers 3 active reviews with basic AI screening. Research groups running frequent reviews with several collaborators get more value from Essential or Advanced, where reviewer limits and PICO extraction unlock. Universities, research departments, and organizations standardizing on systematic review workflows across many teams are the target for the Business/Academic and Enterprise tiers, which add ResearchPilot automation and SSO. Students working on a thesis or a single review project can generally stay on the free plan or step up to Essential once they need PRISMA diagrams for a submission.
Limitations and alternatives
Rayyan’s free plan caps you at 3 active reviews and 2 reviewers, which is tight for larger research groups, and the most powerful AI automation through ResearchPilot is reserved for the Business/Academic and Enterprise plans rather than the individual tiers. Pricing structured around per-seat licenses with a 5-license minimum on Business/Academic can also be a barrier for smaller labs. If Rayyan does not fit your workflow, alternatives include Covidence, DistillerSR, and EPPI-Reviewer, all of which serve similar systematic review screening and data extraction needs with different pricing models, check each vendor’s site for current rates.
Frequently asked questions
Is Rayyan free to use?
Yes, Rayyan has a free forever plan that supports 3 active reviews and 2 free reviewers with basic AI screening.
What is ResearchPilot in Rayyan?
ResearchPilot is a 2026 feature that lets you add AI agents to a review protocol to automate screening, generate inclusion reasoning, and extract data at scale.
Does Rayyan support Risk of Bias assessment?
Yes, Rayyan added a Risk of Bias (RoB) assessment feature as part of its 2026 updates.
What are alternatives to Rayyan?
Covidence, DistillerSR, and EPPI-Reviewer are commonly compared alternatives for systematic review screening and data extraction.
Information last verified: September 2026.
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